"精洁化":近代中国洋糖消费的兴起

"Purification":The Rise of Refined Sugar Consumption in Modern China

19世纪中期以降,伴随着西方消费主义文化在中国的流行以及多样洋货品种的批量涌入,中国城乡民众的消费方式发生了较大的变化,消费洋糖就是其中颇具特色的一类。近代中国消费洋糖,是一种兼具"实用性"与"现代性"的消费行为,究其兴起原因不外乎质优价廉洋糖的批量涌入中国市场,但是,它并不单纯是一个关涉中外贸易、行业生产等内容的经济行为,而且也是一种蕴含着新消费理念的社会文化现象。在洋糖消费兴起的过程中,"土洋之争"及"复兴糖业"遂成近代中国糖业经济发展中的重要议题,晚清政府、北京政府、^(1)南京国民政府均在不同程度上致力于中国机器制糖业的发展。这一消费偏好,在一定程度上可以认为是中国糖品消费的第二次转向,它既带有鲜明的时代特性,又在中国乃至东亚糖业经济中引发一系列至深且巨的影响。比如,其与东亚地区进口糖税税则调整、东亚糖业经济格局变动等方面均密切相关。

Since the mid-19th century,with the popularity of western consumer culture and the flood of western commodities,the consumption patterns of the Chinese people quickly changed.For instance,there has been an increase in the consumption of machine processed refined sugar imported from foreign countries.Consumption of refined sugar in modern China was both practical and modern,as higher quality and cheaper refined sugar flooded into Chinese markets.However,sugar consumption was not only an economic behavior related to Sino-foreign trade and production,but also a socio-cultural phenomenon that involved new concepts of consumption.During the increased consumption of refined sugar,"the tension between domestic sugar and foreign sugar"and"the revival of the sugar industry"became the main focus for the development of the sugar economy in modern China.As a result,in the late-Qing Dynasty,the Beijing government,and the Nanjing Republican government to varying degrees were both committed to developing the sugar industry based on machine manufacturing.If we say that the first modern transformation in history of China's consumption was from a luxury good to a common consumer good,the second transformation was the preference for refined sugar.In particular,along with this shift came adjustments to tax regulations for importing sugar,and alterations to every aspect of the sugar industry and economy in East Asia.