英文摘要 |
Late Ming (1567-1644) witnessed larger number of Chinese merchants smuggling to Japan, which was called 'tong fan', than did any other earlier period. Comparing with previous smuggling trades, although items of goods were similar, the geographical boundaries showed the trend of moving northward, and the social composition of smugglers also changed correspondingly. In trials of tong fan cases, local governments had different opinions in determining the nature of crimes. Generally speaking, the government's failure of ending the Japanese smuggling trade showed that in the whole Jiangnan costal area very parts of the overseas trade, whether concerning the government or commoners, existed problems. The most fundamental cause was the rich profit of smuggling. The relevant regulations were not always reasonable, and they objectively restrained the commodity productions of local society, increased the commercial costs of popular maritime power, reduced the trade competence of Chinese merchants in East Asian, and also weakened the costal defense ability of China. |