柯嘉囝

曾經(jīng)縱橫世界海洋的西班牙大帆船，也是太平洋絲綢之路來往使用的主要船只。

Spanish galleons once dominated the oceans of the world. They also plied the Pacific Ocean between Manila and Acapulco.

相知不以萬里為遠。中國和拉丁美洲國家的交流在明清時期就已經(jīng)十分密切，并對相互之間的政治、經(jīng)濟、文化、社會產(chǎn)生了深遠的影響。

太平洋上的貿(mào)易紐帶

16世紀70年代至19世紀初葉，中國和拉美之間存在著一條太平洋絲綢之路。

西班牙自1565年逐步侵占菲律賓諸島，由此開辟了環(huán)太平洋航路。1571年，西班牙人在明都洛外海營救了一艘中國船只。1572年，閩南商人把許多價值不菲的商品運到馬尼拉，其中包括絲綢、瓷器和熏香、麝香、金屬制品以及水果、肉食腌臘品等等。西班牙人全部買下后，轉(zhuǎn)運到墨西哥的阿卡普爾科。阿卡普爾科位于太平洋沿岸、距離墨西哥城約300公里，是墨西哥格雷羅州重要的港口城市。從此，從中國沿海諸港至馬尼拉再至阿卡普爾科的航班年年往來。

太平洋絲綢之路建立后，中國貨便源源不斷地進入美洲。豐富的產(chǎn)品多數(shù)是中國生產(chǎn)，有些則是閩南商人在菲律賓生產(chǎn)。這些產(chǎn)品涉及織染刺繡縫紉、釀酒煎糖榨油、制鞋制革制氈、木作泥作石作、打金打銀打鐵打銅打錫，以及印刷裝訂、燒石灰的熬蠟燭的做油漆等行業(yè)。

運到墨西哥、轉(zhuǎn)運美洲各地的中國貨物成千上萬，但絲類貨物始終占突出的位置。這些中國絲綢和繡品，有羅紗、縐紗和鑲嵌有金銀線的浮花錦緞，有衣料、披肩、絲單被、手帕、臺布、襪子、裙子，還有女性上衣、男性長袍，以及教堂法衣、育嬰堂襁褓，名目繁多，品質(zhì)粗細均有，但都是暢銷貨。

中國絲織品物美價廉，在1640年前后，運到墨西哥的中國絲織品是西班牙同等貨物的三分之一，中國的織錦質(zhì)量遠比西班牙的線緞要好很多，而售價只有其一半。1592年，中國輸入美洲的貨物總值已經(jīng)超過西班牙。

墨西哥的絲織業(yè)在1530年左右開始發(fā)展，到1541年，已開始生產(chǎn)塔夫綢和天鵝絨。1600年，西班牙王室立法禁止美洲殖民地種植桑樹，導(dǎo)致墨西哥剛剛興起的絲織業(yè)面臨斷糧的絕境，正是從中國運來的生絲解救了墨西哥城、普埃布拉和安特奎拉等地的絲織業(yè)，可以重新開機。由此可見，中國生絲已和墨西哥絲織業(yè)休戚與共了。

太平洋絲綢之路，給拉丁美洲帶去了經(jīng)濟繁榮。明清兩代，中國市場上流通的銀元日益增多，輸入中國的墨西哥銀元（鷹洋）大約相當于中國原來擁有的白銀的六分之一，或更多一些。這對于自15世紀中葉以來已代替鈔票日益流通白銀的中國而言，無疑也有很大的補益。

不過，有學(xué)者認為，墨西哥銀元是壓垮大明帝國的最后一根稻草。大明帝國利用白銀進行管理制度改革，但沒有建立起中央銀行、戰(zhàn)略物資儲備這些與白銀相對應(yīng)的安全系統(tǒng)。致使大明經(jīng)濟一度處于裸奔狀態(tài)。當大明帝國和張獻忠、李自成以及與滿清的戰(zhàn)爭逼來時，這個平衡被打破，原有的白銀矛盾爆發(fā)出來，失去了安全閥，只能坐看局勢的崩潰。

墨西哥獨立戰(zhàn)爭期間的1815年，當最后一艘運輸中國貨物的西班牙商船結(jié)關(guān)、離開阿卡普爾科，便宣告了這條太平洋絲綢之路的終結(jié)。

美洲大陸的農(nóng)耕傳播

明清之際，中國出現(xiàn)資本主義萌芽，但終究還是農(nóng)業(yè)為主導(dǎo)。地理大發(fā)現(xiàn)后，美洲一些土生土長的糧食作物、經(jīng)濟作物、蔬果作物，被引種到歐洲、東南亞，并通過這些地區(qū)傳入中國，這給以后中國的經(jīng)濟生活、社會習慣和科技文化發(fā)展帶來了很大的影響。

美洲種植玉米已有5000年以上的歷史，哥倫布說它甘甜可口。16世紀，中國從西亞阿拉伯人那里引入玉米，稱為“玉麥”。16世紀末，李時珍在《本草綱目》記載湖北開始種植玉米。19世紀初，四川、陜西、湖北、湖南的山地都種玉米，玉米成為“山農(nóng)之糧”。

番薯和中國2000多年前在兩廣地區(qū)栽種的甘薯屬于不同品種。1584年、1585年，番薯從菲律賓、越南傳入閩南晉江。1594年福建大旱，人們靠番薯度過了災(zāi)荒。后來，福建人又從文萊等地引入番薯新品種，一顆苗頭可產(chǎn)十多斤，于是逐漸從閩浙推廣到黃淮、華北。

馬鈴薯原產(chǎn)地是秘魯和智利。17世紀，荷蘭人把馬鈴薯帶到臺灣，后傳種福建，被稱為“洋芋”。稍后，爪哇也有馬鈴薯傳入廣東，稱為“荷蘭薯”。19世紀，東北開始種植馬鈴薯，被稱為“土豆”。

中國5000多年前就有土生小?；ㄉ?，漢代時叫“余甘子”，但栽種不廣。巴西大?；ㄉ?6世紀中葉從南洋傳入福建、廣東、浙江與太湖流域，文獻中最早記載在明代的嘉靖《常熟縣志》、萬歷《嘉定縣志》、黃省曾《種芋法》、王世懋《學(xué)圃雜疏》。巴西大?；ㄉ耙_花，花落即生”，明人因而稱之為“落花生”。

哥倫布發(fā)現(xiàn)新大陸時，有一隨從在中美洲一個小島Tobacco，看見吸煙本是印第安人在集會、迎賓時的一種社交方式。16世紀70年代后，煙草從菲律賓呂宋島傳入臺灣和福建，或說從印度尼西亞、越南傳入廣東，再擴散各地；北方則從日本經(jīng)朝鮮半島傳入東北，再入關(guān)內(nèi)。東北戍邊明軍和墾殖流民以吸煙提神解乏、驅(qū)寒取暖，于是種煙取利，明廷屢禁不絕。1641年，尚在關(guān)外的滿清取消禁令。

西紅柿原產(chǎn)安第斯山北部的山谷。16世紀由教會人士傳入中國。1613年，《猗氏縣志》（猗氏縣治在猗氏鎮(zhèn)，今屬山西省運城市臨猗縣）記載此物，稱之為“西番柿”。西紅柿在中國，直到19世紀還只是一種觀賞植物，后來成為栽培最為普遍的果菜之一。

辣椒原產(chǎn)國是墨西哥。16世紀，辣椒從南洋傳入中國，稱為“海椒”“辣子”“辣茄”，明人高濂《遵生八箋》《草花譜》、清人陳淏子《花鏡》都有著錄。辣椒是理想的調(diào)味品，內(nèi)地山區(qū)和北方的寒冷地帶都普遍栽種。辣椒引種后，中國對胡椒、丁香等價格昂貴的香料進口量大為下降。四川、湖南、貴州菜肴也都少不了辣味，成為八大菜系中的地方特色。

（本文圖片由郭成鋼、韓笙提供）

Silk Road on Pacific Ocean from Ming to Qing

By Ke Jianan

From 1565 to 1815 there existed a ship trade between Manila ， the Philippines and Acapulco， New Spain （Mexico now）， operated by Spain. It is commonly known as the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade and the route is designated by some Chinese scholars as Silk Road on the Pacific Ocean. They argue that though the trade was operated by Spaniards and ships were largely Spanish galleons， a large bulk of commodities were made in China and supplied by Chinese merchants and that silk was the most important export of the commodities shipped across the Pacific.

The trade started in 1565. It is not clear whether Chinese goods were on the first galleon on its way to Acapulco. If not， Chinese merchants must have soon become aware of the demand for this cross-Pacific trade. In 1571， a Chinese merchant vessel from Fujian， a coastal province geographically embedded between Zhejiang in the north and Guangdong in the south， ran into trouble on the sea near the Philippines. It was rescued by the Spanish colonists. In 1572， another ship from Fujian arrived at Manila with a full shipload of silk， porcelain， perfume and musk， metal products， fruit and preserved meat. The shipload from Fujian was sold wholesale at Manila and transshipped to Acapulco.

As Chinese goods became the bulk of the commodities shipped from Manila to Acapulco， the galleons were often referred to as China ships because they carried Chinese goods. In 1592， 20 years after history registered the first Chinese shipload of goods joined the galleon trade， the Chinese goods surpassed the Spanish goods in terms of transaction value.

As the trade flourished， many more ports beyond those in Fujian along the coastline of China began to send out ships to Manila and supply the major quantity of the goods. Some manufacturers in Fujian even moved to Manila to set up their factories， to be closer to the market and cut down costs. The Chinese manufacturers in the Philippines made a vast range of goods.

Of the numerous kinds of Chinese goods that went from Manila to Acapulco， silk was arguably the most valuable. Around 1640， the Chinese silk goods shipped to Mexico accounted for 33% of the Spanish silk goods， but Chinese silk was much superior in quality but cheaper by 50%.

The galleon trade helped Mexico to save its silk weaving industry. Silk weaving started in Mexico around 1530. By 1541， Mexico manufacturers were able to make taffeta and velvet. The industry ran into a crisis in 1600 when Spain imposed a ban on mulberry tree cultivation in its colonies in Americas. The raw silk shipped from China saved the situation and factories that had run out of raw silk were able to resume production.

The trade brought economic prosperity to Americas and it brought a large quantity of silver dollars to China. During the Ming （1368-1644） and the Qing （1644-1911）， 16% of the silver dollars circulating in China came from Mexico. The dollars were important to Chinas economy because silver had replaced paper money in the mid 15th century. However， some scholars believe that silver dollars from Mexico were the last straw that crushed the Ming. In absence of a central banking system and strategic materials reserves， the Ming failed to finance its military campaigns against inland rebellions and invading Qing from the north.

In 1810， the Mexican War of Independence broke out. When the last Spanish galleon cleared the customs and left Acapulco behind in 1815， the ship trade that had last 250 years ended.

Additional big benefit that came with silver to China as the result of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade was important agricultural crops. Some Latin American crops came to China via Europe and Arab， but some came from the Southeast Asia， apparently as the result of the trans-Pacific Ocean trade.

Corn came to China from the west in the 16th century. Toward the end of 16th century， farmers in central Chinas Hubei province began to plant it. In the early 19th century， it was widely cultivated in mountainous areas in Sichuan， Shanxi， Hubei， and Hunan provinces and it served as a staple food for people in mountains. Sweet potato was introduced to southern Fujian province in 1584 and 1585 from the Philippines and Vietnam respectively. People in the province survived a killer drought in 1594 mainly because of the crop. Sweet potato later spread to other provinces.

Peanuts， tobacco and hot pepper arrived in China in the 16th century from Southeast Asia. The imported pepper was so popular with people living the west and south that it has long since been a key ingredient in regional cuisines in Sichuan， Hunan and Guizhou. After pepper was introduced， import of spice dropped sharply.

The introduction of agricultural products from Americas was no coincidence at a time when the galleon trade between Manila and Acapulco was flourishing and ships shuttled between Manila and Fujian.