2008 / June

還原真相：1684年一位中國海商的案件分析
Return to Truth: An Analytic Study of the Judicial Case of a Chinese Maritime Merchant in 1684

研究論文 Research Article

方真真
Chen Chen Fang

243-280

1684年年底清政府開放海禁，許多中國商人相繼前往菲律賓經商，中菲貿易因而興盛起來。本案件發生於1684年12月26日，一艘名為Siocanchan的舢舨，由Poqua船長負責，從廈門抵達馬尼拉港。由於當時Poqua船長報關的貨品過少且品質差，引起馬尼拉海關人員的疑惑，為了查明眞相，才由Don Esteuan  Lorenzo  de la Fuente y Alanis檢察官接手調查。然從Poqua船長的逃稅事件，卻意外扯出Mariveles地方官的醜聞案。這位檢察官在1685年1月3日至6日共四天的時間，傳喚詢問了Mariveles二十位相關的證人，以釐清案情的眞相。本案件的記錄前後共有四十份文件，全由皇家公證人Thomas Vazquez一人所寫，這些原始史料現藏於西班牙塞維亞的印地安斯檔案館。本文試圖分析整個案件的經過，以及檢察官如何還原眞相並做出初步的判決。最後，這個案件不是個特殊案例，它反映出當時中國海商在海外謀求生存的面貌。

The Ch'ing government opened the country to foreign trade at the end of 1684. From then on, many Chinese merchants went to the Philip­pines for trade. The commerce between China and the Philippines thus gradually flourished. This study examines a case which occurred on 26 December of 1684. A sampan named Siocanchan, commanded by a Chinese merchant Captain Poqua, departed from Amoy (Xiamen) to arrive in the harbor of Manila. In his written report to the customhouse of Manila, Captain Poqua seemed to under-report the goods on board. In addition, the goods which he reported did not seem to be of good quality. All this aroused the suspicion of customs officers in Manila. In order to clarify the facts, the public procurator Don Esteuan Lorenzo de la Fuente y Alanis took over the case and began to investigate it. However, the case of Poqua's evasion of customs duties unexpectedly involved a complicated question regarding a local official's scandal in Mariveles. Between the 3^rd and the 6^th day of January, 1685, the procurator sum­moned and questioned twenty persons, including witnesses, to clarify the fact. The records of the case, written in different times, were found in forty documents. These documents were all completed by a single per­son, that is, a royal notary public, Thomas Vazquez. These primary his­torical sources are now available in the Archivo General de Indias of Seville, Spain. This study is thus aimed at analyzing the whole course of the case, and how the procurator restored the fact and his preliminary judgment. Finally, this case is revealed to be an extraordinary one. In fact, this case reflected the varieties of factual life of the Chinese mer­chants in their efforts to make a living during that period of time.

中國, 菲律賓, 海商, 海禁, 舢舨, 貿易, 證詞, 逃稅, 貪瀆
China, the Philippines, maritime merchant, ban on maritime trade, sampan, trade, witness, tax evasion, corruption

歷史學
History

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