Treaty ports (Chinese: 商埠; Japanese: 条約港) were the ports that were opened to foreign trade mainly by the unequal treaties forced upon them by Western powers, as well as cities in Korea opened up similarly by the Qing dynasty of China (before the First Sino-Japanese War) and the Empire of Japan.[1][2]
China
The treaty ports were designated Chinese cities that were opened to foreign trade and residence by the unequal treaties,[3][4] and lasted for approximately one hundred years. The Treaty of Nanking established the first treaty port, and the Second Opium War gave rise to a second group of treaty ports. At its peak, more than 80 treaty ports were established in China; initially by Britain, France, and the United States; but soon expanding to all of the major foreign powes by the end of the 19th century.
For encyclopedic details on each treaty port, see Robert Nield's China's Foreign Places: The Foreign Presence in China in the Treaty Port Era, 1840-1943 (2015).
Japan
Japan opened two ports to foreign trade, Shimoda and Hakodate, in 1854 (Convention of Kanagawa), to the United States.[5] In 1858, the Treaty of Amity and Commerce designated four more ports, Kanagawa, Hyogo, Nagasaki, and Niigata. The treaty with the United States was followed by similar ones with Britain, the Netherlands, Russia, and France. The ports permitted legal extraterritoriality for citizens of the treaty nations. The system of treaty ports ended in Japan in the year 1899 as a consequence of Japan's rapid transition to a modern nation. Japan had sought treaty revision earnestly, and in 1894, signed a new treaty with Britain which revised or abrogated the previous "unequal" treaty. Other countries signed similar treaties. The new treaties came into force in July 1899.[6]
Korea
Following the Ganghwa Treaty of 1876, the Korean kingdom of Joseon agreed to the opening of three strategic ports and the extension of legal extraterritoriality to merchants from Meiji Japan. Chinese merchants also entered Korea in earnest after the Qing army was sent to suppress the Imo Incident in 1882.[7] The first port opened in this manner was Busan, while Incheon and Wonsan followed shortly thereafter. These cities became important centers of mercantile activity for traders from China and Japan until Korea's colonization by Japan in 1910.[8]
See also
References
- Fuchs, Eckhardt (2017). A New Modern History of East Asia. p. 146.
- William C. Johnstone, "International Relations: The Status of Foreign Concessions and Settlements in the Treaty Ports of China" American Political Science Review (1937) 31#5 pp. 942-948 online
- Fuchs, Eckhardt (2017). A New Modern History of East Asia. p. 146.
- William C. Johnstone, "International Relations: The Status of Foreign Concessions and Settlements in the Treaty Ports of China" American Political Science Review (1937) 31#5 pp. 942-948 online
- Nakabayashi, 2014
- J.E. Hoare, Japan's treaty ports and foreign settlements: the uninvited guests 1858–1899 (Folkestone: Japan Library, 1994).
- Fuchs, Eckhardt (2017). A New Modern History of East Asia. p. 145.
- Hoisoo Min, "The Establishment of the Superintendent Office (Gamriseo) at the Treaty Ports in Korea, 1883~ 1886." Journal of Northeast Asian History 36 (2012): 139-186.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "China". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Further reading
- Bickers, Robert, and Isabella Jackson, eds. Treaty Ports in Modern China: Law, Land and Power (Routledge, 2016).
- Bracken, Gregory. "Treaty Ports in China: Their Genesis, Development, and Influence." Journal of Urban History 45#1 (2019): 168–176. online
- Brunero, Donna, and Stephanie Villalta Puig, eds. Life in Treaty Port China and Japan (Palgrave, 2018), scholarly essays
- Deuchler, Martina.Confucian Gentlemen and Barbarian Envoys: The Opening of Korea, 1875-1885 (University of Washington Press, 1977).
- Gull E. M. British Economic Interests in the Far East (1943); focus on the treaty ports online
- Hamashita, Takeshi. "Tribute and treaties: East Asian treaty ports networks in the era of negotiation, 1834–1894." European journal of East Asian studies 1.1 (2002): 59–87.
- Hibbard, Peter The Bund Shanghai: China Faces West (Odyssey Illustrated Guides, 2007)
- Hoare. J.E. Japan's Treaty Ports and Foreign Settlements: The Uninvited Guests, 1858–1899 (RoutledgeCurzon, 1995) ISBN 978-1-873410-26-4.
- Johnstone, William C. "The status of foreign concessions and settlements in the Treaty Ports of China." American Political Science Review 31.5 (1937): 942–948. Online
- Morse, Hosea Ballou. International Relations of the Chinese Empire: The Period of Conflict: 1834-1860. (1910) online
- Morse, Hosea Ballou. The Trade and Administration of the Chinese Empire (1908) online
- Nakabayashi, Masaki. "Imposed Efficiency of Treaty Ports: Japanese Industrialization and Western Imperialist Institutions." Review of Development Economics 18.2 (2014): 254–271. Online
- Nield, Robert. China’s Foreign Places: The Foreign Presence in China in the Treaty Ports (2015) Online
- Patterson, Wayne. William Nelson Lovatt in Late Qing China: War, Maritime Customs, and Treaty Ports, 1860–1904 (Lexington Books, 2019).
- Sewell, Bill. "East Asian Treaty Ports as Zones of Encounter." Journal of Urban History 45#6 (2019): 1315-1325 online.
- Sigel, Louis T. "Foreign Policy Interests and Activities of the Treaty-Port Chinese Community." in Reform in Nineteenth-Century China (Brill, 1976) pp. 272–281.
- Sigel, Louis T. "Urbanization, Modernization, and Identity in Asia: A Historical Perspective". Modern China 4#4 (1978) pp 461–490.
- Tai, En-Sai. Treaty ports in China: A study in diplomacy (Columbia UP, 1918) online.
- Taylor, Jeremy E. "The bund: littoral space of empire in the treaty ports of East Asia." Social History 27.2 (2002): 125–142.
- Wood, Frances. No Dogs and Not Many Chinese: Treaty Port Life in China 1843-1943 (1998)
- Zinda, Yvonne Schulz "Representation and Nostalgic Re-invention of Shanghai in Chinese film." in Port Cities in Asia and Europe (2008): 159+.
Primary sources
- Cortazzi, Hugh, ed. Victorians in Japan: In and around the Treaty ports (A&C Black, 2013), Anthology of primary sources.
- Dennys, Nicholas Belfield. The Treaty Ports of China and Japan. A Complete Guide to the Open Ports of Those Countries, Together with Peking, Yedo, Hongkong and Macao. Forming a Guide Book & Vade Mecum... With 29 Maps and Plans (1867). online
- Wright, Arnold. Twentieth century impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other treaty ports of China: their history, people, commerce, industries, and resources (1908) online