在中、日帝國勢力夾縫間的商業韌性：南臺灣大海產雜貨商的崛起（1895-1941）

Commercial Resilience between the Cracks of Chinese and Japanese Imperial Power: The Rise of a Major Merchant of Seafood and Sundry Products in Southern Taiwan (1895-1941)

本文以長崎泰益號所建構的臺南網絡中，與其交往最久、又是科舉家族弱房出身的王汝禎為研究對象，試圖分析其如何因應中、日帝國政經關係與全球化經濟的劇烈變動，並透過金義興號的營運發展、自身商人地位的變化，以及對現代化經營的積極學習，展現遊走於帝國勢力夾縫之間的殖民地商人韌性。
本文有幾點發現。首先，以出身「科甲之裔」自居，成為王汝禎的文化資本，不僅得以擴展在地臺商網絡，也獲得日商旭商店居中媒介，1910年代成為臺南海產批發行與函館直接貿易的代表性商人。其次，臺灣海產雜貨商雖然最先透過長期控制日本海產出口的神戶和長崎華商進行與日本的直接貿易，然而1910年代已經日本化的臺商，不僅可以直接和日本出口商交易，甚至到神戶設立公司，進一步建構臺南、基隆以及神戶的貿易網絡，也因此降低對在日華商的依賴或在臺日商的競爭優勢。第三，金義興號退出泰益號臺南網絡的原因，一方面是全球及日本帝國圈內進口海產來源多元化，導致對泰益號的需求選擇彈性極高；另一方面，則是長崎航運劣勢和泰益號組織的惰性，而讓該地海產缺乏價格和品質的競爭力。第四，相對於1920年代泰益號進入營業消退期，臺南商人之間建構出來的貿易網絡，以及因應安平港和高雄港的消長，共同合資在高雄港設立從事跨國進出口貿易的利興公司，反而奠定王汝禎作為南臺灣巨商的地位。由此突顯臺商比泰益號更能迎合變動劇烈的時局，呈現跨足華商和日商網絡以及自創臺商網絡的商業韌性。

This paper examines Wang Ruzhen, who came from a lineage successful in the Qing imperial examination system, and his firm Jinyixing, which maintained the longest-standing ties with the Nagasaki Taiyi firm of any Tainanese business. It seeks to analyze how, amid drastic shifts in Sino-Japanese political and economic relations and the turbulence of an increasingly globalized economy, Jinyixing adjusted its operations; how Wang Ruzhen’s status as a merchant evolved; and how he embraced modern managerial practices to meet the demands of a new era. These dynamics reveal the commercial resilience of colonial-era merchants.
This study yields several findings. First, Wang Ruzhen’s self-identification as a descendant of imperial examination degree-holders (kejia zhiyi) functioned as a form of cultural capital. It enabled him not only to expand his local Taiwanese mercantile networks but also to secure mediation by Japanese merchants, allowing him to emerge in the 1910s as a representative trader engaged in direct commerce between Tainan seafood wholesalers and Hakodate.
Second, by the 1910s Taiwanese merchants were growing in power and self-sufficiency. Initially, Taiwanese seafood and sundry-goods merchants relied on Kobe- and Nagasaki-based Chinese merchants who had long dominated Japanese seafood exports to conduct direct trade with Japan. As the twentieth century entered its second decade, however, increasingly Japanized Taiwanese merchants could deal directly with Japanese exporters and even establish firms in Kobe themselves, thereby constructing a trade network linking Tainan, Keelung, and Kobe. In doing so, they reduced their dependence on Chinese merchants residing in Japan and diminished the competitive advantages previously held by Japanese firms operating in Taiwan.
Third, Jinyixing’s withdrawal from the Taiyi Tainan network had multiple reasons. It can be attributed, on the one hand, to the diversification of seafood import sources within both global markets and the Japanese imperial sphere; this greatly increased merchants’flexibility in choosing suppliers. On the other hand, Nagasaki’s declining competitiveness in maritime transport, combined with organizational inertia within Taiyi, rendered seafood products from Nagasaki uncompetitive in both price and quality.
Fourth, whereas Taiyi entered a period of commercial decline in the 1920s, Tainan merchants established new trade networks and, in response to the shifting fortunes of Anping and Kaohsiung ports, jointly invested in the founding of the Lixing Company in Kaohsiung. Dedicated to transnational import–export trade, this enterprise consolidated Wang Ruzhen’s status as a major merchant in southern Taiwan. These developments underscore the fact that Taiwanese merchants were able to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances. Indeed, they did surpass Taiyi in this regard. They demonstrated a distinctive commercial resilience that allowed them to navigate both Chinese and Japanese mercantile networks while simultaneously constructing networks of their own.