중국계 상인의 일본 정착 - 11~13세기를 중심으로 -

Abstract

This paper examined the process through which ethnic Chinese merchants came to settle in Japan, specifically during the period between the 11th and 13th centuries. The said period corresponds to the Song Dynasty in China, which largely limits the subject of this study to Song merchants. Nevertheless, the use of the term “ethnic Chinese merchants” rather than “Song merchants” was attributable to the fact that most Chinese merchants, including Song merchants, are deemed to have undergone a similar route to settling down in Japan. First, Chinese merchants established a base in Japan while traveling between China and Japan, intermarried with Japanese spouses to have families in Japan, and then gradually moved their base of operations from China to Japan. As their business was based in Japan, the ethnic Chinese merchants formed social and material networks in Japanese society. In the course of using these networks, they had to understand and acclimatize themselves to the customs and laws of Japanese society, which allowed them to assimilate into the Japanese way of life. Over generations, they gradually embraced their Japanese identities.BR In addition, the study highlighted circumstances that were characteristic of the period between the 11th and 13th centuries. These factors include policy decisions in China and a war between China and Japan.