泉州港视野中的宋丽贸易 ：有关泉州商人的那些事

Abstract

This paper studies the different phases of trading between Quanzhou and Gaoli (Korea) during the Song dynasty, focusing on source materials that include The History of Gaoli (Gaolishi) and other related historical documents. As the leading port for foreign trade in China at the time, Quanzhou Harbor’s rise and the fall had a great impact on both economic activity and cultural exchange between China and Korea. The main points discussed in this paper include: (1) The Xujin Incident that took place in the 4th year of the Yuan you reign-period of The Northern Song dynasty (1089). Research shows that the Northern Song monk Jingyuan, an ative of Quanzhou, had a close relationship with the Gaoliprince Zengtongyitian. Quanzhou merchants delivered the ircor respondence, as well as Buddhistsutras, the merchants thus being instrumental in the spread of Buddhism between the setwo countries. When the Monk Jingyuandied, Quanzhou merchants took an umber of GaoliBuddhist monksto Quanzhou to pay tribute to him. (The famous Song poet SuShi, then a municipal of ficial in Hangzhou, had in fact, written to the Song emperor proposing to punish those Quanzhou sea merchants so that the Song regime could suppress Liao’s, a minority ethnic country in the northern border, active oceanic participation and its threat to Song regime.) (2) According to A History of Gaoli, the peak trading period between Song and Gali happened during the eleventh and the twelfth centuries, the Northern Song Zhen Emperor’s reign-period. It was sometimes referred to as the “honeymoon period” between Quanzhou and Gaoli sea merchants. Among all the sea merchants, Quanzhou merchants were the majority, and the most powerful group. It can be argued that the trading prosperity between Song and Gaoli was largely because of the development of the Quanzhou port. Since there was no official custom or related trading regulations at the time, the sea merchants could enjoy the considerable financial profit. The second, but comparative short peak trading period between Song and Gaoli happened in the Southern Song dynasty Shaoxing reign-period (1131-1162). It declined however after the rise of the trading between Quanzhou and other Southern Sea countries. Trading between Quanzhou and Gaoli further declined when Quanzhou became the center port for a large scale of global economy in Song and later period of Chinese history. (3) Research shows that there was a direct oceanic route from Quanzhou to Gaoli during the Northern Song dynasty: starting from Quanzhou, to Shenjiamenhou (Shen’s Family Back Gate), to Zhoushan Island, crossing the Eastern Sea, to the southern tip of Chaoxian Pennisula, travelling along the Pennisula’s eastern coastline, and eventually to the Imperial City Gaoli. In the 13th century, this route detoured to Mingzhou before ending in Gaoli, possibly due to the natural “wind and water” disaster.