394 Boundaries and Beyond
minor ports in the vicinity. Eventually, these shipping irregularities even
threatened the survival of the merchant βirms.
The problems of the merchant βirms in Amoy were aggravated by the
loss of their authorized position in the lucrative straits-crossing trade
with Taiwan after the opening of βive rival ports on the Fujian coast
between 1784 and 1824. The logical consequence was that merchant
junks bound for Amoy for the straits-crossing trade decreased in number
during this period. Equally fateful were the disastrous shipwrecks in
1831 that seemed to spell the end to the good fortune of the merchant
junks. In that tragic incident, more than 70 merchant junks from Amoy
were sunk in a typhoon near Putuoshan on the Zhejiang coast, resulting
in the destruction of half of the strength of the merchant junks in the
port in one fell swoop. It also caused the loss of more than a million taels
of trading capital. By this time, the business of the merchant βirms had
almost come to an end.^167
Amoy lost its competitiveness as a leading trading port to other
harbors in the early decades of the nineteenth century. Maladministration
was the principal reason for its deterioration. It poured far more than
was wise of its mercantile capital into non-productive areas and the
consequence was the loss of conβidence among traders in doing business
in Amoy.
One early example of government impositions on the mercantile
community in Amoy occurred during the prosperous era of the Qianlong
reign. In 1764, the Ocean Firms were invited to make contributions to
fund war-junk construction. Subsequently, each Ocean Firm was said to
have “voluntarily” donated 7,000 Mexican dollars to the project.^168
Other impositions were likewise implemented in different years and
it had become a common practice for the authorities in search of funds to
tap the resources of the shipping community. Commencing in 1746, for
example, the merchant junks in the straits-crossing shipping were each
instructed to transport 6 to 18 tons (100‒300 piculs) of government rice
from Taiwan for relief purposes in Fujian. In 1811, 20 large merchant
junks were requisitioned to transport six thousand tons (100,00 0 piculs)
of government rice. The meager amount of government compensation
offered for these transportations was never enough to cover expenses
and the hang merchants had to βind money to make up for the great
losses on the shipments.
- The interpretations are based on the information from Zhou Kai, Xiamen zhi,
juan 5, sections on “shang chuan” and “yang chuan”. - Ibid., juan 5, p. 154.
http://www.ebook3000.com