由商業習慣到國際法：郊商在東亞貿易中的紛爭和因應（1860-1905）

From Customary Practice to International Law:Disputes and Responses of Jiao Merchants in East Asian Trade (1880-1905)

郊是由講閩南語或類閩南語的海商所組成的商人團體。19世紀至20世紀初，郊商相當活躍於東亞貿易圈中，更建構出郊商業文化圈。這些商人不僅在臺灣與中國大陸港口城市之間建立貿易網絡，並擴展到東亞，而且交易雙方商行之間還透過信件、後以電報來傳遞訊息，形成密集的情報網絡。
然而，依賴長距離、跨海及跨國貿易的郊商，可能面臨哪些貿易爭端？他們是如何利用商人集團間的規範來謀取利益、規避貿易風險、化解各項紛爭？19世紀中葉，隨著戰爭和條約，洋商大舉東來，並帶來海上運輸和通訊革命的時代，郊商如何因應，華、洋商人之間產生那些貿易糾紛，又如何運用傳統習慣或國際法來處理？
總之，19世紀中葉以降是進行東亞海上貿易的郊商面臨交通工具、訊息傳遞以及國際法實踐的過渡和轉換時期。不過，受限於史料，本文首先以19世紀末至20世紀初期在鹿港（臺灣非條約港）、寧波（中國條約港）及長崎（日本條約港）產出的郊商商業書信為中心，重建郊商訊息傳遞和海上運輸的變化，以及他們如何使用傳統習慣來處理各種國內或跨國的貿易紛爭。其次，以1860年代臺灣開港之後所發生的華、洋貿易糾紛案為例，分析糾紛型態、中外雙方的交涉和處置，以及郊商在國際法秩序下的初體驗和運用。

The jiao (brokerage cartel) was a merchant organization constituted by sea merchants
who spoke Fujianese dialects or other related vernaculars. Jiao merchants were very active
in the East Asian trading world in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Furthermore,
they created their own commercial and cultural groups. These merchants not only built up
trade networks between Taiwan and the port cities of China and expanded across East Asia,
but also formed dense intelligence networks through the transmission of messages first by
letter and later by telegram between both sides of the trade.
Jiao merchants were dependent on long-distance, trans-regional or trans-country
trade. What sorts of commercial problems were they likely to encounter? How did they
attempt to employ the norms developed across merchant organizations in order to pursue
profits, avoid trade risks, and settle disputes? Moreover, through war and the subsequent
treaties, foreign merchants became a significant presence in the East Asian trade from the
mid-nineteenth century on, bringing with them a revolution in maritime transport and
communications. How did jiao merchants respond to the commercial disputes that arose
between foreign and Chinese businessmen? In what ways did they draw on customary
practice as well as international law to resolve such issues?
In sum, from the middle of the nineteenth century on, jiao merchants that engaged in
trade across East Asia confronted a period of transition and transformation in means of
conveyance, information transmission and international law practice. Due to the limitations
of the historical sources, this article first focuses on the private correspondence of
merchants in Lugang (a non-treaty port in Taiwan), Ningbo (a treaty port in China), and
Nagasaki (a treaty port in Japan) from the end of the nineteenth century to the early years
of the twentieth century. It reconstructs changes in the forms of information transmission and maritime transport used by jiao merchants. It further examines how they employed
customary practices to deal with all sorts of business disputes, both domestic and
international. It then turns to commercial conflicts that occurred between Chinese and
foreign businessmen once ports in Taiwan were opened to foreigners in 1860. Taking these
as an example, it analyzes the types of disputes, how both sides negotiated and handled
them, and the initial experience of jiao merchants with international law and its application.