ABSTRACT
Since the epoch-making issue of Shakai Keizaishigaku in 1 9 8 5 , 1 Asian trade has been a popular topic of modern Asian economic history in Japan. Historians are now aware that Asian trade was as important for Japanese capitalism as trade with Western countries. Not only was it important for Japanese capitalism but it was also vital to the Chinese economy of the period. The popularity of the theme is mainly due to the fact that Japanese historians have defined the limit of the Western presence in China and Japan. British mercantile houses and colonial banks, which had previously been thought overwhelmingly powerful, were not able to dominate in either country. By the end of the 1860s their economic activity was confined to the foreign settlements in the treaty ports. 2 Even the British navy, which was thought to have a powerful influence on the two countries, was eliminated during the 1860s and 1 8 7 0 s . 3 As a result of these new findings, Japanese historians have shifted their interest from trade with the West to that with Asian countries. In order to analyse the development and influence of Asian trade upon the Chinese and Japanese economies, they have concentrated on four topics: the circulation of men, goods and capital among Asian countries, 4 and the economic strength of overseas Chinese merchants in Japan. 5
However, this change in academic trend has created a new problem for Japanese historians. They have emphasized the importance of Asian trade and the strength of Chinese merchants so much that they in turn now underestimate the influence of Western mercantile enterprises. This is an inevitable outcome of the new viewpoint. They now take for
granted that Asian trade was the socioeconomic background of Japanese capitalism and consequently overlook the fact that trade in other Asian countries was to some degree influenced by Western mercantile enterprise. The influence of Western mercantile enterprise can be seen in changes to the trade system and its regulation. Since these changes made a serious impact upon the profits of sellers and buyers, they were, as today, an important issue in politics and diplomacy. Japanese historians have not fully recognized the importance of the problem; so to emphasize the importance of the topic, this chapter deals with a change in the trade system and its rules and the impact of these changes upon trade in China; other chapters in this volume deal with the circulation of men, goods and capital in Asian trade.
