Kim Dongchul  Han Seokyung  J. B. Lewis

Pusan Silver ginseng Tongnae social history

This article examines the mechanics of the trade with Japan through Pusan and focuses on the characteristics of the Korean merchants as a way of clarifying the operation of the Pusan market. The character of the merchants was largely determined by the structure of trade. Before the mid-eighteenth century, the trade was entrepôt trade—Chinese silk and Korean ginseng for Japanese silver—but after that time, the trade structure shifted to Korean ox hides and sea slugs for Japanese copper. Hypotheses are offered to explain the change in the trade structure. Changes in trade structure produced changes in the character of the Korean merchants involved with the Japan trade. Kaesong merchants seem to have controlled the long-distance trade to the Chinese border and the supply of ginseng out of the interior in the north, but from the mid-1700s, they were replaced by merchants from the southern Kyongsang region who were part of the local networks handling marine commodities and seafood. Comparisons of Korean and Japanese archival material have enabled us to identify individuals. The author also argues that trade volumes are still difficult to determine, because of the confusion over what constituted smuggling. In addition, the author examines the effect on local society of the Japanese presence and shows how the populace living close to the Japan House in Pusan was deeply involved with trade as brokers and even as consumers of Japanese culture.