- 期刊
郭頭家：十七世紀五位郭姓商人在日本、臺灣、爪哇的事業
The Koeh Masters: Five Koeh Merchants and Their Cooperative Enterprises in Taiwan, Japan, and Java in the Seventeenth Century
摘要
來自中國福建省南方的福建商人在幾世紀以來一直都是亞洲海洋貿易的重要力量。他們不僅將中國的商品帶至異地，也帶來了中國的人們、語言與習俗。然而，對於福建商人的學術研究大部分都將焦點放在鄭氏家族，或是現代時期所謂的海外華僑，這兩種取徑皆與上一世紀所發展的中國民族主義密不可分。但本研究則企圖描述十七世紀五位較不知名的福建商人的經驗，以闡明現代東亞早期的多族群合作面向。本次所聚焦的五位商人皆來自九龍江北岸的鄰近地區，且擁有共同的姓氏「郭」。雖然沒有可靠的族譜資料可以說明他們之間的關係，但家鄉鄰近性以及相同的姓氏顯示他們可能具有親緣關係。這些郭姓商人前往海外並與國外的統治者合作，在日本、臺灣、爪哇等地建立自己的事業，且他們的事業至今仍未被當地居民遺忘。藉由檢視這些郭姓商人的活動，本文企圖超越以中國為中心的觀點，提出更具包容性的歷史書寫，用以研究這些商人的海外事業得以蓬勃發展的人際連結，以及與當地統治者的合作關係。
並列摘要
Hokkien merchants from the southern Fujian Province have been a significant power of commerce in maritime Asia for centuries. They not only brought Chinese products, but also people, language, and customs to foreign lands. However, scholarship on Hokkien merchants has mostly paid attention to the family of Koxinga (Cheng Cheng-kung), or the so-called Overseas Chinese in the modern era. Both approaches are entwined with the Chinese nationalism developed in the last century. This study, however, attempts to elucidate the experiences of five lesser-known 17th century Hokkien merchants to elaborate on the aspect of multinational cooperation in early modern East Asia. The five merchants whom I examine are from neighborhoods situated on the northern bank of the Jioulong River and share the same surname Koeh. The proximity of their hometowns and identical surnames suggest that they may have been relatives, but a reliable genealogical source is unavailable. These Koeh merchants went overseas and cooperated with rulers in foreign lands to build their businesses in Japan, Dutch Formosa, and Dutch Indonesia. Their enterprises are still remembered by the locals of these locations. By reviewing the activities of these Koeh merchants, this study intends to go beyond the Sino-centric view and proposes an inclusive historiography that addresses their overseas enterprises, homeland connections, and multi-national cooperatives that enabled their businesses to flourish.