独尊义兴？——从《港主法令》看19世纪晚期柔佛的商业与社会（1862-1900）

Abstract:In the second half of the nineteenth century，the surging demand from an industrialized and expanding European economy created an enormous market for the tropical products from Southeast Asia. With the stimulus from this market，lots of Chinese immigrants moved to the tropical jungles of Southeast Asia to reclaim land for plantations. These immigrant communities formed various social structure and business models based on the different institutional and ecological context of their sojourning destinations. Among them，the so-called Kangchu system in Johor was an interesting case. In this case，the Chinese Kongsi organization，the Ghee Hin Kongsi，was legalized and incorporated by the Sultanate of Johor，and，therefore，became a foundation of local Chinese society. More and more，it is believed by the local Chinese that the Kangchu system was a system which recognized the primacy of Ghee Hin in local society. However，if we re-visit the regulations on Kangchu，it is evident that it was not an institution to put the Ghee Hin Kongsi to the primate position. Instead，it was a decree to regulate the society and commerce of local Chinese communities. With these regulations，we can find that，in Johor，a distinctive Chinese society had formed based on a pepper and gambier planation economy. This society was highly commercialized and manifested many aspects that were far different from the contemporary Chinese society in China.

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