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20СОЦИАЛЬНАЯ ДЕМОГРАФИЯ
IMPACTS OF CHINESE POPULATION MIGRATION ON VIETNAMESE HOI AN'S SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE XVI-XVIII CENTURIES
Dinh Tien Hieu
Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam E-mail: hieudt1978@gmail.com
Nguyen Thu Hong
Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam E-mail: hongnt79vnu@gmail.com
DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/demis.2022.219
For citation: Dinh Tien Hieu, Nguyen Thu Hong. Impacts of Chinese Population Migration on Vietnamese Hoi An's SocioEconomic Development in the XVI-XVIII Centuries. DEMIS. Demographic Research. 2022. Vol. 2. No. 1. Pp. 116-126. DOI: https://doi. org/10.19181/demis.2022.2.1.9
Abstract. Hoi An was one of the important economic, cultural, and commercial centres of Vietnam in the period of the XVI-XVIII centuries. The establishment and development of the Hoi An seaport were closely attached to the migration and trade of Chinese merchants in addition to the favourable policies of the Nguyen lords. Together with Japanese and Vietnamese merchants, Hoa merchants carried out trading activities proactively and contributed a significant part to the domestic and foreign trade in Hoi An, making it a busy commercial centre and the largest seaport of Cochinchina in the 16th-18th centuries. However, so far, the study of the role of the Chinese in commercial activities in Hoi An has not been fully and systematically studied. Based on the results of previous researchers, the article focuses on understanding the process of migration of the Chinese to the land of Hoi An, and at the same time, outlines the exchange and trade activities, as well as the contributions of the Chinese people to the economic and social development of Cochinchina in particular, and Dai Viet in general. Keywords: Hoa people, Hoi An, Cochinchina, trade.
Migration of Hoa people to Hoi An
The migration of Hoa people (i.e., Vietnamese of Chinese origin) to Hoi An took place continuously for centuries, especially after the geographical discoveries in the late 15th century, when European nations went overseas to find more markets. In the early 17th century, Hoa people already learned about Quang Nam province, Cham islet (Vietnamese: Cu Lao Cham), Dai Chiem seaport, and Tra Nhieu coast, owing to their trading activities. By the mid-i7th century, the Ming dynasty was overthrown by the army of Manchuria, resulting in vigorous flows of Chinese migration to Vietnam, especially to Hoi An. There were many reasons for the Chinese migration, including natural calamities; wars and social disturbances; high population density; heavy tax burdens; land occupation; influence from the aggressors; and increasingly greater threats to the climate environment and living conditions [1, p. 26]. However, three primary reasons for the migration and settlement of Chinese people in our country can be described as follows:
The first reason stemmed from the political factor. Following the collapse of the Yuan dynasty, the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) ruled China. To cope with the armed rebellions as well as the Wokou (Chinese: M M, literally, Japanese pirates1) coming from the sea, the Ming dynasty promulgated the Sea Ban (Chinese: which forbade boats from going out to the sea for business, while implementing the suzerain-based trade policy aimed at restricting trading activities of merchants. After being implemented for nearly 200 years, the Sea Ban was abrogated in 1567 by the Longqing Emperor (Chinese: making it favourable
for Chinese merchants to go abroad for business. As a result, the trading activities at sea became more eventful in the Asia-Pacific region.
In 1644, a significant political event took place in China. Taking advantage of the peasant rebellion led by Li Zicheng, the army of Manchuria attacked and occupied Beijing, followed by the establishment of the Qing dynasty. In the 18th year under the reign of the Shunzhi emperor (1661), the Qing dynasty promulgated the Sea Ban again, forcing local people in the coastal areas of some provinces, including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong, to move further inland for 30 to 50 miles. In addition, it was compulsory for all people in China to shave off the front of the head, twist the rest of the hair into a plait at the back, and wear Machu clothing. At the same time, draconian and arbitrary policies were reinforced by the central government. Due to the social changes as well as the revolts taking place constantly during the beginning of the Qing dynasty, a large number of merchants, workers, and poor people had to leave their homeland for overseas countries in the hope of getting business opportunities and settling down until the domestic situation became better.
After wiping out the forces of Zheng Chenggong3 in Taiwan in 1685, the Kangxi emperor repealed the Sea Ban and established customs departments in four provinces, including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong, allowing merchants to go abroad by sea for business. As a result, Chinese merchants travelled to various areas in Southeast Asia, including Hoi An. According to Li Tana, some Chinese people, ranging from 35 to 40, migrated from China to Hoi An and joined the Minh Huong commune (a commune of Ming people; Vietnamese: Minh Hultfng xa) every year during the period from 1744 to 1746. Most of them were unmarried men aged about 20 and came from Fujian [2, p. 24]. Of the Chinese migrants in Hoi An, some were allowed by the Nguyen lords to settle in Cochinchina; they quickly got along with those who came there earlier, forming villages and communities of Hoa people in Hoi An.
The second reason stemmed from the need for a means of livelihood. Apart from the above-mentioned political reason, the need for a means of livelihood was also crucial for the overseas migration of Chinese people. During the period of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the population in China increased rapidly, especially under the Qing dynasty. In the late years under the reign of the Shunzhi emperor (roughly in 1661), the total population in China was around 60 million people, but it amounted to nearly 300 million by the late years under the reign of the Qianlong emperor (roughly in 1795). In 1840, the corresponding figure was 412 million. In the late years under the reign of the Shunzhi emperor, the population
1 Japanese pirates were referred to as "Wokou" or "Dwarf pirates", who often raided the coastlines of Korea and China from the 14th to the 16th century.
2 However, the Ming dynasty continued imposing the "Sea Ban" on Japan.
3 Zheng Chenggong (1624-1662) was a military general in the late period of the Ming dynasty. After the Qing army occupied Beijing, he continued the anti-Qing rebellion, sprouting the slogan of "Opposing Qing and Restoring Ming". Suffering a heavy defeat in the Chinese mainland, he took his troops to Taiwan, setting it as a fortification to fight against the Qing and take control over the whole southeast coastline of China.
of Fujian was around 400 thousand people, but it increased to 1.3 million by the late years under the reign of the Qianlong emperor, excluding about 100 thousand people migrating abroad. In 1840, the population of Fujian amounted to 1.872 million.
Similarly, in the late years under the reign of the Shunzhi emperor, the population of Guangdong was around 300 thousand people, but it increased to 1.6 million and 2.570 million in the late period of the Qianlong emperor, and 1840 respectively.
Contrary to the rapid population growth, the area of cultivated land increased quite slowly. In the late years under the reign of the Shunzhi emperor, the area of cultivated land in Fujian was around 103,458 plots4 and increased to 140,000 plots in 1840. In Guangdong, the area of cultivated land was 250,840 plots in the late period of the Shunzhi emperor and amounted to 320,000 plots in 1840 [3, pp. 99-105]. It is possible to say that cultivated land was the most important means of production for working people. In every specific period, therefore, population and cultivated land must be maintained appropriately to each other to ensure well-being. When commodity trade was more developed, however, the great bulk of the cultivated land was no longer used for cereal farming. Instead, people grew more profitable plants. Besides, the Ming dynasty and subsequently the Qing dynasty implemented the Sea Ban to take precautions against external and internal opposing forces and to avoid harassment from the Wokou. As a result, fishers and those who earned a living by doing community trade with overseas people lost their livelihood. Especially, it was severer for people in the coastal areas of Fujian and Guangdong, where the population was high, but the cultivated land was limited, in addition to the harsh living environment. Facing such a situation, some people rose in rebellion, while some others decided to migrate overseas to earn a living. At that time, many of them chose Hoi An as a destination for their migration.
The third reason stemmed from the Nguyen lords' policies on the encouragement of trading activities with foreign merchants, which were implemented in Cochinchina since the second half of the 17th century, for the sake of economic development and political power reinforcement. Those policies contributed to the attraction of Chinese merchants to the urban and seaport areas in Vietnam, particularly those in present-day central and southern Vietnam. Since then, commercial streets and economic centres such as Hoi An, Cho Lon, Gia Dinh, and Ha Tien, etc. were gradually established. Chinese people were not only allowed to settle permanently in Vietnam but also received much preferential treatment from the Nguyen lords (1592-1771) as well as the Nguyen dynasty afterwards (1802-1945). For example, they were provided with all the same civil rights as Vietnamese people; those who were good at the business had the right to collect taxes; in addition, they also benefited much from other preferential policies in economic sectors. To attract more foreign merchants to Cochinchina, furthermore, the Nguyen lords allowed them to choose locations to build houses, temples, and clubs. In this period, consequently, various streets of Chinese and Japanese merchants were established in Hoi An. In 1618, Christophoro Borri, an Italian Jesuit missionary, came to Cochinchina and noted: "This city is called Faifó (i.e., Hoi An), and is so large, that we may say they are two, one of Chineses, the other of Japoneses; for they are divided from one another, each having their distinct governor, and the Chineses living according to the laws of China, as the Japoneses do according to those of Japan" [4, p. 92]. It can be said that apart from the domestic problems inside China, another important factor resulting in the migration of Chinese people to Cochinchina was the "hospitable" policies implemented by the Nguyen lords and subsequently the Nguyen dynasty to Chinese migrants [5, p. 69].
4 One plot is the same as 100 Chinese acres; a Chinese acre is equivalent to 666.67 m2.
Economic activities of the Chinese in Hoi An
i. Economic characteristics of the Chinese people
Different from the trade in Hien Town (Vietnamese: Pho Hien), business activities in Hoi An were mainly undertaken by foreign merchants, especially Chinese and Japanese ones. Observing the presence of a lot of Chinese and Japanese merchants in Hoi An, Chris-tophoro Borri concluded: "In Cochinchina, traders are mainly Chinese and Japanese" [4, p. 90]. During the process of establishment and development, each community of migrants coming to a certain place to settle or do business usually kept its characteristics. Similarly, the economic and trading characteristics of the community of Hoa people were created, based on the traditional culture and the influence of their living environment.
Firstly, one of the basic characteristics of Hoa people that made them different from others, who came to settle and do business in Hoi An in particular, and Dai Viet in general, is that they always kept close ties with their blood relatives. Initially, Hoa people joined together due to the natural linkage, forming some kinds of associations such as: the port of commodity exchange (Vietnamese: Bac dich truftng), the market of Hoa people (Vietnamese: chtf ngufti Hoa), the street of Tang people (Vietnamese: pho ngufti Buftng), and the street of Hakka people (Vietnamese: pho Khach) as well as others. Moreover, then, organisations of institutional linkage such as syndicates, guilds, and villages were gradually established. Although no documents are mentioning the guild in Hoi An, the markets of Hoa people, the streets of Tang people, and the village of Ming people were recorded in historical documents. Those associations were mainly aimed at strengthening the community solidarity, providing mutual support, protecting the economic interest of Hoa people, and resisting the opposing forces and the assimilation from outside.
Secondly, Hoa people always showed flexibility in all situations and adapted themselves easily to the local conditions and policies. Thus, they quickly found a way to adjust to the surroundings no matter whether they lived in a rural or urban area and whether they settled in the home country or migrated abroad. It was one of the significant characteristics of Hoa people that helped their communities to develop and enhance their economic roles and positions in the country of destination.
Thirdly, it is the sense of mutual support in the business. We rarely witness that Hoa people, who live near one another, do business in the same goods in order to avoid competition. When they sell the same things, those things are just sundries. In business, Hoa people always follow their common principles. Contrary to the phenomenon of "every man for himself", Hoa people provide mutual support for one another. They are prepared to give funding to businesses, whenever necessary. They willingly lend their neighbours trade articles when they have not got the articles on time. Besides, they together provide support for other Hoa people, who have just moved from other places or migrated from the home country. When an Hoa person opens a restaurant, others will come to have meals in the restaurant. Similarly, when he or she sets up a shoe-making shop, others will come and buy shoes.
Fourthly, Hoa people highly appreciate credibility, which is considered most important in business. According to their opinion, everything can be gained if credibility is kept, and vice versa. It is viewed as an unwritten principle. Those, who deliberately violate the principle, will have no choice but to leave. Hoa people see credibility as a treasure and a vital principle in business.
Due to the characteristics mentioned above, Hoa people always show more advantages in trading activities, wherever they live. At the same time, they can prove a significant role in trade and a certain position in society in the country of destination.
2. Modes ofbusiness among Hoa people
Firstly, the trade season, also called "merchandising season", has resulted from the tropical monsoon climate of high humidity in Hoi An. During that period, taking advantage of the monsoon blowing from the northeast in winter and the southwest in summer, Chinese merchant boats sailed correspondingly to Hoi An and back to China. The merchandising season began in the first months of the year when spring came with the northeast wind. At that time, Chinese merchant boats reached Hoi An for commodity exchange and trade. The trade became the busiest in March, April, and May. The merchandising season often ended in July or August, when the monsoon still blew from the southeast, and stormy weather was about to set in. Thus, the Chinese merchant boats started to leave Hoi An for China. Christophoro Borri also recorded this particular mode ofbusiness in Hoi An: "The Chineses and Japoneses, drive the chief trade of Cochin-china, which is managed at a fair held yearly at one of the ports of this kingdom, and lasting about four months. The Chineses, in their vessels they called hunks, bring the value of four or five million in the plate; and the Japoneses, in their ships called sommes, an infinite quantity of very fine silk, and other commodities of their country. The king has a vast revenue from this fair by customs and imposts, and all the whole country receives great profit" [6, p. 90].
Secondly, owing to a long tradition of trade, Hoa people tried to "buy goods at the lowest price in the original place and sell them at the highest price to end-users". In addition to the dealers in Hoi An, consequently, Hoa merchants also set up many purchasing stations in local areas to buy products they needed, including forest products such as: agarwood, rhino horns, ivory, tiger bones, woods, and sea products such as: pearls, tortoise shells, sweet snails, swallow's nest, and Holothuria as well as other local products such as sugar, pepper, gold, gems, and amber... Meanwhile, they sent reliable members of their family to the station to supervise the purchasing activities; all the products they had bought were then transported by boats along rivers to Hoi An. According to the record made by Le Quy Don, at that time the export products in Hoi An mainly consisted of 16 types of products, including silk, yellow sugar, swallow's nest, cinnamon, agarwood, pepper, dried areca, ceramics, wood, tortoise shells, and rhino horns, etc. [7, pp. 232-236]. At present, the traces of the Hoa people, who undertook the task of buying local products for the trade in Hoi An, can be found in some areas in Quang Nam province such as Tam Ky, Que Son, Thang Binh, and Duy Xuyen districts. It can be said that Hoi An developed rapidly and became the biggest international trading port in Cochinchina, thanks to the proactive trade of Hoa merchants together with the favourable transport system of seaports, rivers, and canals, where boats and ships could stay for the entire merchandising season, and the abundance of products in Quang Nam.
Another mode of business used by Hoa merchants in their trade in Hoi An is that they played the role of go-betweens or representatives for foreign trading companies. The rapid development of the trade between Hoi An and China as well as other Western countries, however, led to the fact that Hoa merchants hired Vietnamese people to work as go-betweens in purchasing local products because the Hoa merchants realised that Vietnamese people were aware of the situation and local characteristics in Hoi An better than anyone else. To make it more convenient for trading activities, many Hoa merchants married Vietnamese wives to deal with the intermediary work in purchasing local products. The Vietnamese wives and children stayed in Vietnam, helping the Hoa merchants to buy commodities they needed. In Hoi An, consequently, Hoa people undertook not only the logistics in the seaport but also trading activities with the domestic market; apart from gathering local products to
be delivered to the home country, they played the role of mediators between local producers and local customers as well as between Vietnamese people and Western traders.
In 1639, after the Sakoku policy was promulgated and implemented by Japan, Hoa merchants cornered almost the entire market in Hoi An; all the trade centres and major trading activities were in the hand of Hoa people. Realising the favourable opportunity, Hoa merchants in some provinces in China, including Fujian, Guangdong, and Hainan accelerated the trade with other countries in the region. During the period, apart from the Chinese merchant boats allowed by the Chinese government to go to Cochinchina for business, other merchant boats from Fujian, Guangdong, and Hainan also carried out secretly trading activities and contributed considerably to the trade in Hoi An. A large commercial organisation named "Thirteen Firms" was established in Guangdong with the goal of "providing Vietnamese products for European ships and providing necessary Chinese and European products for Vietnam" [8, p. 24].
In the late 17th and the early 18th centuries, Hoa merchants had favourable conditions to do business in Hoi An. They set up some business establishments, enabling them to take control over the trade in Cochinchina. Many important responsibilities were assigned by the Nguyen lords to Hoa merchants, such as the manager of the maritime department of Hoi An seaport and the administration commissioners, who were in charge of supervising the ships and boats coming in and out of the seaport, collecting taxes, calculating weights and measures, assessing commodities, and working as a translator, etc. In the documents of the Minh Huong commune in the early 19th century, some Hoa merchants were asked by the royal court in Hue to come to the imperial city to take up the position of "street administrators" responsible for trading activities. In addition, the Nguyen lords provided more preferential treatment for them, regarding the taxes imposed on Hoa merchant boats. Taking the advantages and applying the appropriate modes of business, Hoa merchants quickly set up a system of trade covering the whole Cochinchina generally and Hoi An particularly; they took control over the profits derived from agricultural products, forest, and sea products as well as minerals, establishing a stable community, and ensuring their long-term position in the place of destination.
3. Sources of commodities
Having favourable geographical conditions and being located in the well-known international maritime trade routes such as "the silk road", "the incense trade route", and "the ceramic trade route" etc., Hoi An became an important seaport in the late 16th century and a busy trade centre in Vietnam in the 17th and 18th centuries. Merchant boats converged on Hoi An for trade, making it become a depot of commodities in Cochinchina particularly and Southeast Asia generally. At that time, Cochinchina was seen as an ideal destination, where merchant ships and boats could come to do business and set up relationships with the government of Thuan Hoa (a historical territory in central Vietnam, consisting of the present-day Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien Hue provinces). Christophoro Borri arrived in Cochinchina in 1618 and was surprised by the potential of the natural seaports in Hoi An. He wrote: 'As for their ports, it is wonderful that in a coast little more than a hundred leagues in length, there should be above sixty most convenient landing-places, which is so because there are large arms of the sea. However, the principal port, to which all strangers resort, and where the aforementioned fair is kept, is that of the province of Cacchian (i.e., Quang Nam province)" [4, p. 91]. Goods were carried from everywhere in the North, the South, the Central, the sea of Vietnam as well as other nations and territories to Hoi An, making it become a huge granary of commodities in Cochinchina and Southeast Asia. Thus, Chinese merchants residing in Hoi An or China wanted to exploit these sources of business profits.
After coming to Cochinchina in 1776, Le Quy Don described the eventful trading activities in Thuan Quang in comparison with those in South China. He wrote: "According to a merchant from Guangdong, whose surname is Tran, if the wind direction is favourable, it will take three days and three nights to sail by sea from Guangzhou to Thuan Hoa, reaching first the strait and then Thanh Ha street in Phu Xuan or similarly reaching first Dai Chiem seaport and then Hoi An town. The boats sailing back from Son Nam (Hien town; Vietnamese: Pho Hien) to Guangzhou carry only one kind of product, which is brown tuber (Dioscorea cirrhosa), while the boats coming back from Thuan Hoa (i.e., Hue and Thanh Ha) carry only pepper; the boats sailing back from Quang Nam (i.e., Hoi An) carry all kinds of products, which other foreign countries cannot compare with" [7, p. 234]. In addition, Le Quy Don pointed out clearly: "ail the goods produced in Thang Hoa, Dien Ban, Quang Ngai, Quy Nhon, Binh Khang, and Nha Trang (i.e., the region covering from Quang Nam to Thuan Hai) are carried to Hoi An by horses iniand or boats aiong the waterways. Thus, merchants from the north come there to buy the goods to be deiivered to the home countries. In the past, there were so many commodities that hundreds of big boats could not carry ail" [7, p. 234]. During the period, almost ail the products exploited from the gold mines in the central part of Dai Viet were mainly exported through the Chinese merchants who worked as go-betweens.
Apart from the above-mentioned commodities, Hoa merchants did business with many other strategic products, including rice, wood, metal, sugar, fabric, and miscellaneous goods. The products were not only delivered to China but also highly profitable for Hoa merchants to sell them to Western merchants or others in Southeast Asia and Japan. Besides, products from various trade centres in the region were carried to Hoi An seaport. In a research work on the East India Company (EIC) in Quang Nam, W. J. M. Buch wrote: "the reason why many Chinese merchants come to Quang Nam every year is that they can find there a trade centre for business with neighbouring countries and regions. Pepper is carried to this place from Palembang, Pahang, and other areas; camphor, wood, ivory, coarse ceramic products, and other goods are delivered from Borneo. With the remaining, they can buy more pepper, ivory, spices, and cardamom produced in Quang Nam. Thus, their boats are brimful of goods, when coming back to China" [8, p. 24].
According to some researchers, over 83 years, from 1647 to 1720, the total number of Chinese merchant boats leaving Hoi An for Japan is 203, making up 30% of all Chinese merchant boats coming from Southeast Asian countries to Japan. This is shown in the following table:
Table 1.
Number of Chinese merchant boats from Southeast Asia to Japan (1647 - 1720)
Tonkin Quang Nam Cambodia Siam Patani Malacca Jakarta Bantam
1647-1650 7 11 4 1 4
1651-1660 15 40 37 28 20 2 1
1661-1670 6 43 24 26 9 2 12
1671-1680 12 40 10 23 2 31 1
1681-1690 12 29 9 25 8 4 18
1691-1700 6 30 22 20 7 2 16 1
1701-1710 3 12 1 11 2 2
1711-1720 2 8 1 5 5
Total 63 203 109 138 49 8 90 3
Source: [9, p. 101].
The figures mentioned above show how abundant the commodities were in Hoi An and enable us to recognise the importance of Hoi An seaport. It was not only a district or inter-district centre of commerce and transport but also a centre of trade and regional and international integration for the whole Indochina. At the same time, the figures demonstrate the role of Hoa merchants in promoting trading activities in Hoi An with other countries in the region.
The influence of the Chinese on promoting the economy and society in Dang Trong in the XVI-XVIII centuries
Owing to the trading activities promoted greatly by Hoa merchants, socio-economic development was strengthened in Indochina generally and Hoi An particularly. This is shown clearly in some areas as follows:
Firstly, the trading activities carried out by Hoa merchants in Hoi An contributed part towards the establishment of some towns, such as Tam Ky town in south Thang Hoa and Nuoc Man town in Quy Nhon province. Those urban or semi-urban centres, including the towns Tam Ky, Nuoc Man, and An Thai, set up mutually supportive and supplementary relationships with Hoi An. In Hoi An alone, the trading activities of Hoa merchants also helped to accelerate the process of urbanisation. They built many houses, which were rented as hotels by newcomers from China or as warehouses by Hoa merchants.
Secondly, the trading activities carried out by the Hoa merchants also led to the creation of some new handicraft industries and the development of the existing industries. For example, Hoa people were inherently skilled in silkworm breeding. After residing in Hoi An, they set up silk-weaving establishments along both sides of the Thu Bon river. Vietnamese people were employed to work for the establishments. To show gratitude towards the Cochinchinese government, some of the Hoa merchants handed over new techniques in silk production, such as the skills in making plain silk and patterned silk, to Vietnamese people to develop the textile industry in Cochinchina. On the way to Tonkin in 1688, William Dampier, an English explorer, heard the news that Chinese people fled from China to Quang Nam province, because local people welcomed them.
Furthermore, many of them were craftsmen, so they then taught the techniques to the military officials that they relied on [10]. Le Quy Don wrote: "Thuan Hoa does not have much wealth; all products are delivered from Quang Nam province, which is the most fertile area. In Thang Hoa and Dien Ban districts, local people know how to weave patterned silk and fabrics that are as fine as those in Guangdong" [7, p. 337]. Owing to the whole-hearted assistance from Chinese artisans, the textile industry developed rapidly in some local areas, including Go Noi, Phong Thu, and Thanh Quyt in Dien Ban, Duy Xuyen, and Dai Loc districts of Quang Nam province. Besides coarse and durable fabric, they also produced fine fabric from a very thin thread-like the fabric made by the spinning frames in China, which was commonly called Chinese fabric.
During the same period, Hoa people in Hoi An built many sugar-making kilns along both sides of the Thu Bon river. There were many types of sugar produced with sophisticated techniques. Western merchants liked the sugar made in Hoi An because it looked beautiful, and its quality was the best in the region. In 1633, four boats of Hoa merchants carried 76,205 kg of sugar from Hoi An seaport to Japan. Until the 18th century, every year Hoa merchants transported more than 40,000 barrels5 of white sugar from Hoi An to China,
5 A barrel is a volume unit for measuring liquid; it is equivalent to 42 gallons, i.e., approximately 150 liters.
getting a profit of about 400% from the product. In 1822, the amount of sugar carried by Hoa people to China ranged from 1,000 to 3,000 tonnes, of which about 250 tonnes were delivered to the European bases in Malacca [9, p. 121].
The trade and urban development in Hoi An also led to the development of Thanh Ha pottery village and Kim Bong carpentry village. Potteries were made in Thanh Ha village quite early in the mid-16th century, but many new products, especially those used in the sugar-making industry, were made in this period. Apart from the traditional products, such as pots and cauldrons, they developed the production of other goods, including jars and vessels used by sugar makers or merchants. During this period, furthermore, carpenters in Kim Bong not only did carpentry in building houses and making household goods, but they also produced two important commodities, including the cinnamon container and the wooden barge. A small-sized wooden barge built in Kim Bong village could carry 60 or 70 tonnes of goods. Meanwhile, a large-sized wooden barge, the length of which was over 30 m, could carry about 200 tonnes of goods. It can be said that the wooden barges built in Kim Bong village partly helped Hoi An become a centre of the river and sea transport.
Thirdly, the cultural exchange between Cochinchina and China was promoted. To make it favourable for the commodity purchase and other trading activities, family and marital relationships were set up popularly by Hoa merchants in Hoi An during this period. In Pierre Poivre's memoirs, he wrote: "Hoa people often get married to local women here" [11, p. 270]. In the epitaph titled "General Regulations of the Chinese Merchants' Club" (Vietnamese: Dultfng Thultfng hoi quan cong nghi dieu le) on the stele placed in Ngu Ban pagoda dating back to the 7th year of Vinh Huu Era (1741), the fifth regulation says: "Those (i.e., Hoa newcomers), who want to take up long-term residence with their Vietnamese wives, have to make a statement to the Club; when the wives are pregnant or give birth, it is necessary to report to the Club so as to make it easier to find the origin and identity of the children" [11, p. 270]. Thus, the family and marital relationships between Hoa and Vietnamese people made Hoi An seaport livelier with both foreign and local characteristics as well as occupational diversity. As a result, the trading activities of Hoa people became more vigorous and stable in a larger area. Besides, the marital relationships between Hoa and Vietnamese people in Hoi An also accelerated the cultural exchange of China with Cochinchina generally and Hoi An particularly. Owing to the marital relationships, many cultural elements from South China, mainly including Fujian, Guangdong, Chaozhou, and Hainan, were disseminated to this region. Many pagodas, clubhouses, houses, and public bars were built, and some Chinese faiths, beliefs, customs, and thoughts were spread to Hoi An. In addition to providing support for the trading activities of Hoa merchants, the cultural exchange between Chinese and local people partly enhanced the ties between Cochinchina and China.
Fourthly, the strong increase of the Chinese in Hoi An, promoted economic, cultural, and social development but left certain consequences for the people here. Accordingly, the Chinese with their solidarity, experience, and trading capital created great pressure on local traders. Local traders could not compete with Chinese merchants, so some went bankrupt, some changed to brokers for overseas Chinese merchants, some changed to retail. Besides, the migration of the Chinese to Hoi An, in addition to enriching the culture of Hoi An, also erased and changed some traditional cultural features of the indigenous residents here.
Conclusion
Based on the above-described analysis, we can see that Hoa people played an important role in socio-economic development, promoting the trade in Hoi An particularly and
Dai Viet generally during the period from the 16th to the 18th century. At the same time, they contributed a great part towards making Hoi An become a centre of cultural exchange and acculturation. Owing to the trading activities, contact, cohabitation, etc. of the Hoa merchants, foreign cultural elements were gradually adopted and amalgamated with the local culture, creating a colourful part in the picture of the whole culture of Vietnam. It can be affirmed that due to the trading activities of Hoa people in addition to the trade appreciation policy of the Cochinchinese government, Cochinchina was likely to be a "sea institution" by the late 16th and the early 17th centuries, promoting sea exploitation thoroughly and developing the maritime trade and cultural exchange.
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Bio note:
Dinh Tien Hieu, PhD, Lecture, Department of History, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Contact information: e-mail: hieudt1978@gmail.com; ORCID ID: 00 00-0001-6211-5952.
Nguyen Thu Hong, PhD, Lecture, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Contact information: e-mail: hongnt79vnu@gmail.com; ORCID ID: 0000-0002-4116-3979.
Received on 08.11.2021; accepted for publication on 13.01.2022.
The authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
ВЛИЯНИЕ МИГРАЦИИ КИТАЙСКОГО НАСЕЛЕНИЯ НА СОЦИАЛЬНО-ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКОЕ РАЗВИТИЕ ВЬЕТНАМСКОГО ХОЙАНА В XVI-XVIII ВВ.
Динь Тиен Хьеу
Вьетнамский национальный университет, Ханой, Вьетнам E-mail: hieudt1978@gmail.com
Нгуен Тху Хонг
Вьетнамский национальный университет, Ханой, Вьетнам E-mail: hongnt79vnu@gmail.com
Для цитирования: Динь Тиен Хьеу, Нгуен Тху Хонг. Влияние миграции китайского населения на социально-экономическое развитие вьетнамского Хойана в XVI-XVIII вв. // ДЕМИС. Демографические исследования. 2022. Т. 2. № 1. С. 116-126. DOI: https://doi.Org/10.19181/demis.2022.2.1.9
Аннотация. Хойан был одним из важных экономических, культурных и торговых центров Вьетнама в период XVI-XVIII вв. Создание и развитие морского порта Хойан было тесно связано с миграцией и торговлей китайских купцов, а также с благоприятной политикой князей Нгуен. Вместе с японскими и вьетнамскими торговцами купцы из Китая вели активную коммерческую деятельность и внесли значительный вклад в развитие внутренней и внешней торговли в Хойане, сделав его оживленным экономическим центром и крупнейшим морским портом Кохинхины в XVI-XVIII вв. Однако до сих пор роль китайцев в коммерческой деятельности в Хойане не изучена системным образом в полной мере. Данная статья опирается на результаты предыдущих исследователей, но акцент делается на осмыслении значения миграции китайцев на земли Хойана, в том числе для торговли и коммерческой деятельности, а также дается оценка вкладу китайского населения в экономическое и социальное развитие Кохинхины в частности и Вьетнама в целом. Ключевые слова: народность хоа, Хойан, Кохинхина, торговля.
Сведения об авторах:
Динь Тиен Хиеу, доктор наук, преподаватель кафедры истории факультета социальных и гуманитарных наук Вьетнамского национального университета, Ханой, Вьетнам.
Контактная информация: e-mail: hieudt1978@gmail.com; ORCID ID: 00 00-00 01-6211-5952.
Нгуен Тху Хонг, доктор наук, преподаватель кафедры политологии факультета социальных и гуманитарных наук Вьетнамского национального университета, Ханой, Вьетнам.
Контактная информация: e-mail: hongnt79vnu@gmail.com; ORCID ID: 0000-0002-4116-3979.
Статья поступила в редакцию 08.11.2021; принята в печать 13.01.2022. Авторы прочитали и одобрили окончательный вариант рукописи.
