清末ㆍ民國時期 “關稅自主” 성격의 확장 ― 해관 행정권 문제를 중심으로 ―

주형준 명청사학회 2025 명청사연구 Vol.- No.63

This paper analyzes the process and significance of the expansion of the meaning of the tariff autonomy slogan into a political movement for the “the loss and recovery of tariff autonomy” amid the political and economic changes at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the early years of the Republic of China. Previous studies have explained the movement for the recovery of tariff autonomy as centered on the realization of national tariffs and the abolition of the Foreign Customs Commissioner System. However, this paper confirms that the perception of the Inspector-General as an entity infringing on China’s customs sovereignty was a phenomenon limited to a specific period (1922-1928). Additionally, it shows that the issue of revenue management, which had not been raised during the late Qing and early Republican periods, became a prominent concern, thereby expanding the scope of tariff autonomy. It was revealed that the group leading this public opinion was the banking business of Shanghai. Furthermore, it was determined that their ultimate goal was to secure control over the operation of the customs revenue and use it as a financial resource to stabilize the market. The tariff autonomy at the end of the Qing Dynasty primarily focused on the issue of negotiated tariffs. While the Qing government concentrated on raising tariff rates to expand national finances, the business sector focused on realizing protectionist trade policies through the implementation of national tariffs. The core issue was the tariff policy, and the identity of the customs administration was considered a secondary matter. Therefore, there was no reason to escalate this issue into a diplomatic problem that would negatively affect foreign negotiations. Although there was resistance to the foreign nature of the Inspector-General, this criticism was limited to objections about the inspector-general exceeding his original duties and expanding his influence, rather than a sovereignty-related issue. For this reason, the critique of the Foreign Customs Commissioner System and the countermeasures developed to weaken the powers of the Inspector-General and strengthen the Qing government’s control. However, changes occurred following the Xinhai Revolution(辛亥革命). The Qing government decided to transfer the customs revenues, which had been used as collateral for foreign loans and war indemnities, to foreign banks for management, which marked the beginning of the Inspector-General independently managing customs revenue. Despite this, even after the establishment of the Republic of China(中華民國), there was no significant change in the emphasis on negotiated tariffs in the concept of tariff autonomy. This is because the majority of the customs revenue during the late Qing and early Republic periods was spent on repaying internal and external debts and war indemnities, so the identity of the entity managing the revenue did not attract attention from a sovereignty perspective. However, with the emergence of surplus funds (關餘) in 1927, the management of customs revenue began to be reconsidered from a sovereignty standpoint. At the Washington Conference in 1921, it was decided to hold a meeting for the approval of China’s national tariffs, and in 1925, the Beijing Customs Special Conference(北京關稅特別會議) was confirmed, which further intensified the public opinion surrounding tariff autonomy. In this process, not only negotiated tariffs but also the Inspector-General’s administrative control over customs became an issue. The fact that the banking business of Shanghai led the movement for the recovery of tariff autonomy suggests that this phenomenon was not merely a sovereignty issue but was intertwined with the demands of interest groups. Furthermore, the study confirms that the banking business of Shanghai aimed to secure the control over the customs revenue deposited in the HSBC Inspector-General account and sought to use it as a fi...

근대 중국의 해관(海關)과 『중국구해관사료(中國舊海關史料)(1859-1948)』

박기수 ( Kee Soo Park ) 수선사학회 2010 사림 Vol.0 No.37

The Qing Dynasty(淸朝) set up the maritime customs in order to manage the foreign trade and the tributary trade as well. The Kangxi Emperor(康熙帝) set up four maritime customs houses in the four provinces including Guangzhou(廣州) in 1684. In September 1853, due to the rebelling Shanghai Xiaodaohui(上海小刀會), the maritime customs in Shanghai wound down its operations. Wujianzhang(吳健彰), after negotiating with the consuls from Great Britain, America and France, had inspectors who were recommended by every consul assemble the Board of Inspectors. It was the first case in which a westerner was appointed to a customs house in China. From that moment, the right concerned with administrative controls was handed over to foreigners. According to the treaty signed between Great Britain, France, America and China in November 1958, the method to hire foreigners at the customs house was initiated at every port in the same way and the foreign tax accountant system was expanded to all over China. In May 1859, an Englishman, H. N. Lay, was appointed as Inspector General of Shanghai and he appointed another Englishman, H. T. Davies, as a Commissioner of customs to deal with businesses at the customs house in Shanghai. From that point, a practice that Inspector General appointed Commissioner of customs at every port was brought in. In addition, as R. Hart was appointed as Inspector General, the customs houses began to be well organized. The Chinese Maritime Customs published six types of publications, among which, Statistical Series was the most extensive and important publications. Moreover, Returns of Trade(貿易統計) and Reports of Trade(貿易報告) are the main contents of Statistical Series and they paved the way for research of the history about the Chinese modern trade as they were filed into Zhongguojiuhaiguanshiliao(中國舊海關史料). However, there are differences in compilation methods among Returns of Trade as well as Reports of Trade in accordance with their publishing time. In here, the characteristics of the compilation methods and the statistical data were divided into 6 periods to trace back the development and the changing process. ① 1859~1881: R. Hart, after being appointed as Inspector General, tried to organize the business of the maritime customs. Later, groundbreaking changes took place in the compilation methods and the record. ② 1864~1881: Reports of Trade at each maritime customs began to be published from 1865 and the nationwide trade statistics were complied from 1867. ③ 1882~1904: From 1882, compilations of Returns of Trade and Reports of Trade were published together. Moreover, Returns of Trade and Reports of Trade were translated into the Chinese language, the former was published from 1875 and the latter was published from 1889. ④ 1905~1919: From 1905, the reports of trade entered a new phase. From 1904, F.O.B.(Free on Board) and C.I.F.(Cost Insurance Freight) was applied to the statistical prices and the amount of trade became more accurate. In addition, the separate Chinese translation disappeared and the whole statistic books were changed into the style where the English language and the Chinese language co-existed. ⑤ 1920~1931: From 1920, the returns of trade and the reports of trade were not included. ⑥ 1932~1948: The change in the maritime trade statistics was an amendment of provenance and destination for trade items. Decennial Reports(十年報告) are the maritime customs reports which have the longest term period of the report object. They depicted developments of politics, society and cultures in the neighboring areas centered on the seat of the maritime customs. Total 5 compilations were published: the first covers 1882~1891, the second 1892~1901, the third 1902~1911, the fourth 1912~1921, and the fifth deals about what happened 1922~1931.