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原创首发，课堂作业，第二篇。 Review: Hankow: Commerce and Society in a Chinese City, 1796-1889
(by William T. Rowe, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1984)
Based on numerous primary sources and secondary works, this book studied the commerce and society in Hankow between the year 1796 and 1889.
Why did the author select Hankow in 1796-1889 as his object to research? The author pointed out that: As one of the main commercial cities in Central China, Hankow was not only the center of market system in China but also an important international port in the second half of nineteenth century. However, didn’t like other cities, such Shanghai, Guangzhou and Tianjin along the coast, which had been influenced heavily by impact of the West, and Beijing and Wuchang, which were under the direct control of the central government, Hankow was a hinterland city and wasn’t under the direct control of the central government. In 1796, the Emperor Qian Long retired and the Emperor Jia Qing succeeded to the throne, and the White Lotus Society began to revolt, which destroyed the Qing Dynasty badly. The Qing government and local governments including Hubei provincial government had to spend a huge amount of money to suppress the While Lotus Rebellion. Even after the end of the While Lotus Rebellion in 1804, Hubei provincial government still had to spend a lot of money to suppress other revolts in 1804-1850. Although influenced by rebellions, Hankow’s commercial activities were still very lively and vigorous during this period, and it was considered the golden age of Hankow’s commercial prosperity.[1] In 1889, Zhang Zhidong became the governor-general of Hu-guang, and it is the starting point of Hankow’s industrial era. Therefore, the author’s study ends in this year.
The book included two main parts: Hankow as the emporium and its urban social organization. In the first part, the author discussed Hankow’s historical background, such as its geography status, population and government management structure, and its salt and tea trade, financial and credit system, and the relation between the state and commerce. The second part focused on guild structure and functions, and its relation with local power. According to G. William Skinner’s central-place analysis of the late Qing Dynasty, the author discussed Hankow’s trade in terms of four levels: central metropolis, regional metropolis, greater city, and local city.[2] In the author’s opinion, Hankow was a center of national market because it was a crossroads for many important trade routes in the late Qing Dynasty, such as: the Xiang River valley through Hunan, and thence overland to Guangdong, the upper Yangtze, the Han River and overland north to Shanxi, Shaanxi, Mongolia and Siberia, overland to Henan and Hebei, and the lower Yangtze to Jiangnan and Shanghai. Then the author discussed five types of merchant community of Hankow: factors or brokers, other commission agents, wholesale dealers, itinerant merchants and retail shopkeepers.[3]
Many scholars thought that it was because Hankow was under the influence of the West that Hankow became commercial emporium after the Taiping Rebellion, but the author didn’t think so. In order to prove his point, Rowe made a comparative analysis of the trade in Hankow before and after the Taiping Rebellion. Then, he pointed out that “the steady rise in the town’s total commercial activity in the 1860’s, 1870’s and even 1880’s was more the result of a belated commercial recovery from the Taiping devastation than of any marvelous effect of the foreign trade”[4] and “the continuities seem more important than the changes.”[5] Therefore, Rowe rejected the long-held assumption that the West influenced heavily on the Hankow’s trade and commerce before the 1890s.
Existing scholarship on the Qing Dynasty’s commercial policy perhaps could be divided into four approaches: repression, neglect, collusion and stimulation.[6] The author argues that his study of Hankow in the nineteenth century supported the “stimulation” approach, but he also pointed out that it was unfair to think the other three approaches were wrong completely because the roles that Qing government played were very complicated and at times even contradictory.[7]
In the 19[sup]th[/sup] century, there were four main trends in structural changes of Hankow’s economic guilds: 1) local origin was replaced by common trade as the favored membership criterion; 2) membership criteria were relaxed; 3) more and more trade organizations joined together to form a federation; and 4) multiplex local-origin organization become more. In Max Weber’s opinion, the process of “rationalization” only occurred within the European past but was denied in China. However, these four trends, especially the first one, proved that there was an indigenous process of “rationalization” in Hankow, a Chinese city.[8] Hankow guilds played important roles in the four major areas: cultural functions, commercial functions, corporate functions, and community-service functions. Guilds concerns and authority extended well beyond the governance of their own membership and trade, and they increasingly took actions to protect the whole city’s interests. Therefore, these activities provided evidences against Max Weber’s conclusion that the powers of the Chinese guild “involved only special competencies of particular association in particular questions of concrete group interest.”[9]
Through exploring the commerce and society in Hankow, Rowe showed us a vivid picture of a Chinese city between the year 1796 and 1889. More importantly, he challenged the long-held but wrong assumptions and conclusions in the West. If he could study on common people’s life I think it will be better for us to understand the history of Hankow.
[1] William T. Rowe, Hankow: Commerce and Society in a Chinese City, 1796-1889, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1984, p. 12.
[2] Ibid, p. 53.
[3] Ibid, pp. 70-71.
[4] Ibid, pp. 78-79.
[5] Ibid, p. 76.
[6] Ibid, p. 177.
[7] Ibid, p. 180.
[8] Ibid, p. 283.
[9] Max Weber, The City, New York: The Free Press, 1958, p. 83. |
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发表于 2012-1-1 23:13:28
