157929

Reasons for the Prosperity of Overseas Trade in the Song Dynasty

Ancient China can be regarded as a very feudal society. Almost all trades were settled within the country, and foreign trade rarely occurred. But in the Song Dynasty, a strange phenomenon appeared, overseas trade flourished unprecedentedly.

The main manifestations of overseas trade in the Song Dynasty

1. The Song Dynasty had a wider connection with overseas than the previous dynasties. People in the Song Dynasty had a clearer concept of overseas geography than their predecessors. There are several works that specifically record the overseas situation, such as “Geographic Map of Overseas Zhushan”, “Zhufan Map”, “Zhufan Zhi”, and “Lingwai Daida”. Department, in which the description of Africa is more extensive than that of the previous generation, such as the East African country (Ling Zanzibar) and the country of China (now Somalia).

The Mulanpi Kingdom in North Africa (actually referring to the Almoravi Dynasty established by the Berbers in Morocco), the Shipandi Kingdom (which seems to be the port of Dumyat in Egypt), the Merga Kingdom (now Morocco), Besli country (now Egypt).

The trade between the Song Dynasty and the Indochina Peninsula, the countries of the South China Sea, the big food countries, and the countries of West Asia was more prosperous than that of the previous dynasties, and the contacts with Korea and Japan were also closer than before. port.

2. The types and quantities of imported and exported goods in the Song Dynasty were more than those in the previous dynasties. There were more than 410 kinds of imported and exported goods in the Song Dynasty. According to the nature, it can be divided into treasures, cloth, incense, leather goods, sundry goods, medicinal materials, etc. Imported spices alone have hundreds of names and colors.

Due to the wide variety of categories, the imported goods are divided into rough colors for the convenience of taxation (generally very complicated. According to the statistics of the Japanese scholar Akihiro Fujiwara’s “New Saru-Gakuji”, there are 41 kinds of “Tang things” imported from Japan alone). There are also different sources and markets for imported and exported goods. For example, the South China Sea region mainly imported spices, treasures, leather goods, and food; finely carved classics were mainly sold to Korea and Japan.

3. There were more trading ports in the Song Dynasty, and the government’s management of overseas trade was more detailed. In the Song Dynasty, there were more than 20 foreign trade ports, and there were five municipal shipping departments in Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Mingzhou, Hangzhou, and Mizhou. In the third year of Song Shenzong Yuanfeng, the government formally revised the “Guangzhou Shipping Regulations (Law)”, commissioned officials to implement it, and used it in various municipal shipping departments.

4. The scale of overseas trade in the Song Dynasty was larger, and the identities of the operators were more complicated. According to Wu Zimu’s “Mengliang Records”, sea ships in the Song Dynasty could carry more than five or six hundred people. There are many sea-going ships. According to inference, there are more than 300 sea-going ships with a width of more than one foot and two feet in Fuzhou. A large number of overseas foreigners came to China for trade and “lived in Tang Dynasty”, and there were also Chinese maritime merchants and sailors living in Tibet.

The identities of overseas trade operators in the Song Dynasty can be divided into two types: official and private. There are two types of government management: one is the so-called “tribute” and “gift” trade between countries in the form of exchanging gifts. This kind of “tribute” and “gift” trade is very frequent.

According to “Song History”, “Song Huiyao” and other incomplete. Goryeo sent more than 30 envoys to the Song Dynasty, and the Song government sent envoys to overseas trade. There are also two types of private business operations: one is dignitaries and bureaucrats; the other is private businessmen, including wealthy families and small and medium businessmen.

Reasons for the Prosperity of Overseas Trade in the Song Dynasty

1. From the perspective of geographical conditions. After the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, the Tubo, Khitan, Jurchen, Mongolian and other ethnic minorities rose one after another, cutting off the land connection between the Song Dynasty and overseas, so the southeast sea route became the only channel for foreign trade in the Song Dynasty, and the sea trade became more prosperous.

2. From the perspective of the international environment. The Crusades and the rise of the Seljuk Turks forced the active Arab merchants to turn their trade attention to the east, open up trade routes to the east, and more and more enter and exit the coastal ports of our country. This objectively created a favorable international environment for the overseas trade of the Song Dynasty.

3. From the domestic environment. The Song Dynasty was an important period when my country’s economic center of gravity moved southward. Due to the war in the north, the population migrated to the south, and a large number of northerners who migrated south brought advanced agricultural production technology, which promoted the further development of the Jiangnan area.

Coupled with the superior natural conditions for the development of agricultural production in the south, as well as the fact that the economic concept of the southerners is relatively lightly bound by tradition, it is conducive to the rapid development of the southern economy. The area of ​​cultivated land has expanded, and the cultivation of rice, wheat, tea, mulberry, and sugar cane has become easier. Generally, the yield is high, and it becomes an export product, which promotes the development of overseas trade.

The handicraft industries in the Song Dynasty, such as porcelain making, textile industry, mining and metallurgy industry, and metal manufacturing industry all developed on the basis of the previous dynasties; movable type printing made it possible to publish a large number of books. These have provided new sources of goods for overseas trade.

4. From the perspective of government policy. Threatened by the Liao and Jin Dynasties, the Song Dynasty gradually retreated to the southeast corner: the government had huge military expenditures and official salaries, and had to bear a heavy “year-old currency” every year. It had to find new sources of finance, so it paid more attention to overseas trade.

It not only further improved the Shibu organization built in the Tang Dynasty, but also dredged the harbor, added more ports, formulated regulations, actively encouraged foreign businessmen to trade in China, and rewarded and punished Shibo officials for their achievements in attracting foreign businessmen. At the same time, actively support Chinese businessmen to go overseas for trade.

After the Northern Song Dynasty and the Middle Dynasty, the income from overseas trade has always accounted for a large proportion of the annual income of the Song Dynasty. Song Gaozong sighed about this: “The profit of the market ship is the greatest. If it is handled properly, the income will be in the millions. Wouldn’t it be better than the The people? Lian paid attention to this, and the common people can lessen the power of the people.”

5. From the perspective of technical conditions. The progress of shipbuilding technology and navigation technology was another important reason for overseas trade in the Song Dynasty. The scale and production technology of the shipbuilding industry in the Song Dynasty had obvious progress compared with the previous dynasties.

The major seaports along the southeast coast have a well-developed shipbuilding industry. The sea-going ships they build have large load capacity, fast speed, stable hull, adjustable course, thick ship planks, and tight compartments. With its large load capacity and excellent anti-wind and wave performance, it was in the leading position in the world at that time.

The progress of navigation technology is manifested in the fact that sailors can skillfully use the rules of trade winds to go to sea or return, and judge the tide, wind direction and cloudy or sunny through astronomical phenomena. The boat master also mastered the technique of “star-drawing” and deep water exploration, used the compass to navigate, guided the way with a compass, and compiled a seaway map. All of these greatly contributed to the prosperity of overseas trade in the Song Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty has always been regarded as the most exquisite dynasty by later generations. Because of the prosperity of overseas trade in this dynasty, people’s quality of life was improved, and the overall social atmosphere was more elegant. This is why the style of writing in the Song Dynasty changed from “poetry” to “ci”, which is the impact of overseas trade on social atmosphere.