China as a Sea Power, 1127-1368: A Preliminary Survey of the Maritime Expansion and Naval Exploits of the Chinese People During the Southern Song and Yuan Periods

6 Development of Maritime Trade

186 China as a Sea Power chapter 6 Development of Maritime Trade The collapse of Chinese resistance in North China, which culminated in the fall of the Northern Song capital, Kaifeng, in 1127, was due to economic causes as much as to military and political causes. Indeed, the economic deterioration arguably preceded, and contributed materially to, the Northern Song’s military debacle. The government reforms of Wang Anshi, launched in the hope of arresting the economic decline, were never given a fair chance to succeed. Instead, they were accepted and rejected, modified and compromised. In the end, they served only to aggravate the situation further. Of particular importance to the Song military efforts were China’s overseas markets. By means of maritime trade, Chinese governments were able to reap huge financial rewards, mainly by taxing the trade. These revenues were to prove particularly important to the Song in fighting off, and ultimately delaying, the nomadic invasion from the north. Economic Crisis and Foreign Trade By the end of the Song dynasty, China’s financial system faced a crisis. One of the major causes of the economic instability was the transition that was taking place in China from an agricultural economy to a money economy. The economic basis of the nation, down to the middle of the Tang dynasty, was agrarian and the economic strength of the nation depended upon the production of the land. Neither commerce nor industry was well developed, and the taxes that they paid in money were but a very small part of the government’s revenue. For example, the revenue of the government in the year 749 came to 52,300,000 units (strings of 1,000 cash, piculs of rice, bales of silk, and bolts of cotton), and of this amount, only 2,000,000 strings, 186 China_Sea Power Chap6.indd 186 2/13/2012 1:18:40 PM Development of Maritime Trade 187 or 3.9 per cent, was in money.1 Commerce and industry began to make headway during the latter part of the Tang dynasty, and by the Song had reached a high state of development. The rapid industrial advance of the Song period may be seen when compared with the Tang period. In the Tang period, according to the Tongtian, an eighth century encyclopedia by Du Yu, there was only one locality manufacturing paper for use by the court; in the Northern Song period there were eight. In the Tang period, there was only one locality manufacturing porcelain ware for the court; in the Northern Song period there were three.2 There were also more mines and smelting centers in the Song than in the Tang period (see Table 25). Table 25. Mines and Smelting Centers3 Tang (before 9th century) Song (1064–7) Gold – 11 Silver 58 84 Copper 96 46 Iron 5 77 Lead 4 30 Tin 2 16 Table 26. Annual Amount of Metals Supplied to the State4 Tang Song 806–20 847–59 1049–56 1078 Gold (in liang) – – 15,095 10,710 Silver (in liang) 10,200 25,000 219,829 215,385 Copper (in jin) 266,000 655,000 5,308,835 14,605,369 Iron (in jin) 2,070,000 532,000 7,241,000 5,501,097 Lead (in jin) – 114,000 98,151 9,197,335 Tin (in jin) 50,000 17,000 330,695 2,321,898 The smaller number of copper mines and copper smelting centers does not mean there was a decrease in production. On the contrary, as Table 26 shows, thc production of copper also increased remarkably. 1 Chuan Hansheng, “The annual revenue of the Tang and Song governments and its relation to money economy,” Bulletin Academia Sinica 20 (1949): 192. 2 Wang Zhiduan, Song Yuan Jingji Shi, 2nd ed. (Shanghai, 1935), p. 21. 3 Ibid., pp. 29–30. 4 Ibid., pp. 31–2. China_Sea Power Chap6.indd 187 2/13/2012 1:18:40 PM 188 China as a Sea Power Commerce was no longer the petty business of small shops and street hawkers, nor was it decentralized home handicrafts. Manufacturers were merging and centralizing their industries, as in the production of ceramics, paper, lacquerware, and textiles, and in so doing dramatically increasing their output. Improvements in the methods of production and merchandising lowered the prices of manufactured goods, bringing them within range of the purchasing power of the common people, so that sales increased and...