朝鮮開港後における華商の對上海貿易--同順泰資料を通じて

Abstract

The trade with Shanghai conducted by Chinese merchants thrived after the opening of Korean ports in the 1880s. Tongshuntai 同順泰, which originated in southern Guangdong, was representative of Chinese trading companies in Seoul and Incheon at this time. The author has employed the financial records of the Tongshuntai kept by Seoul University to examine the function of its business network in the period from the 1880s to the mid 1890s, i.e., until the Sino-Japanese War, 1894-5. The results of the study are as follows. 1) Tongshuntai dealt with Chinese trading companies in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and the major trading ports in Japan. Most of which were formed by blood relatives or those who had come from the same area and who had maintained relationships with Tongshuntai for a relatively long period of time. 2) Among them, the most important trading partner was the Tongtaihao 同泰號 Shanghai, which supplied funds. The main trade with Tongtaihao was in the import of consumer goods such as silk and cotton textiles. 3) It was necessary for Tongshuntai to rely on the assistance of other trading partners in order to maintain trade with Tongtaihao. For example, Tongshuntai was in a state of general excess of imports from Tongtaihao, in addition to sending gold and silver bullion to Tongtaihao, it would often transfer their debt to a third party which also dealt with Tongtaihao, in its ledgers in order to balance its accounts. This type of operation was necessary because international financial services were insufficient in Korean trading ports at the time. The help of third parties was also necessary at times in maritime transport and communications for the same reason. In this way the example of Tongshuntai indicates that in the process of Korea's coming into contact with treaty ports of East Asia especially Shanghai, the immature modern service industry and the broadly based strong business network of Chinese traders functioned in a complementary manner.