从中介视角理解中国和欧洲的家牛贸易体系

Understanding China’s cattle trade systems from the perspective of intermediation

本文从中介(intermediation)以及促进该贸易的人和服务的视角研究了家牛贸易系统。第一部分介绍了商业史领域如何通过中介来深入了解贸易体系中不同部分认知风险和价值的方面。第二部分从欧洲家牛贸易的三种规模来分析中介:当地人对中世纪县、市零售市场的认识,17世纪欧洲大陆的牲畜贸易和20世纪初期跨大西洋的牛肉贸易。每一种都强调了贸易服务如何突出特定贸易系统中挑战和价值的独特结合。第三部分专注于中国晚清到民国时期的家牛贸易体系,并将其分为三种:从供应丰富的北方牧场进口牲畜、农业区劳动牲畜的流动和在出口中心(如青岛)由需求驱动的屠宰用牛生产。这三个系统分别代表了三种危险与价值的混合模式,并通过不同的人际网络得到促进。它们一起为理解透过商品流发生的人与动物关系的长期变化,以及作为历史分析工具的贸易中介的价值提供了新的视角。

This article examines cattle trade systems from the perspective of intermediation,the people and services that facilitate trade.It begins by introducing how the field of business history uses intermediation to seek insight into where different parts of a trade system perceive risk or value.The second part examines intermediation at three scales of European cattle trade:the local perspective of medieval county and city retail markets,the continental animal trade during the seventeenth century,and the transatlantic trade of beef during the early twentieth century.Each one highlights how the services of trade highlights the unique mix of challenges and value within a particular trade system.The third part focuses on cattle trade systems within late Qing and Republican-era China,which it separates into three types:the import of animals from supply-rich northern pastures,the circulation of work animals within agricultural areas,and the demand-driven production of cattle for slaughter in export centers like Qingdao.Each of these three systems represented a distinct mix of risk and value,facilitated by distinct human networks.Together they portray a novel approach to understanding the long term transformation of human animal relations through commodity flows,and the value of trade intermediation as a tool of historical analysis.