Trade goods of the ancient Quang Ngai people…

It was not until later, when traffic and communication developed, that goods in Quang Ngai were exported to other countries, but hundreds of years ago, many Quang products such as sugar, rice, and salt. … followed the merchant ships everywhere.
Follow merchant ships to other countries

There has not been a study stating the time period when Quang products began to be exported to other countries, only that, as early as 1925, in the study on Quang Ngai, French Ambassador Laboord wrote that day: ” The wealth and abundance of this province also lies in the cultivation of sugarcane… The harvesting of sugarcane has found a regular exit from the Chinese in Thu Xa. They will export molasses to Hong Kong… They already export up to 12,000 tons of sugar a year.” The busy Phu Tho wharf is now just a peaceful and quiet residential area. Photo: Y THUY In the editorial Quang Ngai province, advocated by Nguyen Ba Trac, printed in Nam Phong magazine in 1933, it also helps us visualize the export of goods of the Quang Ngai people in the past as follows: “Quang Ngai has 3 gates. Big sea: Son Tra estuary in Binh Son, Co Luy estuary in Tu Nghia and Sa Huynh estuary in Duc Pho. Each gate has a Department of Commerce to tax export and import goods. Regarding goods exported through seaports, Quang Ngai province also stated that: “The most important export item of Quang Ngai province is sugar. The place to export the most is Co Luy estuary carried out by Thu Xa city. Ginseng and cinnamon are sold at Son Tra gate, salt is sold at Sa Huynh gate. Particularly for Quang Ngai sugar specialties exported through 3 seaports of Co Luy, Son Tra, Sa Huynh; Quang Ngai province also detailed that, in 3 years 1929 – 1931, Quang Ngai exported 24.1 tons of sugar. In addition to the above products, in the Quang Ngai Geography also mentioned more about the export of rice: “The number of rice exported through the seaports of Co Luy, Son Tra and Sa Huynh in 1931 was still over 80 tons. This is the amount of rice sold by landowners to private traders for export. From the above documents, it can be affirmed that the ownership of large seaports has helped trade and export goods from Quang Ngai to developed countries very early. The reason why Son Tra estuary (Sa Can) is the main export place of cinnamon products is because the source of cinnamon from Tra Bong is quite conveniently transported by traders along the Tra Bong river down to the sea estuary. In Sa Huynh (Duc Pho), because salt is produced by people right next to the sea mouth, salt becomes the main export product through this estuary. As for the Co Luy gate, according to cultural researcher Cao Van Chu, this is the gateway for sugar products from the Quang Ngai plain to other parts of the country and the world, not only through China, but also through China. and through Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore… There are no boats now At Co Luy, from ancient times, Chinese merchant ships, after entering this seaport, often anchored at Phu Tho wharf (in the territory of Nghia Phu commune, Quang Ngai city today). Here, goods transported from China such as silk, pottery, traditional medicine… will be unloaded on small boats and transported back to Vuc Hong wharf in Thu Xa (in Nghia Hoa commune, district). Tu Nghia today) delivered to the merchants there. After that, traders in Thu Xa again unloaded Quang Ngai products such as sugar, honey, and agarwood… and then transported them down to Phu Tho wharf and loaded them on Chinese merchant ships to take them back to China. Salt is the main export product through Sa Huynh gate, but for many years, the price has always dropped, making salt farmers less interested in keeping the job. Photo: Y THUY According to the documents in the book Co Luy in the stream of Vietnamese marine culture by author Cao Chu, in the documents of Quang Ngai Province recorded in 1906 by the French colonial government, maritime transportation in Co Luy was It is clearly shown as follows: “In: 330 merchant ships in Central Vietnam entered, 8 sailing ships from Cochinchina arrived, forming a total of 3,000 tons. Ra: 430 sailing ships of China, 27 sailing ships of Cochinchina, 20 sailing ships of Tonkin, combined to a tonnage of 13,000 tons. According to Nguyen Thi Mot, 88 years old, living in Nghia Phu, in the past, Phu Tho wharf was always crowded with boats. Seeing that merchant ships bought sugar in large quantities for export, many people in Nghia Phu also went to trade in sugar in the past. After finding sugar-making villages in Nghia Dung, Nghia Dung to buy spoon sugar, people went back to work to cut the sugar into small lumps, then use a mallet to rub the sugar into powder. Finished sugar is packed into bags to sell to Chinese merchant ships, or to boats going south and north. It used to be one of the busiest trading ports in the province. However, now, Co Luy estuary is just an alluvial estuary, with few ships and boats absent. Once the most important export of Quang Ngai, but now the sugar processing factory in Quang Ngai has also ceased operations. One commodity that used to be the main export product through Sa Huynh gate is salt, which has fallen into a state of “falling in price” for many years, making salt farmers no longer interested in keeping the job… I don’t know when. , those products have regained their “position” as before?