Trade in Liushun (Port Arthur) at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries

The history of the city of Port Arthur at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries in the literature is revealed primarily from the military point of view, which led to the emergence of numerous studies and works, while the role of the city as a commercial center has not received proper coverage either in Russian or Chinese historiography. The fact that contemporaries themselves perceived Port Arthur only as a military fortress also played an important role in this. This circumstance explains the fragmentary nature of the source base. The article reconstructs the history of trade in the city of Liushun during the Qing dynasty (until 1898) on the basis of archival materials, sources of personal origin and periodicals. The author concludes that the importance of Port Arthur as a temporary trading port was quite high before the foundation of Dalniy city. The construction of a military port in the 1880s stimulated the development of the city and promoted local Chinese trade. After Port Arthur was leased to the Russian Empire in 1898, the city became dominated by Russian capital. During the period of Russian rule, changes were made in the city's life that allowed Port Arthur to develop along Western lines and attracted immigrants and investment that further developed the city's industry and commerce. However, the purpose of such changes was to establish Port Arthur as a military stronghold of the Russian Empire in the Far East, which made the development of trade in the city unbalanced.