埠與墟－商業會館與清代粵西南地方社會

Bu and Xu: Merchant Associations and Local Society in Southwestern Guangdong during the Qing Dynasty

徐冠勉(Guanmian XU) ； 吳子祺(Ziqi WU)

《歷史人類學學刊》 17卷1期 (2019/04) Pp. 1-29

摘要

在前近代中國，地方社會如何參與長程貿易？傳統的觀點是：地方社會通過施堅雅所提出的巨區結構參與長距離貿易。也就是說，地方社會並不直接參與長程貿易，而是遵循市場的等級結構將貨物逐級匯集到它們所在的巨區的中心城市，再通過中心城市參與長程貿易。但是，基於在粵西南的調查，筆者發現這種模式未必適用於沿海地區。沿海地區的地方社會，因為海洋貿易的存在，有能力構建自己的長程貿易市場空間，來繞過巨區結構的限制直接參與長距離的海洋貿易。就清代粵西南的廣州灣地區而言，乾隆年間出現的潮州會館就扮演這樣一種角色。該會館一方面深入粤西南的鄉間墟市，另外一方面連接着整個沿海的貿易網絡，同時又以會館為中心在赤坎埠形成獨特的會館社會。通過這種由商業會館所形塑的旣「跨域」又「在地」的社會空間，粤西南沿海地方社會在18世紀下半葉開始出現一系列變化。

關鍵字

潮州會館 ； 沿海貿易 ； 社會空間 ； 糖 ； 廣州灣

並列摘要

How did local societies participate in long-distance trade in early modern China? The traditional study approach follows William Skinner's ＂macro-region＂ model, which assumes that local society did not participate in long-distance trade directly, but via hierarchical market structure. In that model, commodities were first concentrated step-by-step into the central city of each ＂macro-region＂, only from where they could enter cross-regional, long-distance trade. Drawing from empirical research in southwestern Guangdong, this article argues that an alternative model existed on the China coast latest since the eighteenth century. In this alternative model, local society was able to circumvent the ＂macro-region＂ structure via maritime trading networks. The fulcrums of these networks were the connected communities of sojourning merchants, such as the associations of Chaozhou merchants. In the Guangzhou Wan (Kouang-Tehéou-Wan) bay area of southwestern Guangdong, the Chaozhou Merchant Association on the one hand transformed market space by connecting local rural markets (xu 墟) with a far-flung maritime trading network, and on the other hand, they also created new social space by constructing association halls and investing in landholding and cultural activities in the ports (bu 埠) where they sojourned.

並列關鍵字

Chaozhou merchant association halls ； coaster trade ； social space ； sugar ； Guangzhou Wan (Kouang-Tchéou- Wan)