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after all, the Dutch had been trading there for sixty years. Following the 1670 plan three ships, the Zant, Experiment and Return were first despatched from London to Bantam. After leaving Bantam the Zant could not get across the bar of the Red River until 25 June 1672, making her turn around too late to sail for Japan. The Experiment and Return reached Taiwan on 16 July 1672 and, after delays in lading cargo, only the Return went on to Japan. The Experiment was captured by the Dutch (the Third Anglo-Dutch War had reached East Asia) on her way south, while after a wait at Nagasaki from 29 June to 28 August 1673 the Return was expelled by the Japanese. The factories established at Tongking and Taiwan immediately lost their whole basis for existence, yet both survived — Taiwan intermittently until 1685 and Tongking for 25 years, until 1697.
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For the first few years the Company remained hopeful of overcoming Japanese hostility, blaming the Dutch for what they saw as a temporary setback. But then the Tongking factory, despite all the difficulties of dealing with the local mandarinate,1 emerged as of value in its own right, supplying finished silks for the London market. The first order was placed in 1675; in October 1676 the English contracted for 4630 pieces; and in 1679 they ordered 18,500 pieces plus 40 bales of raw silk. It was only gradually, through the 1680s, that Cantonese wrought silks, satins and damasks proved more popular at the London sales. Apart from a price disadvantage, the Tongking merchants proved unwilling to adapt patterns and textures to suit European tastes, even though specimens were sent out.2 Chinese adaptability and commercial acumen proved irresistible, access to Japan was finally seen to be impossible, and the English withdrew from Tongking in November 1697.
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So far this outline of the Tongking venture must be relatively familiar. My novel element lies in the fact that the English factory archive records previously unnoticed details of the trade between Tongking and Japan which had eluded them. The Dutch operated three-cornered voyages between Batavia-Tongking-Nagasaki, bringing in Japanese copper cash2 and armaments and carrying out raw and finished silk, all of which were noted. But more importantly, the factory diary throws some