116
of an English-based lingua franca
In the Gazette of September 9 1685, the following notice appears-
"That excellent, and by all Physitians approved, China drink, called by the Chinese Toha, by other nations Tay, alias Tee, is sold at the Sultaness Head, a coffee house in Sweetings Rents by the Royal Exchange, London."
The earliest recorded import of Tea by the East India Company is dated 1667. An early writer, in memoirs of 1726, relates-
“I remember well how in 1681, I for the first time in my life drank Thee at the house of an Indian Chaplain, and how I could not understand how sensible men could think it a treat to drink what tasted no better than hay-water.
This quotation illustrates how, at the end of the seventeenth century, tea-drinking was becoming a social fad which eventually generated huge demands on European - and later American - China traders. Tea was, of course, readily available in India and the Arab world - but this particular fad grew around the Chinese teas - Bohea (Mou yi), Congo (Gung fu), Pekoe (Baak hou), Oolong, Souchong (Siu chung) and Hyson (Yue chin).
The manner of the tea trade is best understood from the books of William C. Hunter- "Bits of Old China” (1855) and “Fan Kwae at Canton Before the Treaty Days" (1882). Foreign traders were only permitted into Canton to trade during the tea season: they were required to retreat to Macau or further during the closed season. No foreign women were permitted into Canton and the lives and work of the traders were strictly regulated by imperial edict. The most comprehensive set of controls was brought in 1760, but this was little more than codification of regulations which had been in force for decades.
The tea trade, on the Chinese side, was carried out by licensed trading houses - the Hong Merchants. The merchants were incorporated in 1720. Foreign traders were allowed to Canton by specific sponsorship by the Hong merchants, who were personally responsible for their conduct.
116
of an English-based lingua franca
In the Gazette of September 9 1685, the following notice appears-
"That excellent, and by all Physitians approved, China drink, called by the Chinese Toha, by other nations Tay, alias Tee, is sold at the Sultaness Head, a coffee house in Sweetings Rents by the Royal Exchange, London."
The earliest recorded import of Tea by the East India Company is dated 1667. An early writer, in memoirs of 1726, relates-
“I remember well how in 1681, I for the first time in my life drank Thee at the house of an Indian Chaplain, and how I could not understand how sensible men could think it a treat to drink what tasted no better than hay- water.
*
This quotation illustrates how, at the end of the seventeenth century, tea-drinking was becoming a social fad which eventually generated huge demands on European - and later American - China traders. Tea was, of course, readily available in India and the Arab world - but this particular fad grew around the Chinese teas - Bohea (Mou yi), Congo (Gung fu), Pekoe (Baak hou), Oolong, Souchong (Siu chung) and Hyson (Yue chin).
The manner of the tea trade is best understood from the books of William C. Hunter- "Bits of Old China” (1855) and “Fan Kwae at Canton Before the Treaty Days" (1882). Foreign traders were only permitted into Canton to trade during the tea season: they were required to retreat to Macau or further during the closed season. No foreign women were permitted into Canton and the lives and work of the traders were strictly regulated by imperial edict. The most comprehensive set of controls was brought in 1760, but this was little more than codification of regulations which had been in force for decades.
The tea trade, on the Chinese side, was carried out by licensed trading houses - the Hong Merchants. The merchants were incorporated in 1720. Foreign traders were allowed to Canton by specific sponsorship by the Hong merchants, who were personally responsible for thei conduct.
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