Cotton Cloth Trades, Currency Reforms, and Inflations: Korean Experiences of the Industrial Revolution from 1883 to 1897

Abstract

<p>Koreans were exposed to machine-made cotton cloth through Japan, who was eager to find new marketplaces for her industrial products. Korea signed the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1876, agreeing to open trades. Through this treaty, Korean consumers experienced a flood of foreign industrial products, and these products fundamentally changed Korean society. This research traced the changing patterns of import cotton cloth prices, compared those with domestic cotton and silk cloth and rice [the most basic necessity food item], to understand how Koreans responded to the force of the Industrial Revolution. F</p>