The response caused by the entry of railway ships into China is various. This paper only makes a preliminary investigation on the relationship between railway ships and commerce in the late Qing Dynasty from the aspects of import and export trade, commercialization of agricultural products, the development of emerging markets and the rise of modern cities.
1. Changes in import and export trade
The influence of China's modern means of transportation, railways and ships, on the commerce in the late Qing Dynasty was mainly manifested after 1895. This is because before 1895, the railway owned by China was only a paltry 364 kilometers. It was not until 1894, when Japan was defeated in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, that the upsurge of setting up industries to save the country led to the first climax of railway construction in China. During this period, Dong Qing, Ji Jiao, Yunnan and Vietnam, Han Jing, Yuehan, Jinpu, Shanghai-Nanjing, Shuijing and other railway trunk lines started construction one after another. Even so, the railway in China was only 96 1 165438 km in the late Qing dynasty. The same is true of ships. Before 1895, the Qing government did not prohibit the people from setting up shipping companies freely. In addition to the maritime merchants bureau approved by the Qing government, other China maritime companies are difficult to name. 1895 there was only one ship in China * * * only 145 with 32,708 tons. Since then, the signing of the treaty of shimonoseki has enabled imperialist ships to enter the inland river of China, and the Qing government was forced to lift the ban on Chinese businessmen to set up shipping companies. In this way, in191year, the number of ships in China only increased to 90 1 90 169 tons. Therefore, after 1895, the influence of modern railway ships on commerce is obvious, and our investigation mainly starts from here.
Next, let's take a look at the import and export trade statistics of this period:
Table 1 China's foreign trade value and its index (1895-191year) Unit: 1000 Customs II.
Year | Net export value | Net import value | Total trade index
1895| 143293| 17 1697|3 14990| 100
1896| 13 108 1|202590|33367 1| 105
1897| 16350 1|202829|366330| 1 16
1898| 159037|209579|3686 16| 1 17
1899| 195785|264748|460533| 146
1900| 158997|2 1 1070|370067| 1 17
190 1| 169657|268303|437960| 139
1902|2 14 182|3 15364|529546| 168
1903|2 14352|326739|54 109 1| 172
1904|239487|34406 1|583548| 185
1906|236457|4 10270|646727|205
1907|26438 1|4 1640 1|680782|2 16
1908|276660|394505|67 1 165|2 13
1909|338993|4 18 158|757 15 1|240
19 10|380833|462965|843798|268
19 1 1|377338|47 1504|848842|269
Note: The total trade index is calculated by the author.
Source: Zheng Youba's Foreign Trade and Industrial Development in China, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press, 1984, pp. 335-336.
As can be seen from this statistical table, from 1895 to 19 1 1, the value of China's import and export trade showed a linear upward trend, and the total value of import and export trade increased more than twice in 16. In the rapid growth of trade value, what table 1 fails to reflect is that the structure of import and export commodities has also changed greatly, which can be clearly reflected in the following table of changes in the classification structure of import and export commodities.
Table 2 Changes in the Classification of Import and Export Goods in China 1873- 19 10 Unit: 1,000 yuan.
Year | Imported goods | Exported goods
| means of production | means of consumption | agricultural products | mineral products | semi-finished products | finished products
| Value |% | Value |% | Value|% | Value|% | Value |% | Value |% | Value |%
1873|8383|8. 1|95 104|9 1.9|2866|2.6| —| —| 105572|97.4
1893| 19733|8.4|2 16090|9 1.6|28423| 15.6| —| —| 153290|84.4
1903|76582| 15.0|432477|85.0|89496|26.8| 1563|0.4|242902|72.8
19 10| 126948| 17.6|59435 1|82.4|23 1957|39. 1|44 16|0.7|356964|60.2
Description: "Semi-finished products and finished products" mainly refer to silk, tea and some handicrafts.
Source: According to Selected Statistical Data of Modern Economic History of China edited by Yan, tables 14 and 15 on page 72 of Science Press were recalculated and rearranged.
As can be seen from this table, in the changes of imported goods, the value and proportion of means of production are gradually increasing, but the growth rate is not large. Although the proportion of imports of consumer goods is gradually decreasing, the absolute import volume is obviously increasing. Among the export commodities, the export quantity of mineral products can be ignored, and the export value of manufactured goods and semi-manufactured goods has increased to a certain extent, but their proportion in the total export value has shown a downward trend. Only the export of agricultural products, both in absolute value and index, has an amazing growth rate. The export of agricultural products in 1873 was only 2.866 million yuan, accounting for only a negligible 2.6% of the total export, and then increased rapidly, reaching 28.423 million yuan in 1893, accounting for 5.6% of the total export, and further increasing to 89.496 million yuan in 1903. Compared with 19 10, the export of agricultural products increased by 2.6 times in 7 years. Compared with 1873, the increase is as high as 80. 1 times. The growth rate ranks first among all export commodities. The reason why the export of agricultural products grew so fast is fundamentally related to the development of railway ships, that is, modern means of transportation. Because agricultural products in this period can only be exported as raw materials, the development of railways and ships has greatly shortened the transportation distance and time from rural areas in the mainland to trading ports, reduced the transportation cost, and made it possible to transport some agricultural products with large quantity, low price and easy corruption and damage for a long time. Therefore, many agricultural products that could not be exported in the past have become export commodities. In addition, due to the change of transportation mode, the export structure of agricultural products has also undergone major changes. During the period from 65438 to 0895, that is, before the Sino-Japanese War, the main agricultural products exported by China were tea, raw silk and silk products. In 1970s, the export volume of these three local commodities accounted for about 90% of the total export volume, and still accounted for 62.5% in 1892. Although other agricultural products are exported, the quantity is limited, and the origin needs to be near the port. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, with the construction of railway trunk lines and the development of ship transportation, this situation has changed obviously. After the eight main agricultural mines selected in Table 3, seizing China's inland navigation rights and railway construction rights has always been one of its important policies to compete for China resources, dump domestic products and open up new markets. By forcing the Qing government to sign unequal treaties, they gradually seized the navigation rights of inland rivers. The process of seizing the navigation rights of the Yangtze River is very representative. In 1842' s treaty of nanking, the great powers seized the coastal navigation rights and the navigation rights at the mouth of the Yangtze River and Shanghai. 1858 Tianjin Treaty stipulates that Zhenjiang, Nanjing, Jiujiang and Hankou along the Yangtze River will be opened as trading port cities, and the navigation rights seized by the great powers will also extend from Shanghai to Hankou in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. 1876 Yantai treaty stipulates that Wuhu and Yichang will be opened as trading cities, and foreign navigation rights in the Yangtze River will be further extended to Yichang. 1895 treaty of shimonoseki further stipulated that Shashi, Chongqing, Suzhou and Yuezhou should be opened as trading cities. In this way, in addition to the navigation rights of the main stream of the Yangtze River being extended to Chongqing, Sichuan by the great powers, foreign ships broke the previous ban on entering inland rivers and could sail into Suzhou and Hangzhou along the Wusong River via the canal. At the same time, the great powers also obtained a series of privileges, such as the right to ship domestic goods and the right to trade in the mainland, and opened up and gained a vast mainland market in China. While gaining the right to navigation in China's inland rivers step by step, the great powers have never stopped robbing China of the right to build railways. For example, the British business community's "main ambition is to bring China into the railway era, partly to have investment sites and partly to enter the mainland market". Therefore, in addition to the fierce competition for railway construction rights with foreign powers in the mainland, Britain is also "very concerned about building a direct railway from Yangon to Yunnan to open the back door to China" and "drew up various plans" for this purpose, preparing to combine Britain's interests in the Yangtze River basin with France's expansion forces in South China and Vietnam.
The fact that the great powers tried their best to seize China's inland navigation rights and railway construction rights proved from another side that the modern means of transportation, railways and ships, played a great role in opening up markets, seizing commercial profits and expanding the power of the great powers. This effect is particularly evident in China, a backward agricultural country with weak national strength and lack of advanced productive forces. At this point, Edward Cunningham, the main figure of American Qichang Shipping Company, which played an important role in the Yangtze River shipping in the 1960s, made a survey on the interests of passenger and cargo business in the Yangtze River shipping, which was very representative. After some investigation, he thought that the "turnover" of the Yangtze River was almost difficult to estimate ..., that is, in terms of raw cotton. At that time, it was estimated that the output of the Yangtze River basin greatly exceeded the national output of the United States. Aside from China's domestic trade volume, the volume of freight handled by foreigners alone is considerable. There are more than 500 specifications of tea in Hunan and Hubei. When it is supplied to the market, ... must go down the Yangtze River. As far as tea in Hunan and Hubei are concerned, the total amount is estimated to be 70,000 tons. Anyone familiar with China's trade knows very well that there is more business to do after 70,000 tons of goods. "... In terms of return trafficking, Edward Cunningham estimates that" the return cargo volume is also very large. It is preliminarily estimated that the foreign cotton cloth sold in Hankou will reach 25,000 tons, "which only accounts for a small part of Shanghai's total imports". It's true. After obtaining the navigation rights of the Yangtze River ships, foreign ships have made huge profits in the shipping industry they are engaged in. Take Meiqichang Shipping Company as an example. 1867 "The net profit was as high as 8060 1 1", in which "the cotton shipped from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River alone earned the company a gross profit of about 242,000". American companies are like this, and so are British companies. "The transactions between directors of British shipping companies and China are the most profitable in history. As far as Shanghai silk is concerned, it is entirely possible to reach 50,000 pieces this year (1860). The freight for silk is 10 two pieces of silver, totaling 502,000 Jin, which is162,500 Jin! ! ! "
In addition to seizing huge commercial value, exploiting Chinese mainland market by railway vessels is also one of the focuses of great powers' attention and contention. It is a typical example to seize the navigation rights in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and then open the southwest mainland market in Sichuan Province and even wider. For example, at the Chamber of Commerce Federation held in Portsmouth, England in 187 1, many businessmen suggested that "in order to promote trade with China, the (British) government should be persuaded to obtain the (right) for British businessmen to enter the hinterland of China through the Yangtze River in the next revision of the treaty". 1872, the Federation of Chambers of Commerce wrote a proposal "Request the upper reaches of the Yangtze River to be opened to foreign ships, so that China's richest and most industrious province (Sichuan) ... can communicate directly with Europe". According to the business report of 1878 Yichang port, "if there are not enough ships to supply all the trade of this port and the trade with Sichuan through this port in the shortest time, British businessmen will greatly change this situation and add more ships." Because "the profit of shipping is by no means the only benefit of the industry, it also gives new stimulation to the production in western Hubei." "The biggest advantage of ship transportation between Hankou and Changzhou is that British goods can be shipped to the huge Sichuan market 30 days in advance. Sichuan is an extremely rich province with a vast territory and rich products. The increase in transportation will directly and obviously stimulate the consumption of British goods and the export of local surplus products. " "It has become one of our best markets in China, selling more than 900,000 cotton products and 1 1 10,000 wool products every year."
On May 1886 and 12, when Holsey, an Englishman, read a document at a special meeting of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, he specifically stated: "We often request to establish regular ship traffic with Chongqing, which will bring great benefits to business." According to his investigation, if the navigation in Chongqing can be smooth, then "by that time, our finished products will exist in Chongqing after paying customs duties, and buyers in major cities in Yunnan and Guizhou can transport their purchased goods from this stronghold (Chongqing) with export tax bills, and only need to pay entrepot tax to transport them to the final destination". He excitedly predicted: "Sichuan, as a consumer of British industrial products, will soon have a high position in the world market." The improvement of traffic will promote the great development of various products and industries in Sichuan Province. I don't need to give an example of Kawasaki. The possible development of this valuable product is indeed infinite. In the eastern and central parts of Sichuan Province, women and children in almost every household are engaged in sericulture and silk reeling. The development of Sichuan silk and other export commodities will flourish because of safer, faster and cheaper means of transportation between the upper and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, which will greatly enhance the purchasing power of peaceful, hardworking and wealthy Sichuanese. I can also tell you here that in the west of China, coal production is abundant, and the coal mine is near the river. The British Times 1888 also said that if Chongqing's shipping is successful, "the trade of 70 million people will be delivered to the door; Manufacturers in Lancashire, Midlands and Yorkshire can use simple re-exports from London and Liverpool and pay an ad valorem tax of 5% to transport them to the heart of Asia at a depth of 1500 miles, or almost at the foot of the Central Asian Plateau. His success means free and cheap transportation between the vast and distant population and western manufacturers, as well as between millions of people living in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and Haikou. It also means safe, fast and cheap transportation on the world's longest route 1500 miles. "
The future historical development has indeed proved that the development of the mainland market in Sichuan is closely related to the ships sailing on the Sichuan River. It can be seen that the powers compete for China's inland navigation rights and railway construction rights, on the one hand, because the acquisition of inland navigation rights and railway construction rights is an important guarantee for the powers to explore and acquire new commodity markets, and at the same time, because it is one of the important contents and manifestations that constitute the political rights and interests of the powers in China. This is a typical statement by Mizuno Yukio, Consul General of Japan in Hankou, that "the maritime route means the extension of commercial rights, and the establishment of a country's interests is the beginning", and that "trade and colonization must be extended by transportation lines" by Takahashi of Japan, who played an important role in opening up the Yangtze River route. Here, the development of modern means of transportation, such as railways and ships, has played a dual role in expanding foreign economic aggression and political power, expanding foreign goods in China market, destroying China's natural economic structure and expanding Chinese mainland market. Moreover, this kind of work in this period