清朝前期の石炭業 : 乾隆期の炭鉱政策と経営

In China, although coal has been mined for a long time and at present continues to be a staple fuel, there remain some historical problems of price, business management, and scale. The coal mining began in the Qianlong (乾隆) era, when the management of mines began in earnest. In the eighteenth century China confronted many problems on account of economic expansion and contact with Europe. These include development, kinship, money, food, and bureaucracy, all of which are topics of scholarly concern today. A population explosion especially became grave, and accompanying this, demands for resources rose, and new industries for daily necessities developed, namely pottery, tile, and brewing. As for fuel, a necessity for daily life and industry, the traditional fuels of firewood and charcoal fell into short supply, on account of the depletion of forests during and after the Song (宋) period. Meanwhile, they adopted an reforesting policy, but this was ineffective. Hence, there emerged an inclination toward mining. From the end of the Ming (明) period, firewood and charcoal were gradually replaced by coal, but because of the so-called Kuang-Shui-zhi-Huo (鉱税之禍), damages caused by mining and taxes, most people had a negative view of mine development, due to the disturbances by eunuches and villainies. Hence, from the beginning of the Qing (清) period to the middle of the Qianlong era, there emerged, on a nationwide scale, a controversy regarding mine exploitation or stoppage. In the end, this controversy ended in a victory for the exploitation party, but even earlier than this the controversy regarding coal mines was solved in 1740 (乾隆5). The leading actor was Zhao Guo-lin (趙国麟), the grand secretary. Arguing that (1)one cannot do without fuel in daily life, (2)firewood is apt to be ill provided and, moreover, expensive, and (3)in Taian (泰安), his native town, they had coal mining for a long time, without problems, Zhao insisted on exploitation and was impervious to argument. After that, mines were exploited extensively in many places, but in Zhili (直隷), the Independent District, which included the Capital, supply was apt to stagnate, because of problems caused by the blockade for pooling and the shortage of transport. The man who dealt with this was Fang Guan-cheng (方観承), the Supreme Commander at Zhili. He shaped a policy that aimed to increase the mines and to secure transport teams. As a result, early coal mining in China reached its first peak, but because of the edicts on mining which were announced many times on and after 1761 (乾隆26), it is doubtful whether policies were effective or not. From the perspective of management in the system of running mines, they reduced the red tape required in reporting to the center. One of the investors (including the landowner) proceeded to manage by registering as yaohu (窯戸), receiving zhizhao (執照) from the Administration Commissioner, and employing native laborers only. Yaohu employed a field overseer who managed a coal mine, and laborers were employed on a per diem basis. But the influential investors, such as banners and bureaucrats, absorbed most of the profit, and most of the laborers were seasonal peasant workers, so that there was no rationalization of management, no technological innovation, and no expansion. Therefore, they adopted chiefly a method which exploited one small-scale mine after another.