THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMMODITY ECONOMY IN MY THO IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

Abstract

Since the early seventeenth century, the Vietnamese came to live on My Tho land. In 1679, Chinese army generals led by Duong Ngan Dich was allowed to explore My Tho land by Nguyen king. The Vietnamese collaborated with the Chinese on making My Tho land turn into farms and crowded villages. Because the Chinese people were good at business, My Tho soon became a crowded town with more and more developing trade. As duly met were basic factors such as a rich quantity of products being produced, the appearance of team traders, the transportation system expanding throughout the region etc., My Tho quickly gained trade. The flourishing of My Tho started from paddy rice since the end of the seventeenth century. At that time, My Tho got appearance of a business market specializing on grain, which was called Cho Gao, and was famous throughout the South region. My Tho town, which was erected at the confluence between My Tho river and Vung Gu canal, was a point benefiting from many advantages on trading with such other centers of business as Cu Lao Pho, Saigon, Phu Xuan,... My Tho town is well-known as an international trading port. Most markets in Tien Giang had rice trade. The market system around this town was the satellites. Therefore, it turned My Tho into a big commercial center to communicate with other commercial centers in the Inner Region. Rice paddies in My Tho is also exported to foreign countries, especially to the Chinese market. Luc Tinh was early best-known as “first paddy second areca”. Vinh Long and Dinh Tuong grew the most areca trees. Areca was the best selling product on the domestic market and was exported abroad. My Tho quickly met market demand. The farmers there had “intensive farm model” for garden work in order to become “commercialized” areca with the purpose of increasing the value of these agricultural products. Besides, My Tho also provided the market with many other products. It can be believed that My Tho significantly contributed to the commodity economy in the Inner Region in both seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Selling out the own products to purchase technology products from different places, then to resell them to consumers was a dominate feature of My Tho trade at that time.