190
ANTHONY FARRINGTON
light on Chinese junk traffic. It fell into two groups. Firstly, voyages between Tongking and Nagasaki by resident Chinese, mainly represented by a ‘Captain Nitthoo'; secondly, voyages by mainland Chinese, originating at Canton and calling at Nagasaki and Batavia.
For example, on 6 September 1672 Captain Nitthoo departed for Japan with a cargo of 500 peculs of raw silk, “a great quantity of refuge silk” and 43,400 pieces of silk textiles. During his absence the English rented his house at Hien. Back again in March 1673, he left for Japan in July, mainly carrying raw silk, and returned in February 1674. Similarly, in April 1675 the English learnt that a newly arrived Cantonese junk had first taken in a cargo at Batavia, disposed of it at Nagasaki and had now brought into Tongking 16 chests of Japanese silver, 3 million Japanese copper cash and 93 chests of Japanese copper bars.
It would be tedious to rehearse the pattern all the way through to the 1690s. However, I am sure that a collation of these incidental references would prove a significant addition to our knowledge of Chinese inter-Asiatic wholesaling operations before the period of European dominance. A full transcript of the factory diary, with its endless repetitions of present giving and attendance upon mandarins, would make heavy reading. My intention is, rather, to issue a summary calendar with selected verbatim extracts, which should provide the necessary raw material for economic historians.
NOTES
'Une factorerie Anglaise au Tonkin au XVIIe siècle (1672-1697)', Charles B. Maybon, Bulletin de l'Ecole Francaise d'Extrême-Orient 10 (Hanoi, 1910) 159-204 gives a summary list of sources for the history of the factory. “Les Anglais au Tonkin (1672-1697)', P. Villars, Revue de Paris Nov/Dec 1903 262-86 gives a brief narrative of life in the factory.
2 The 1630s and 1640s saw attempts to achieve quick profits through a variety of separate ventures (eg, to Persia) organised alongside the longer-term joint stocks. At the same time rival 'interloping' groups (eg, the Courteen Association, formed 1635) became more successful in obtaining royal or Council of State approval for their own trading ventures, culminating in the opening of the eastern trade to private merchants between 1654 and 1657. In the background, of course, were the political upheavals of the Civil War and the Commonwealth.
190
ANTHONY FARRINGTON
light on Chinese junk traffic. It fell into two groups. Firstly, voyages between Tongking and Nagasaki by resident Chinese, mainly represented by a ‘Captain Nitthoo'; secondly, voyages by mainland Chinese, originating at Canton and calling at Nagasaki and Batavia.
For example, on 6 September 1672 Captain Nitthoo departed for Japan with a cargo of 500 peculs of raw silk, “a great quantity of refuge silk"" and 43,400 pieces of silk textiles. During his absence the English rented his house at Hien. Back again in March 1673, he left for Japan in July, mainly carrying raw silk, and returned in February 1674. Similarly, in April 1675 the English learnt that a newly arrived Cantonese junk had first taken in a cargo at Batavia, disposed of it at Nagasaki and had now brought into Tongking 16 chests of Japanese silver, 3 million Japanese copper cash and 93 chests of Japanese copper
bars.
It would be tedious to rehearse the pattern all the way through to the 1690s. However, I am sure that a collation of these incidental references would prove a significant addition to our knowledge of Chinese inter-Asiatic wholesaling operations be- fore the period of European dominance. A full transcript of the factory diary, with its endless repetitions of present giving and attendance upon mandarins, would make heavy reading." My intention is, rather, to issue a summary calendar with selected verbatim extracts, which should provide the necessary raw material for economic historians.
NOTES
'Une factorerie Anglaise au Tonkin au XVIIe siècle (1672-1697)', Charles B. siecle Maybon, Bulletin de l'Ecole Francaise d'Extrême-Orient 10 (Hanoi, 1910) 159-204 gives a summary list of sources for the history of the factory. “Les Anglais au Tonkin (1672-1697)', P. Villars, Revue de Paris Nov/Dec 1903 262-86 gives a brief narrative of life in the factory.
2 The 1630s and 1640s saw attempts to achieve quick profits through a variety of separate ventures (eg, to Persia) organised alongside the longer-term joint stocks. At the same time rival 'interloping' groups (eg, the Courteen Association, formed 1635) became more successful in obtaining royal or Council of State approval for their own trading ventures, culminating in the opening of the eastern trade to private merchants between 1654 and 1657. In the background, of course, were the political upheavals of the Civil War and the Commonwealth.
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