The Formation of the Modern East Asian Economy
That is, they were willing to man, if not
woman, this frontier society. The dramatic increase in
their numbers during the early years of the Qing only
confirms the impact of the settlement of these males on
the local economy, and their willingness here as elsewhere
under Western rule to perform essential jobs for a colonial
economy. In other words, the Dutch in Taiwan found the
Chinese invaluable allies in making their colony a productive,
if not reproductive, success.
If we compare this Taiwanese
history with the fate of overseas Chinese in other Asian
countries at this time, we can also see how the eventual
Chinese conquest of the island probably saved these Fukienese
migrants from bloody mishaps. Consider the case of Manila,
where as on Taiwan some Chinese-a mere 150 men-were already
settled by the time the Westerners first arrived in 1570.
While the Spanish soon sought to transform Manila into
their Asian colony and their base in the exchange of valuable
Chinese products like silk and porcelain for their New
World silver, they actively south to attract Chinese of
many talents to set roots in their colony. By the early
seventeenth century, the Chinese merchants, carpenters,
ironmongers, printers, furniture makers, artisans, construction
workers, and many other workers numbered 30,000. The Chinese
came in search of jobs and profits, not to construct a
colony like the Spanish. As their numbers increased, the
anxious Spaniards, unable to call upon more soldiers from
their distant homeland, established a China town outside
their own walled city in 1582 and put these supposedly
temporary migrants under their supervision.
Their situation then grew
complicated when rival Chinese political figures set their
eyes on the Philippines and aroused increasing Spanish
concern over Chinese intentions. Between 1574 and 1661,
on at least five occasions a total of some 50,000 Chinese
immigrants to the Philippines were massacred in Manila
by Spanish forces fearful of Chinese invasion, mutiny,
or insurrection. After each of these disasters, Chinese
returned to begin anew their search for economic prosperity,
and eventually they won acceptance in this Western colony.
Economic
Closure: National Seclusion in East Asia
in the Face
of the Emerging World Economy
In East Asia, the last third
of the seventeenth century saw the beginning of a new
cycle of economic interaction, one that would last up
to the end of the nineteenth century. This change has
often been interpreted as the formative period of the
European World System, occurring just at the time when
East Asian nations were retreating from maritime trade.
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