淸代中期の重慶商業界とその秩序

Abstract

This paper discusses the character of commercial activity and the social order of the commercial world in Chongqing from the latter half of the 18th century to the first half of the 19th century based on the Ba county archive. Situated at a crucial location in the upper Yangtze river valley, Chongqing was the home of many transport ships, transporters, brokers, hotels, and stores for rent, thus the circumstances were ripe for merchants who wished to start businesses and enter the market. Most of their businesses were jointly managed by a small number of people, called hehuo 合夥, and the amount of their capital was generally small. Furthermore, as customers often failed to pay due to the custom of selling on credit, we can surmise that their financial circumstances were generally unstable. Merchants did not actively seek to extend their business, and instead collected their profits as soon as possible and went back home or invested in other businesses. Therefore, it was difficult to amass large amounts of capital, and it was common for merchants to abandon their businesses even though they were successful. On the other hand, it was relatively easy for merchants to enter the market. For these reasons, we can see that merchants with small and medium amounts of capital stood together in large numbers as new aspirants relatively frequently entered and left the Chongqing commercial world at the time. In the case of disputes among them, merchants first attempted to settle their differences through mediation by neighbors or their fellow tradesmen. When they did go to the county court, the magistrate generally commanded neighbors and fellow tradesmen to investigate the dispute, and frequently it was settled peacefully at this stage. Those who mediated were chosen simply because they were close to the persons involved in the dispute, and had no other special capacity, nor were they organized. Merchants in Chongqing basically mediated disputes that arose within their daily sphere of activity and thereby maintained order throughout their whole commercial world. However, they had no legal force over others, and if the persons involved in the dispute did not accept mediation, they could only depend on the government. This way of maintaining order was unreliable and insufficient, but it suited the actual situation of the commercial world in Chongqing at that time and corresponded to the merchantsʼ sense of justice.