generally amicable, relations focused primarily on buying and selling. Chūemon’s life spanned the Tokugawa–Meiji divide, and provides an occasion to consider the nature of that transition, which looms so large in the historiography of early modern and modern Japan. Partner argues persuasively for meaningful continuities, but ones that nevertheless occasioned struggle and disruption. Chūemon’s story, he argues, ‘illustrates both the powerful legacies of Tokugawa-era commercial expansion and the radical transformation that accompanied the opening of Yokohama and other ports to trade, over which the Japanese government had limited control’ (210). A Merchant’s Tale enlivens and complicates this key historical transformation by grounding it in a lived experience that was both a personal tale and the story of a new nation.

中文翻译：

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复活长崎：重建与原子叙事的形成

总体上是友好的，关系主要集中在买卖上。中右卫门的一生跨越了德川和明治的鸿沟，并提供了一个机会来思考这种转变的性质，这种转变在近代和现代日本的历史编纂中显得如此重要。合作伙伴有说服力地主张有意义的连续性，但那些仍然会引发斗争和破坏的连续性。他认为，中右卫门的故事“既说明了德川时代商业扩张的强大遗产，也说明了伴随横滨和其他港口开放贸易而发生的根本性转变，而日本政府对其控制有限”（210）。商人的故事将这一关键的历史转变置于既是个人故事又是新国家故事的生活体验中，从而使这一关键的历史转变变得生动起来并使之复杂化。