清宫内造与京城品味.doc

Fur Trade by The Imperial Household Department And Fashion in Beijing During The Reign of Emperor Qianglong Lai Hui-min Institute Modern History, Academia Sinica During the eighteenth century, Russia constantly sought new places where fur was produced, they obtained large quantities of fur from Siberia to the Kamchatka Peninsula and as far east as the Aleutian Islands and Alaska. In the northern part of China winter is very cold requiring furs clothing. Thus, China became the most important destination for Russian fur exports. In the 28th year of the Emperor Kang-his(1689) Russian caravans were allowed to trade in Beijing. After 1698, Russian governmental caravans traded in Beijing at intervals of about three years. The French scholar Cahen, Gaston found in the account books of Russian caravans in Beijing that the total sum of trade in 1728-1729 was nearly ten million francs. After Kiakhta Treaty in 1728, the center of trade between China and Russia gradually moved to Kiakhta. The Kiakhta customs duties were 20-38 percent of the total Russian customs duties, which provided a large amount of revenue. A lot of imported fur and woolen clothing enriched the dress of the inhabitants of the northern part of China. Especially in Beijing, where clothes made of Russian fur and wool were highly sought after by everyone, whether noble or commoner. As soon as trade between China and Russia in Kiakhta was opened during Emperor Qianglong’s reign, the emperor sent people to Kiakhta to buy fur. The emperor’s purchases made up nearly three percent of the total volume traded. The Imperial Household Department only chose the most valuable fur for the imperial dress and sold the rest. The profit was about ten percent. Most of the fur obtained from Tannurianghai(which were inferior in quality to the fur from the north-east) was sold during Emperor Qianglong’s reign. The fur sold by the Imperial Household Department cost almost 500 thousand ounces of silver, which stimulated the popular