Purpose: ① Trade is not for profit, but mainly for strengthening friendly exchanges or publicizing national prestige. For example, Zheng He's voyage to the West. (2) Trade and cultural exchanges are carried out simultaneously. Like the Silk Road. ③ Foreign trade has promoted national integration. For example, Hui people.
Features: ① Land trade first, then sea trade. (2) Foreign trade policy from opening to closing.
China's ancient foreign trade thoughts include China's views and opinions on foreign trade from the pre-Qin period to the Opium War in China.
China thinkers' and ancient books' views on foreign trade from the pre-Qin Dynasty to the Opium War. Ancient foreign trade mainly refers to the trade between vassal States in the pre-Qin period; After the Qin Dynasty unified China, it refers to the land and sea trade outside China, and the trade between various ethnic groups (such as Han and Xiongnu) in China.
In ancient feudal society of China, due to the dominant position of natural economy, foreign trade accounted for a small share of social products, and people generally ignored foreign trade. Especially after the establishment of a centralized feudal country, China has become a great country with a higher level of economic and cultural development than neighboring countries. Naturally, it is easy to produce China's sense of superiority of "abundant production and nothing" and regard foreign trade as insignificant.
It is true that in the feudal dynasty with a relatively developed commodity economy, some thinkers advocated opening up trade to the outside world, but they emphasized that it was controlled by the government. It was not until the late feudal society that some people advocated opening the maritime ban and allowing people to conduct maritime trade.
The "Northwest Silk Road" opened by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty can be said to be an important symbol of the rise of China's foreign trade. China's foreign trade in Han Dynasty was dominated by Lu Dao, which was also a maritime market. At that time, foreign trade routes extended in all directions. In addition to the Northwest Silk Road, there is an earlier "Yongchang Road" in the southwest, which passes through Myanmar and the Indian Peninsula and intersects with the ancient trade routes in Central Asia, and is called the "Southwest Silk Road".
There is a "Le Lang Road" leading to the Korean Peninsula in the northeast. Not only the goods shipped to the Korean peninsula pass through this road, but also the goods re-exported to Japan are transshipped southward through this road, which is called the "Northeast Silk Road". During the Han Dynasty, China's international trade business was the farthest in the world at that time. "The Biography of the Western Regions in the Later Han Dynasty" records: "Therefore, more than 50 countries accepted the pledge, and their support countries retranslated their contributions as far as 40 thousand miles at sea." It can be seen that China's international trade ability was strong at that time.
In ancient times, China's foreign trade used the form of tribute for a long time. Foreign goods are called "tributes" or "tributes", while goods exchanged in China are called "gifts" or "rewards". This is actually an unequal official trade behavior, and China's "gifts" are far greater than overseas "tributes". For example, Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions, though with military and political purposes, was actually a large-scale foreign economic and trade activity.
References:
China's Ancient Foreign Trade Thought-Baidu Encyclopedia