A time period ruled by a specific family in China.
It is generally accepted that China has the record for the longest, continuous civilization in world history. This claim often rests on the longevity of Imperial China, the phase in Chinese history from 221 B.C.E. to 1911 C.E. Given China’s geography, large population, and the long stability of Imperial China, China had perhaps the greatest resource base, production, and market potential of any civilization for most of the world’s history. The attitudes and policies toward trade practiced by the dynasties of Imperial China are crucial to understanding the history of world trade.
For most of its over 2,000-year history, Confucianism, an ideology rooted in conservatism, isolation, and xenophobia, governed Imperial China. Orthodox Confucianism abhorred cross-cultural interaction. It also loathed commerce, believing that merchants were parasites who exploited those who actually produced food and products. Those attitudes led Confucians to be suspicious of interaction with other cultures and to prefer autarky and isolation to exchange and interaction. Nevertheless, the Chinese were not totally isolated from the flow of world commerce. People whose foremost interest was not the maximization of profit or volume of trade, however, channeled that flow into narrow and highly controlled entry points.
China, with abundant and diverse natural resources, did not need to trade with other civilizations. Nevertheless, and despite their hostility to world trade, Confucians did see value in some exchange. Imperial China was stabilized in the mid-100s B.C.E. under the Han dynasty (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.). The Han pursued two types of trade:
Trade, Han Dynasty, Beginning of Common Era At its height around the time of Christ, the Han dynasty ruled over an empire with a population and economy estimated to be equal to that of the contemporary Roman empire, also at the height of its power, wealth, and influence. (Mark Stein Studios)
The tribute system, which was how China conducted trade relations with its neighbors, was clearly not a market-based exchange of goods. Its goals were to demonstrate the superiority of Chinese civilization and prevent barbarian attack. To accomplish these, the Chinese made trade a highly ritualistic ceremony in which they exchanged sophisticated luxury goods for everyday items that to them were of marginal value. From a business perspective, the Chinese were running a trade deficit. They gave items that had more value in their economy than the items they received. There was an exception to this in the tribute taken from some steppe nomads, who gave the Chinese higher quality horses than were typically raised in China. Outside of that, however, the tribute system was a ritualistic display of wealth that was in reality an uneven exchange of goods in favor of the tribute state.
Silk was the most famous product associated with China’s long-distance trade. Although it is difficult to pinpoint the exact beginning of the silk trade, it was well under way by the time the Han stabilized China. The Han silk trade exemplifies Confucian attitudes toward trade. It was totally state controlled. Every household was required to pay a silk tax to the government, giving the government control over most silk production and quashing any private-sector silk industry. The Han dynasty’s expansion into the central Asian steppe quieted trade caravan raiding nomads, allowing the famous Silk Road to flourish for much of the Han dynasty.
The period from the early 200s to the late 500s is the closest Imperial China came to losing its claim to continuity. For most of this period there were multiple centers of powers, however, they were all at least nominally Confucian. The chaos and constant fighting between these centers, along with the collapse of both Rome and Parthia into civil war and anarchy, caused a dramatic drop in world trade, especially in long-distance trade among civilizations. Steppe nomads, taking advantage of the chaos, moved in and blocked traditional trade routes like the Silk Road, and China’s involvement in world trade declined, as did the overall volume of world trade.
Kublai Khan (pictured here) completed the Mongol conquest of China, establishing the Yuan dynasty (1279–1356). Despite their traditions of subsistence and nomadism, the Mongols oversaw a revival of world trade. (© North Wind Picture Archives)
The Tang dynasty (618–907) was instrumental in pushing the steppe nomads back and restoring exchange among civilizations. In many ways, the Tang rejected Confucian tradition. They were the most warlike of China’s native dynasties and the early Tang rulers actively sought commercial and cultural interaction with other civilizations. The Tang’s aggressiveness made the tribute system harsher toward the tribute states, but long-distance trade and cultural exchange increased. Such policies came to a crashing halt with the defeat of the Tang by Muslim Arabs in the Battle of Talas (751). This defeat sent the Tang dynasty into civil war, of which steppe nomads, many of whom were converting to Islam, took great advantage by seizing control of the Silk Road and encroaching on China itself. As the dynasty descended into further fratricidal chaos, nomads gained control of much of northern China and Muslim traders began to dominate China’s long-distance trade.
The Song dynasty (960–1279) was unable to reverse the gains of the steppe nomads. Long-distance trade fell even more under the control of Muslims. Like the Tang, the Song controlled the interaction between these traders and Chinese producers and consumers. Although the Song held traditional Confucian suspicions of outside contact, they were too weak to prevent it. Song weakness was further exemplified by changes in the tribute system’s dynamics. Nomads now demanded both the type and quantity of tribute they would receive, and the Song complied.
Although other steppe nomads conquered much of China, the Mongols conquered them all. Kublai Khan completed the Mongol conquest of China, establishing the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368). Despite their traditions of subsistence and nomadism, the Mongols oversaw a revival of world trade. Collectively, Mongols ruled more of the world than any group before, putting much of the world economy nominally under one rule. More important, they strongly encouraged world trade. In part, this was done out of curiosity and a demonstration of power by the Mongol Great Khans; none dared to raid a trade caravan in his domain. The Mongols also used trade to staff the bureaucracies of their empire. The Mongols required some sort of administrative service from traders for them to trade in their domains. They did so because foreign merchants had little basis on which to unify with the people whom they administered and little incentive to see the trade promoting stability of Mongol rule shaken by revolt. Marco Polo is perhaps the most famous example of this to Westerners, but thousands of Buddhist and Moslem merchants had similar experiences. Unfortunately, the merchants also had no incentive to expend resources keeping up China’s infrastructure, leading to the unrest and revolt that toppled the Yuan and led to the Ming dynasty (1368–1644).
China became increasingly involved in world trade under the Ming, ultimately, however, Confucian disdain for commerce kept China’s economy from realizing maximum profit from this exchange. At first, the Ming emperors seemed to encourage both a return to Confucian tradition and increased trade. This culminated in a series of exploratory voyages in the early 1400s led by court eunuch Zheng He. The Chinese ventured throughout the Indian and Pacific Oceans, some may even have reached the Western Hemisphere. Court rivalries between eunuchs and Confucians, along with the traditional Confucian suspicion of foreign trade, led to the end of this impulse when Zheng’s patron emperor died.
Nevertheless, the trade contacts established in these voyages were maintained largely at the initiative of foreign traders. These traders came to China and local officials allowed them to trade through government-regulated guilds. This trade used the shell of the tribute system to mask what was much more market trade than China traditionally had done. Foreigners brought silver as tribute in exchange for Chinese porcelain, silk, and tea. The Chinese insistence on only receiving silver in exchange created a trade surplus, enriching the local Confucians and guild traders. Europeans began to participate in this exchange by the mid-1500s. Although not really acknowledged by the central government, this overseas trade became an important part of China’s economy, especially the silver that was gained, which increased the main medium of exchange for China’s growing population and economy and kept inflation at bay.
Little changed in China’s trade policies as the Manchu dynasty (1644–1911) assumed control. By the early 1800s, however, much about the world had changed. The British, empowered by applying the Industrial Revolution to the military, were no longer content to run a trade deficit with China. They began smuggling opium into China and collecting silver from Chinese opium addicts. Quickly, Britain’s trade deficit became a trade surplus and Chinese officials noticed that much of coastal south China, including military garrisons there, suffered from opium addiction. This prompted the emperor to order a crackdown on the illegal trade, resulting in the Opium Wars with Britain.
China’s stunning defeat in the Opium Wars and its agreement to the Treaty of Nanjing marked a turning point in both Chinese history and the history of world trade. Under the treaty, China agreed to allow the British to trade freely in five port cities and to help make Chinese trade rules. Soon, most other Western countries gained similar privileges and China was divided into spheres of influence. The people of China saw these humiliations as a sign that the Manchu were no longer the legitimate rulers of China. Revolts broke out, followed by civil wars between rival warlords, who were equipped with weapons purchased from the West. Only when these revolts were aimed at Western trading interests, like the Boxer Rebellion, did Western countries involve themselves. By the early twentieth century, warlords ruled the Chinese countryside, Western merchants controlled the port cities, and the emperor and his Confucian advisors seemed increasingly irrelevant. Warlords finally dispatched them in the fall of 1911, bringing once proud Imperial China to a humble end.
China’s leaders generally feared trade with other civilizations for most of Imperial China’s history. Those in power rarely saw participating in world trade to increase economic prosperity as acceptable. Nevertheless, China did participate in world trade, but this trade was largely initiated and controlled by China’s trading partners. In the end, it was Western aggressiveness in forcing China to trade that set in motion the chain of events that led to the collapse of Imperial China, confirming the worst nightmares of the Confucians about the dangers of world trade.
David Price
See also: Chinese-Japanese Trade.
Schirokauer, Conrad. A Brief History of Chinese Civilization. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 1991.
Twitchett, D., and John K. Fairbank, eds. The Cambridge History of China. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Wakeman, Fredric. The Fall of Imperial China. New York: Free Press, 1975.