郭頭家：十七世紀五位郭姓商人在日本、臺灣、爪哇的事業

Hokkien merchants from the southern Fujian Province have been a significant power of commerce in maritime Asia for centuries. They not only brought Chinese products, but also people, language, and customs to foreign lands. However, scholarship on Hokkien merchants has mostly paid attention to the family of Koxinga (Cheng Cheng-kung), or the so-called Overseas Chinese in the modern era. Both approaches are entwined with the Chinese nationalism developed in the last century. This study, however, attempts to elucidate the experiences of five lesser-known 17th century Hokkien merchants to elaborate on the aspect of multinational cooperation in early modern East Asia. The five merchants whom I examine are from neighborhoods situated on the northern bank of the Jioulong River and share the same surname Koeh. The proximity of their hometowns and identical surnames suggest that they may have been relatives, but a reliable genealogical source is unavailable. These Koeh merchants went overseas and cooperated with rulers in foreign lands to build their businesses in Japan, Dutch Formosa, and Dutch Indonesia. Their enterprises are still remembered by the locals of these locations. By reviewing the activities of these Koeh merchants, this study intends to go beyond the Sino-centric view and proposes an inclusive historiography that addresses their overseas enterprises, homeland connections, and multi-national cooperatives that enabled their businesses to flourish.