중국 송대 천주지역의 조선업

Abstract

The era of Song Dynasty has been the period, during which the activities of the shipbuilding industries were most active in China as it needed to prevent the potential impact from the disturbing overseas situation and cope with the development of domestic commerce and maritime trade. Based on the national support and demand, the shipyard industry flourished nationwide regardless of official or private one. The most prominent area was Quanzhou area in ​​Fujian province, located on the south east coast of mainland China. At that time, the shipbuilding industry was more highly developed in the whole area surrounding Quanzhou than any other places in China and it was already well known for building the ships with excellent performance. This was possible because Quanzhou had corresponding historical background as well as the conditions of location suitable for the development of shipbuilding industry. In terms of geopolitics, it is hard to find any specific external factors which helped Quanzhou to take the lead in the shipbuilding industry in comparison with other provinces. However, as much as the reputation enjoyed by Quanzhou in Song Dynasty years, the shipbuilding industry in Quanzhou had been developed since the early days so it was already ready to build the large-sized ships at that time. Most of all, this was possible thanks to the vast forests that occupied most of the area in that region. Especially, the trees suitable for the wooden materials to be used for shipbuilding were scattered throughout the forests, while providing a major physical foundation for the development of the shipbuilding industry in the region. The maritime trade in the coastal area, which became more active since the beginning of the Song Dynasty, induced the entire classes, ranging from peasant farmers to the royal family, to take advantage of the shipbuilding industry. They took part in commercial activities directly or indirectly, either by building ships themselves, or by commissioning them to craftsmen, or even by renting certain space of the ships. As such, in narrow meaning, the shipbuilding industry has brought the changes in the economic activities of Fujian province, including Quanzhou, and, in wider aspect, it served as an important factor contributing to the expansion of the scale of maritime trade by providing the fleets of vessels with more advanced performance. The vessels built in the area around ​​Quanzhou were able to sail safely even on deep seas thanks to the remarkable durability of those ships and their sailing speed significantly faster than other vessels have reduced the sailing time required for trade. In addition, the enlargement of the size of vessels has enabled the loading of enormous quantity of merchandise aboard and brought the increased profitability to the merchants around Quanzhou accordingly. The development of Quanzhou's shipbuilding industry, which has settled as an important means of economic activity for the people of Quanzhou, was possible on the basis of abundant shipbuilding materials available from the vast forests. This eventually came to bear fruit in the boom of the maritime trade that began to erupt at the end years of Tang Dynasty. As such, it was a shipbuilding industry that made Quanzhou to become a trading center in the years of Song Dynasty and it was the resource of the forests that made such a successful shipbuilding industry feasible, so it can be said that both the shipbuilding industry and the forests were the major internal base and driving force for the economic development of Quanzhou.