<論説>清代粤海関の徴税機構 : 保商制度を中心として

Abstract

南京条約以前、中国の対西洋貿易を一方で規定した清朝の体制は、「広東システム」として理論化されているが、その内容にはなお検討すべき課題が残されている。本稿は、粤海関設置より条約締結まで、西洋貿易における広東での取引と徴税のあり方を、粤海関と中国商人の関係を中心に概観するものである。西洋貿易を管轄した粤海関では、商人との関わりから形成されるに至った徴税機構たる保商制度が重視されるべきであり、これまで「広東システム」の中核とみなされてきた「公行」＝「独占」とは、厳密にいえば、保商制度の弥縫的維持のための副次的な組織に過ぎなかった。こうした保商制度の展開は、当時の取引のあり方とも密接な連関を有し、条約の内容にまで影響を与えた問題であった。

Since H. B. Morse's authoritative studies, the lincensed guild monopoly known as the 'Co-hong' has been regarded as the most important component of the Canton System which regulated China's European trade untill the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. To be sure, this viewpoint is not false per se, yet it undoubtedly overlooks various other aspects of the hong merchants. Dealing with the hong merchants' relations with the customs house authorities at Canton and with foreign merchants, this paper reveals how the system for levying duties on the Western trade at Canton commenced, developed and finally broke down. The establishment of the Canton customs house, which absorbed rather than succeeded the maritime supervisorate at Macao, involved the distinction of yang-huo hang 洋貨行 from ordinary native brokers in Canton for the purpose of levies on maritime trade. Both the transaction of foreign trade and the collection of taxes from it were entrusted exclusively to several of the more influential brokers among the yang-hang 洋行, who were to be the hong merchants. Under the name of 'security merchants ', these brokers were eventually obliged to secure all the duties on Sino-European trade. Since this security merchant system did not work well from the beginning due to a lack of funds on the part of the hong merchants, such remedies as the establishment of the kung-hang 公行 (not identical with the 'Co-hong') and the designation of senior merchants were unsuccessfully attempted. Due to a rise in the outside merchants' unscrupulous dealings with foreign merchants, the system worked worse and worse. In negotiations of the Treaty of Nanking, the British had demanded that consuls be substituted as intermediaries between foreign merchants and the customs houses in place of the security merchants, of whom the country traders especially had complained. Nevertheless, although one of the treaty articles provided for the abolition of the 'Co-hong, ' the treaty did not actually contain any. stipulations to meet the British demand. This fact was to bring about further problems in the tax collection system of the post-treaty Canton customs house.