Trade between Japan and the West
Chinese Perspectives
Like the Dutch, the Chinese merchants visiting Japan during the Edo period were debriefed by the Japanese government. The resulting 'news reports' ('f -usetsugaki'), in which the Chinese described the situation in the world, provide new insights into East-West relations in early modern Japan.
By YONEO ISHII
For those who wish to find out more about the Chinese perspective on maritime trade between Japan and the West, particularly the Dutch, Da Ching Shi-lu (Veritable Records of the Great Ching), a source often consulted by historians of late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century Southeast Asia, is of little use. The compiler's concern was limited to the reception of tributary missions dispatched by the kings of the 'Southern Barbarians' to the court of the 'Celestial Empire.' Better and more relevant information on the subject is available in the T -osenf-usetsu-gaki. This is a collection of verbal reports made to the governor of Nagasaki by the crews of all incoming junks not only out of Chinese ports but also from Southeast Asia, where the Dutch had settled by that time and were promoting trade in Asia by bringing tropical products to Japanese markets.
For Chinese merchants at the time, the Dutch East India Company (VOC), with its factories in various ports throughout Southeast Asia, appeared to be a formidable business rival. The Dutch were selling the same commodities, such as deerskins, were operating in the same area, such as Siam, and were supplying the same market, namely Japan. In fact, the Dutch in Ayutthaya attempted to exclude the Chinese from this lucrative business, albeit ineffectively, by forcing Siamese kings to sign special treaties to that effect. Therefore, it is understandable that the Dutch would have tried to keep their business secrets from the Chinese. A report from Batavia dated August 29, 1684 makes that clear. Although the shrewd Chinese merchants often complained that the Dutch 'tend to keep everything secret and seldom give information to the Chinese' and 'do not even disclose the number or date of departure of their ships bound for Nagasaki,' they, in fact, turned out to be quite well informed about the behaviour of their rivals. The T -osen
f-usetsu-gaki provides excellent evidence as to just how well-informed the Chinese junk traders were about the movements of competing Dutch ships. The following caption shows the highly effective nature of junk traders' intelligence activities:
'We have been told that four Dutch vessels will be coming to Nagasaki (this year). Every year the Dutch ship is sent to call at Ayutthaya to load cargo from Siam before subsequently visiting Nagasaki. The same practice will be followed this year. On the nineteenth day of the fourth month, one Dutch ship left for Siam and will eventually come here (to Nagasaki). Three other Dutch ships are ready to depart from Kelapa. According to the information we gathered about their destinations, these vessels are bound for Putuoshan where, we assume, they will attempt to purchase clandestinely raw silk, silken textiles, and some natural medicines. If their plans prove unsuccessful, they will go to Guangtong, where they will try to procure the same raw silk, silken textiles and natural medicines, and then return to Kelapa. They usually follow this practice every year, namely procuring cargoes in Guangdong to bring to Nagasaki' (Report of the junk from Kelapa dated 14 July 1682).
Although the Chinese humbly reported to the Governor of Nagasaki, saying 'we only have a general idea about their activities but no particulars', presumably because of the inaccessibility of information, their knowledge of the behaviour of their rivals in Batavia seems to have been more than sufficient. Their reports refer not only to the detailed itinerary of Dutch ships bound for Japan, but also touch upon the personal affairs of the Dutch factory. For example, in one report to the Nagasaki Governor, we find the exact date of the death of Cornelis Speelman, quoted as 'the Great King,' as well as some mention about the subsequent situation concerning his succession.
'Because we went there solely for business reasons, we did not survey their (Dutch) customs in detail,' was an obvious understatement. A reading of the reports given in the T -osen f-usetsu-gaki clearly indicates that the Chinese regarded the VOC, in fact, as their arch-rival in the export and import business on the Asian seas. They naturally devoted themselves to obtaining intelligence about Dutch commercial activities in the greatest possible detail in order to win the commercial war over their competitors. *
Yoneo Ishii is President of the Kanda University of International Studies, Japan.
E-mail: y-ishii@kanda.kuis.ac.jp