Source Collection: Europe and China in 1750
Document 1
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Author |
Unknown Qing dynasty official |
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Date and location |
1764, China |
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Source type |
Primary source – government document |
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Description |
This excerpt is from the Qing statutes. It outlines rules and protocols for tributary missions. Notably, descriptions focus on Asian neighbors and not on Western European communities. |
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Citation |
Fairbank, John King, and Ssu-yü Teng. Ch’ing Administration: Three Studies. Harvard University Press, 1960. |
... As to the countries... that send tribute to Court, on the east is Korea; on the south-east, Liu-ch’iu and Sulu; on the south, Annam and Siam; on the southwest, Western Ocean, Burma, and Laos....
... As to tribute objects... they should send the products of the soil of the country. Things that are not locally produced are not to be presented....
... As to trade,—when the tribute... enter[s] the frontier, the goods brought along in their boats or carts may be exchanged in trade with merchants of [China]; either they may be sold at the merchants’ hongs in the frontier province or they may be brought to the capital and marketed at [the Residence for Tributary Envoys]. At the customs stations which they pass... they are all exempted from duty. As to barbarian merchants who... bring their goods into the country for trade,—for Korea on the border of [Shengjing], and at [Zhongjang], there are spring and autumn markets, two a year; at Hui-ning, one market a year; at [Qingyuan], one market every other year,—(each) with two Interpreters of the Board of Ceremonies, one Ninguta clerk, and one Lieutenant to superintend it. After twenty days the market is closed. For the countries beyond the seas, (the market) is at the provincial capital of [Guangdong]. Every summer they take advantage of the tide and come to the provincial capital (Canton). When winter comes they wait for a wind and return to their countries. All pay duties to the (local) officers in charge, the same as the merchants of [China].
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Glossary Tribute: gifts or payments made by one country to another, often to show respect or allegiance |
Document 2
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Author |
Li Shih-Yao |
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Date and location |
1759, China |
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Source type |
Primary source – government document |
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Description |
Qing officials created a port system, agreed upon by treaty, in order to protect Chinese society from foreign influence. Many foreign merchants, particularly European ones, tried to circumvent (get around) this system. This set of regulations was proposed in an effort to make them either play by the rules, or not play at all. This excerpt from a Chinese government document, is written by Li Shih-Yao, an acting general at Canton. |
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Citation |
Smith, Bonnie G., ed. Imperialism: A History in Documents. Oxford University Press, 2000. |
Since foreigners are outside the sphere of civilization, there is no need for them to have any contact with our people other than business transactions, whenever they come to China for trade purposes.... The following rules... are both simple and practical enough to be adopted.
(1) Foreigners should never be allowed to stay at Canton during the winter....
Even if foreigners have to stay through the winter on account of business, they move from Canton to Macao after their ships have sailed for home. Lately many foreign traders... entrust their ships and cargoes to the care of other merchants who proceed home, while they... stay on in Canton. During their stay they devote themselves to the study of the prices of various goods in different provinces...
Canton [the capital]... is too important a place to allow foreigners to stay there on a permanent basis, since permanent residence will enable them to spy on our activities.... when a foreign trader arrives at Canton, the... merchants should sell all of his goods... pay him immediately... so that he can return home in the ship that he came in.
(2) While in Canton, foreigners should be ordered to reside in... headquarters so that their conduct can be carefully observed and strictly regulated.
... these foreigners often become drunk and commit breaches of the peace... Their behavior in this regard is of course extremely improper....
Among the foreigners, the British are the most violent and are prone to create incidents....
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Glossary Transactions: exchanges in which something, such as goods, services, or money, is given and something else is received in return |
Document 3
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Author |
François Véron de Forbonnais (1722–1800) |
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Date and location |
1753, France |
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Source type |
Primary source – publication |
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Description |
This entry from an encyclopedia sets out to provide a typology (classification by type) of colonies. This excerpt describes the sixth type of colony. These sections make frequent mention of trade and commerce, suggesting an important connection between production and distribution and colonial networks and communities. |
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Citation |
Forbonnais, François Véron de. “Colony.” The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d’Alembert Collaborative Translation Project. Translated by Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall. University of Michigan Library, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.did2222.0000.246 (accessed July 8, 2019). |
VI. The discovery of America... has multiplied European colonies...
All... were either founded with an eye towards both commerce and agriculture, or have... moved in this direction... these colonies required the conquering of territory and the driving out of existing inhabitants, in order to import new ones.
Since these colonies have been established only for the needs of the metropole, it follows:
- That they must be directly dependent upon it, and... under its protection.
- That the founders of the colony must have a monopoly on trade...
Such a colony best fulfills its purpose when it adds to what is grown in the metropole... supports a greater number of its men, and... increases trade with other nations. These three advantages might not always coexist in each colony, but one of the three at least needs to be substantial enough to compensate for the others. If the compensation is not complete, or if the colony does not provide any of the above advantages, one might determine that it is ruinous for the mother country and is burdensome...
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When a state has multiple colonies that can communicate amongst themselves, the true secret to increasing the power and wealth of each... is establishing regular navigation and communication routes... This private trade has the same power and benefits as the domestic commerce within a state... Wealth will... increase by this means... the ease and comfort of the colonies will be returned... as a benefit as a result of the consumption that it makes possible...
... liberty must be restricted in favor of the metropole...
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Glossary Colony: a territory ruled by a foreign country that claims authority over its people and land, either through settlers or by military force |
Document 4
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Author |
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) |
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Date and location |
1761, France |
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Source type |
Primary source – political/economic treatise |
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Description |
In this treatise, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a philosopher from Geneva, elaborates his ideas about how political communities work in the face of commerce, trade, and property relations. This document, and the type of thinking it represents, inspired many political revolutions and reforms in Europe in the late eighteenth century. At the same time, it launched furious debates and was very controversial. Many of its principles are also in tension with justifications for colonialism. In this excerpt on the subject of property, Rousseau argues that land ownership can only be legitimate if there are no prior claimants to that land. |
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Citation |
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. The Social Contract, and Discourses. J.M. Dent & Sons, Ltd. 1923. |
CHAPTER IX: real property
... The right of the first occupier, though more real than the right of the strongest, becomes a real right only when the right of property has already been established. Every man has naturally a right to everything he needs; but the positive act which makes him proprietor of one thing excludes him from everything else. Having his share, he ought to keep to it, and can have no further right against the community.... the right of the first occupier, which in the state of nature is so weak, claims the respect of every man in civil society... we are respecting not so much what belongs to another as what does not belong to ourselves.
... to establish the right of the first occupier over a plot of ground, the following conditions are necessary... the land must not yet be inhabited... a man must occupy only the amount he needs... and... possession must be taken... by labor and cultivation, the only sign of proprietorship that should be respected by others, in default of a legal title.
How can a man or a people seize an immense territory and keep it from the rest of the world except by a punishable usurpation, since all others are being robbed, by such an act, of the place of habitation and the means of subsistence which nature gave them... ? When Nuñez Balbao... took possession of the South Seas and... South America in the name of [Spain], was that enough to dispossess all their actual inhabitants, and to shut out... the world?
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Glossary Occupier: a person who takes possession or control of land |
Document 5
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Author |
Chen Hongmou (1696–1771) |
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Date and location |
c. 1755–1770, China |
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Source type |
Primary source – letters |
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Description |
Chen Hongmou, a Qing official, was regarded as an exemplary official and a morally upright person. In his writings, he emphasizes the need for officials to maintain uprightness. This excerpt demonstrates the ways in which moral beliefs, senses of community, and social responsibility are woven into matters of political and economic governance and administration. Officials are exhorted to be diligent, honest, and thoughtful in their work, so as to ensure a prosperous future for China. This excerpt also demonstrates the robust government institutions in place for managing society and commerce, both on a short- and long-term basis. |
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Citation |
De Bary, Wm. Theodore, and Richard Lufrano. Sources of Chinese Tradition: Volume 2: From 1600 Through the Twentieth Century. Columbia University Press. 2010. |
Letter to the Prefect of Guangxi, Chen wengong gong shudu
The way of shepherding the people involves no more than educating and nurturing them.... By “nurturing” I mean construction and maintenance of irrigation works, encouragement of land reclamation, and patronage of community granaries. These are all matters of great urgency. If the people can be made to produce a surplus, store it, and allow it to accumulate over the years, their well-being will be ensured. By “education” I mean promoting civilized behavior, diligently managing public schools, and widely distributing classical texts...
Letter to the Governor of Guangxi, Huangchao jingshi wenbian
As our dynasty has long exercised benevolent rule, the population has continually grown. All available natural resources have been turned into productive assets. I fear, however, that our limited supply of land cannot adequately support our growing population. Under these conditions, officials cannot sit idly by and watch as potentially useful land remains undeveloped, on the excuse that the effort involved would not yield immediate results. Now, feeding the people directly by the government is not as good as developing the means whereby the people can feed themselves... officials must look to the long term, not the present, and in so doing put the interests of the people ahead of their own [career] concerns.
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Glossary Cultivation: preparing and using land to grow crops |
Document 6
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Author |
Yang Yingju |
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Date and location |
1763, China |
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Source type |
Primary source – government correspondence |
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Description |
In this excerpt, a Qing official, the governor-general of Shaanxi and Gansu, presents an analysis in response to an inquiry from the Qing court about whether to abolish grain brokerage. He resists making a blanket statement or recommending an inflexible regulation, instead insisting that officials must be sensitive to regional differences. He is cautious about overregulating trade but also is concerned about merchants’ abuses, with his ultimate goal being public welfare. |
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Citation |
De Bary, Wm. Theodore, and Richard Lufrano. Sources of Chinese Tradition: Volume 2: From 1600 Through the Twentieth Century. Columbia University Press. 2010. |
When I was in Guangdong and taking care of the people’s nourishment... to meet [Your Majesty’s]... concerns, I managed to make market prices go down, but the abolition of the grain [directorates] and brokers was only one link... For if the Guangxi merchants are only moved by profit, in the same way they are... deterred by harassment; [from this] it follows that it is necessary both to treat them with compassion and to know how to encourage them... then... grain will... continuous[ly] flow. I... gave strict orders to the district magistrates... that when they have to restock grain in the [public] granaries, they should acquire it in the markets, and [not] halt the Guangxi merchants’ grain boats and force them to sell, resulting in coercion and delay.
Also, [one should remember that] the precedents according to which hoarding was prohibited dealt... with whoever stores too much and waits for prices [to rise], or restrains [the circulation of goods] to corner the market; but in the case of those Guangxi merchant boats coming every day... the situation requires that the rich local families buy and resell, which... makes it possible for the merchants... to ply their oars and repeat the process; this is... how grain can be circulated and prices be brought down...
The problem is that local conditions are never the same. If one wants to prevent middlemen from using their crafty devices, and... keep prices from soaring, it is... a matter of examining what fits which place at which moment; it is difficult to stick by regulations fixed...
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Glossary Nourishment: food and resources needed for survival |