晚清华商“洋化”现象述论

On the Phenomenon of Some Chinese Merchants' Seeking for Possessing Western Nationality in Late Qing Dynasty

晚清时期,随着西商东渐,华商的“洋化”现象开始成为沿海各埠一种严重的社会病。华商“洋化”主要有两种行为表征,其一是挂洋旗,冒洋行;其二是改洋籍,充洋人。华商“洋化”,或为倚洋势,或为沾洋利,其动机各异,但却对当时的法律生活造成了重要的影响,尤其是导致了涉外纠纷和诉讼的扩大化。而晚清政府为控制和预防华商改籍所采取的相关策略,又对中国首部国籍法的催生及其内容的完善起了一定的促进作用。

In late Qing dynasty, along with the massive western merchants arriving, the phenomenon of Chinese merchants seeking for possessing western nationality became one kind of serious social sickness in the various coastal ports, which mainly had two kinds of be- havior attributes- firstly, some Chinese merchants raised western firm＂ flag, pretending to be western finns; secondly, some joined the western nationality, and then became the western citizens. Chinese merchants seeking for possessing western nationality, either intend- ed to rely on the westerners＇ power, or in order to enjoy westerner＇s economy privileges, which brought important influence on the legal life, especially led to the expansion of the disputes and lawsuits between Chinese and foreign. However, the late Qing dynasty took some strategies to control and prevent the Chinese businessman from joining the western nationality, having promoted the production of naturalization laws of the late Qing dynasty and the consummation of its content.