Notes on the Reconstruction of Transport Volumes on the Zhaotong and Weinings Roads Ca. 1890–1900 in Tables 7.2 and 7.3

Appendix 6 Notes on the Reconstruction of Transport Volumes on the Zhaotong and Weinings Roads ca. 1890–1900 in Tables 7.2 and 7.3

General Notes

Notes on porters: The reconstruction uses the loads reflected for Zhenxiong 鎮雄 1771 and late traditional values for comparative analysis. For ordinary porters, these are 35 kg (Zhenxiong documents) and 42 kg (late imperial standard average in the Southwest). Late traditional records confirm that porters routinely covered the same distances as horse caravans (Rocher 1879, Morrison 1895). On this basis, the average day stages are assumed to be the known intervals, but not exceeding 21–24 km, depending on terrain. For heavy-load porters, the loads are 50 kg (Zhenxiong) and 70 kg (late traditional). As heavy-load porters covering 9–11 km per day are recorded in late traditional and modern sources (Chambre de commerce de Lyon 1898; Jenkins 2010), these values are used for extremely heavy loads of 70 kg and more. As Fei and Chang suggest slightly longer day stages for salt porters in central western Yunnan in 1938 (Fei Hsiao-Tung and Chang Chih-i 1949, 48–49), day stages of 12–14 km are assumed for men who carried 50 kg. Notes on pack caravans: The reconstruction uses the late traditional pack load of 72 kg at the standard day distances as standard values. The packhorse load of 168 jin (99 kg) in the copper transport regulations appears to have been an accounting unit rather than actual packhorse load and therefore is not considered in the reconstruction. For a comparative value that assumes very strong mules, loads of 90 kg are used for the most optimistic reconstruction, assuming the regular day stages. Notes on boats: Boat sizes are assumed on the basis of comparable rivers and late traditional descriptions. Travel time uses the day stages for downriver shipping and estimates of the upriver return are adjusted for the velocity of the current and for re- turning empty of with commercial cargo. Notes on the reconstruction of the labour input: The reconstruction employs loads and day distances as basic data and proceeds in three steps. (1) the number of days required for a return trip: return travel time (day stages of the section ×2 for road transport and depending on the extra factors of current and boat weight for shipping) + 1/3 of the number of day stages to account for rest days, repairs and waiting + time for handing over between trips (1/4 for caravans, 1/5 for porters, 1/3 for boats, ½ for carts to cover resting the oxen and frequent repairs). (2) the number of return trips in

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004416178_019 Nanny Kim - 9789004416178 Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2021 05:03:51AM via free access 560 Appendix 6 a working year that is defined at 320 days, allowing for a rest period in summer and a short break over the Spring Festival. (3) the amount of metal shipped per unit and year. (4) the labour input of men, labouring animals, carts, and boats.

Notes of Groups of Goods

Cotton cloth: Chambre de Commerce de Lyon 1898, II, 147, based on information gathered by the Yanjin Lijin station, probably for 1895. Volumes are expected to be lower than average because adverse weather caused a famine in northeastern Yunnan in 1893 and 1894. The volume of cloth imports reflects the dependence of large parts of the Yunnan population on imported cotton. Since raw cotton was imported from Myanmar and northern Laos then processed in a home industry in Yunnan, cotton imported via Sichuan is expected to have covered mainly the more northerly parts of Yunnan and upper market demand. Medicinal products: A wide variety of products from plants and animals, from the highland zones of western Sichuan and Yunnan and ranging in price from goods more valuable than their weight in silver to relatively humdrum herbs. Two figures are recorded based on goods processed by the Chongqing Customs: Geil 1904, 105–6, reports a trade volume of 1,000,000 dan (60,000 tons), probably for 1901, while Chambre de Commerce de Lyon 1898, II, 148, record a revenue of 500,000–600,000 liang, probably for 1895. The proportion of goods that were carried on the Zhaotong road from Yunnan, northeastern Yunnan, and the Tibetan highlands via Huili cannot be assessed but would certainly have been considerable. This estimate assumes that a sixth of the goods that passed through the Chongqing Customs came by this route. Medicinal products are also mentioned for the Weining road. Assuming that the trade was a third of that on the Zhaotong road, approximately 1000 tons seems a reasonable estimate. Salt: The tax quota for Zhaotong and Dongchuan (excluding Zhenxiong) laid down in the 1880s was 400 or 467 tons. Zhaotong zhigao 1924, 141, records an original salt quota of 1744 tons for salt from Qianwei 犍為, defining the quota in terms of overland permits (luyin 陸引) of 1875 tickets (zhang 張). In the early Guangxu period (1875– 1908), the quota was reduced to 1000 tickets of 8000 jin. The weight of 8000 jin per ticket is confirmed in Chuanyan jiyao of 1919, which detailed that a permit consisted of 12 tickets and that 8000 jin was made up of 50 packets (bao 包) of 160 jin each. Zhaotong xianzhi gao 1936, 380, records that the jin used for weighing salt contained 19 liang instead of the standard 16 liang, which would mean that the salt jin was 0.7 instead of the standard 0.6 kg. The 8000 jin quota hence converts to 560 tons. Since there is no means of establishing how much actual transports carried—they may have fallen short of or exceeded the quota—a rounded figure of 500 tons is used for the Zhaotong road. No data on volumes is available for the Weining road. Due to the frequent mention of the product, an only somewhat smaller volume of 300 tons is assumed.

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Pu’er Tea: Chambre de Commerce de Lyon 1898, II, 137, records data provided by Kunming tea wholesalers. This records a total of 40,000 dan (2400 tons) of Pu’er tea being shipped out of Yunnan province, of which 18,000 dan (1080 tons) were destined for Sichuan, 600 dan (36 tons) for Guizhou, 400 (24 tons) for Guangxi and Guangdong, and 11,000 (660 tons) for Tibet. This estimate assumes that the tea destined for Sichuan and for with onward trade to eastern and northern China was carried via the Zhaotong and Weining roads in equal proportions. Porcelain: Several sources state that the inhabitants of Yunnan down to the vil- lage level relied on Jiangxi’s kilns for their high quality crockery and porcelain and on goods from eastern and central China for general use. Transport routes used for this trade were the Guiyang route, the Wujiang road, the road via Zunyi and Guiyang, the Weining road, and the Zhaotong road. In the absence of any records on volumes, this estimate works with a round total of 400 tons on both roads, because volumes were large enough to stand out as important. Hides and furs: No records on volumes could be located, but the trade centred on Zhaotong was noted. Two central merchant streets named pijie 皮街 (hide street) and maojie 毛街 (fur street) in the old city reflect the former importance of the fur- processing industry and its onward trade. Household utensils: No data on volumes is available. High quality household goods were mostly made in Jiangnan 江南. These upmarket goods were traded across a wide geographic area. Beyond the Chinese market, they played an important role in South-east Asian trade networks. Metals: In the period, the combined metal outputs of copper, zinc, and lead of the mines in Zhaotong, Dongchuan, Huili, Weining, and Bijie were about 500 tons. Sichuanese tea: A considerable proportion of trade in Sichuanese tea into Yunnan is recorded. Ordinary grades presumably served the markets of the provinces’ northeastern and eastern parts, while higher grades were sold throughout central Yunnan and traded with Tibet. White wax insects: 8000 porter loads are recorded by Geil for the year 1902 (1904, 190). According to Davies, the porters carried 50–60 lbs (23–27 kg), and the insect’s main breeding area was in the high country between Dongchuan and Weining (1909, 170). The white wax insect, or Chinese wax scale (Ericerus pela), were bred in cold highlands and then transferred to plantations in Sichuan’s lowlands to develop and secrete a hard white wax that served as an outer coat for lard candles. As the living insects needed to reach the Sichuan Basin as fast as possible, transport was exclusively by specialist, fast porters. Silk: No data on volumes. Silks from Jiangnan for the top end of the market and Sichuanese silks famed for their elegance and comfort were traded throughout the South-west and into Myanmar. Opium: Based on information from the tax office of Yanjin and merchants at Zhaotong and Kunming, the members of the Lyonese delegation estimate that, in

Nanny Kim - 9789004416178 Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2021 05:03:51AM via free access 562 Appendix 6 terms of value, opium was the most important export good for Yunnan. Their estimate of the trade at Zhaotong in 1895 was about 3000 dan (180 t) (Chambre de Commerce de Lyon 1898, II, 144). Opium is not mentioned in relation to the Weining route, but it was certainly present. It appears, for example, along the more easterly link between central Guizhou and southern Sichuan via Zunyi and the Wujiang. On account of higher taxation on the Weining route, half of the amount transported on the Zhaotong road is assumed. Carpets and felts: Several sources mention the felt rug industry at Dongchuan. According to Chambre de Commerce de Lyon 1898, II, 144, in a statement dated to about 1895, 24–25 tons of wool were processed annually. Lead oxide and other minerals: Lead oxide (huanghua 黃花) is occasionally mentioned. It is a byproduct of lead and silver mining that was an important ingredient in many glazes. Other mineral pigments that probably once had been of some importance were cinnabar and cobalt. The trade in these presumably had dwindled to insif- gnificance with the collapse of the mining industry and the availability of industrial pigments through overseas trade. Luxury goods: A number of luxury goods were traded over very long distances, mostly serving markets in eastern China. These included precious stones and ivory, as well as swallows’ nests and other Burmese products. Most of these goods presumably were carried on the Zhaotong road, although some would have been taken directly from Dali via Xichang to Sichuan or carried on the Weining road.

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