岷州茶马司的历史作用及其启示

The Historical Effects and Its Revelation of the Bureau of Tea and Horse in Minzhou

岷州茶马司的设立是对明代西北茶马贸易岷州地区这一空白点的填补,是西北茶马贸易机构体系的有效补充,是增大西北官营茶马贸易覆盖面的一大改良举措,有利于明朝后期进一步加强对岷州地区西番的羁縻控制。但是岷州茶马司不能从根本上扭转明末官营茶马贸易制度崩溃的局面,官营茶马贸易的衰败趋势不是在西北地区多设立若干新的茶马司,扩大官营茶马贸易的覆盖面就能够从根本上扭转的,在这一点上岷州茶马司所起的作用相对较小,影响有限。岷州茶马司的兴衰对当下我国的民族贸易政策来说也有极大的借鉴作用:必须摆正政府在民族贸易活动中的地位,正确发挥政府宏观调控的能动性,从少数民族根本利益出发,对民族贸易既不能放任自流,亦不可过于干涉甚至垄断。

The establishment of the Bureau of Tea and Horse in Minzhou really filled the blanks of tea-horse trade in the area of Minzhou in northeastern part of China in the Ming Dynasty, which also served as the effective sup- plement of tea-horse trade system in northwestern China and the important measure to increase the coverage of state-owned tea-horse trade. The Bureau of Tea and Horse in Minzhou was beneficial to strengthening the control of the Qiang ethnic group in the area of Minzhou in the late Ming Dynasty, however, it could not fundamentally al- ter the collapse of tea-horse trade system during that period of time. The decline tendency of state-owned tea- horse trade could not be reversed by establishing many new bureaus of tea and horse in northwestern district and expanding the coverage of state-owned tea-horse trade. At this point, the Bureau of Tea and Horse in Minzhou did not play any vital role, meanwhile having few effective influences. The vicissitude of the Bureau of Tea and Horse in Minzhou provided experiences for reference of the ethnic trade policies in China. So, the government＇s position in ethnic trade activities should be considered rightly and the subjective initiative of macroeconomic guid- ance should be displayed, which means that neither hands-off management nor undue intervention should be tak- en from the basic benefits of minorities.