Water Guests of the Two-Mountain:Professional Traders,Commenda,and Transregional Trade in China during the Early Nineteenth Century
From the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries,a group of institutionalized professional traders,called water guests,evolved from the transshipment trade.Relying on the Chang-Yu Road and oil goods in the Two-Mountain areas,the merchants from Huizhou hired water guests to engage in their transregional trade since the Qianlong era.Like in other regions,they employed water guests in two forms:one was paying a fixed salary;the other was by commenda in which shop owners and water guests shared profit and loss together.By the early nineteenth century,natural disasters and other factors made it difficult for shop owners to hire water guests in the former form as before.By adopting the institutionalized commenda,the autonomy and motivation of water guests in trading enhanced,ensuring shops'continued survival and profitability in a rapidly changing market.The Two-Mountain water guests'practices show that the institutionalization of professional traders and commenda were essential for merchants to overcome transportation obstacles,respond to business crises,and thus maintain transregional trade.Discussions on professional traders like"Two-Mountain water guests"and the associated trade routes could serve as a new perspective for academia to further explore issues related to market integration in China.
Water GuestsHuizhou MerchantsProfessional TradersCommendaTransregional Trade
万方数据
维普
