King Of Canton And Guangdong’s Foreign Relations In Early Qing Dynasty

At the beginning of the Qing dynasty,the South China was indefinite and the anti-Qing forces were active.The Qing court,due to the lack of its own forces,inherited and developed the policy of uniting the Han officials since the Hong Taiji,and implemented the ’feudal system’ in the southern frontier.The Qing court also used the Han Chinese Independence Corps,which surrenderred to it in the late Ming dynasty,to stabilize the Manchurian aristocracy’s rule of the South China.Shang Keshi,as the hierarch in Guangdong,dominated the Guangdong politics from the seventh year of Shunzhi dynasty to the nineteenth year of Kangxi dynasty.The early Qing dynasty inherited the sea ban policy from the Ming dynasty,and even strengthened it under the pressure of Koxinga’s resistance.The policy is divided into two periods by the introduction of the relocation policy: Shunzhi dynasty only restricted sea trade while Kangxi dynasty forbidded fishing ships from going to the sea.The relocation policy asked the residents to move into inland unconditionally in a short period of time and strictly restricted sea trade,causing huge livelihood disasters to the coastal people,especially those in Guangdong province.Faced with the strong executive power of the central government on local society in the early Qing dynasty,Shang Keshi,as a loyal supporter for the Manchurian aristocracy,fulfilled his duties,although he disagreed with the escalation and strengthening of the sea-forbidden policy.On the other hand,Shang played an active role in the ’Macao exempt from moving’,’Kangxi seven years to request the restoration of the community’,’Kangxi seventeen years of Guangdong do not move’ events,to affect the nationa’s decision-making process.Shang’s consideration of Cantonese people’s livelihood is not the main cause of his negative attitude towards the sea ban policy.Shang came to Guangdong from the Dongjiang town in Liaodong region,and controlled the foreign trade in Guangdong province with the tradition of manipulating smuggling trade along the Great Wall border.The severe sea ban policy hinders the development of maritime trade in Guangdong,which may become the primary cause of Shang’s opposition to it.Since the tenth year of Shunzhi dynasty,Shang Keshi,who was well versed in overseas trade and coveted wealth and profits,had controlled Siam and Netherlands’ s tribute trade with China and East Asian countries’ overseas trade,through his control over the Guangdong Salt-customs system and the noble businessmen,while the smuggling trade with the Netherlands was also carried out in Humen secretly.The remnants of the Ming dynasty perished in the twelveth year of Shunzhi dynasty.As a result,the Qing dynasty’s rule of Guangdong gradually became firm and Shang’s position in Guangdong went up.In the seventeenth year of Shunzhi dynasty,Geng Jimao moved to Fujian province,leaving Guangdong in the domainance of Shang’s family.Shang Keshi acted capriciously in his later years,and his large number of children also engaged in illegal activities.The large family and its servants constituted a huge demand for economic resources.Shelterred by Shang Keshi,the maritime trade was not so frustrated,although the sea-forbidden policy had been strenghened from the the first year of Kangxi dynasty.King of Canton was so greedy that he,by virtue of his power in Guangdong province,Trade,instigated the noble businessmen to trade out of sea with some East Asian countries,and wantonly smuggled goods in the waters near Macau.In this way,Shang’s family almost monopolized all foreign trades in Guangdong province during this particular period.Guangdong has been the main channel of Sino-foreign communications since ancient times,and thus has a long history of foreign trade.But the strict seizure of the early Qing dynasty was a big blow on Guangdong’s foreign trade.The smuggling trades supported by Shang Keshi’s privileges,objectively maintained the interactions between Guangdong and the outside world in the transitional period,which laid foundation for the re-establishment of customhouse and the reconstruction of trade relationships with Southeast Asia in later Qing dynasty,despite the fact that all the benefits were grabbed by Shang’s family.