The Origin of the Dutch Embassy to China in 1794
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Chapter 12 The Origin of the Dutch Embassy to China in 1794 Cai Xiangyu In 1794, the commissioners-general at Batavia on Java (also mentioned as “the high government” or “the authorities at Batavia” in this chapter), who were then directing the affairs of the Dutch East India Company (voc) in Asia, sent Isaac Titsingh as ambassador to the court of Beijing to congratulate the sixtieth anniversary of the Qianlong Emperor’s enthronement.1 André Everard van Braam Houckgeest, chief of the Dutch factory in Guangzhou, served as the sec- ond ambassador while Chrétien-Louis-Joseph de Guignes, the interpreter of the French consulate in Guangzhou, who (through Titsingh’s protection) was assigned as one of the secretaries of the embassy. These three men respectively kept detailed records of the whole journey; among them, Van Braam’s journal was regarded by Charles R. Boxer as the best and most informative.2 The out- comes of this embassy, politically failed but culturally trumpeted, attracted the attention of the contemporaries3 and scholars of the following generations.4 In 1797 and 1798, personal articles, such as furniture and export paintings collect- ed by Van Braam in Guangzhou, helped to render his villa “China’s Retreat” 1 The voc set up their Asian headquarters in Batavia (present-day Jakarta) in west Java, then a minor port called Sunda Kelapa or Jayakarta. 2 Andre Everard van Braam Houckgeest, Voyage de l’Ambassade de la Compagnie des Indes Ori- entales Hollandaises, vers l’Empereur de la Chine, dans les Années 1794 & 1795 (Philadelphia: Philadelphie Moreau de Saint-Méry, 1797–8); Chrétien-Louis-Josephe de Guignes, Voyages à Peking, Manille et L’Île de France, faits dans l’intervalle des années 1784 à 1801. Tome 1, Voyage à Peking pendant les Années 1794 et 1795 (Paris: Imprimerie Impériale, 1808); Frank Lequin, Isaac Titsingh in China: het Onuitgegeven Journaal van zijn ambassade naar Peking 1794–1796 ( Alphen aan den Rijn: Canaletto, 2005). For Boxer’s assesment of Van Braam’s journal, see C.R. Boxer, “Isaac Titsingh’s Embassy to the Court of Chi’en Lung (1794–1795),” Tien Hsia, 8 (January 1939): 9–33. 3 J.-F. Charpentier de Cossigny, Voyage à Canton, Capitale de la province de ce nom, à la China; Par Gorée, le Cap de Bonne-Espérance, et les Isles de France et de la Réunion; Suivi d’Observations sur le voyage à la China, de Lord Macartney et du Citoyen Van-Braam, et d’une Esquisse des arts des Indiens et des Chinois (Paris: Chez André, Imp.—Libraire, An vii de la République Fran- caise, 1798); John Barrow, Travels in China, 2nd ed. (London: Cadell & Davies, 1804). 4 The Dutch sinologist J.J.L. Duyvendak (1938, 1940) devoted a long research article and two supplementary papers to it, then followed the research by Charles R. Boxer (1939), George R. Loehr (1954), Cai Hongsheng (蔡鸿生, 1997, 1998, new edition in 2007), Jan van Campen (2005), Leonard Blussé (2008), John Haddad (2008) and Lin Faqin (林发钦, 2013) and Tonio Andrade. The Origin of the Dutch Embassy to China in 1794 279 near Philadelphia into “the first comprehensive Chinese collection seen in the United States.”5 However, on February 15 and 16, 1799, due to financial difficulty, Van Braam’s paintings and other Chinese art objects were sold at auction in London. Although the abundant collection of paintings and drawings assem- bled by Van Braam was dispersed, this event resulted in an influx of publica- tions on Chinese export paintings either in England or in Europe. Now, cultural and art historians are still tracing the “indefinite” cultural legacy left by him. Due to Van Braam’s double identities (he was by birth a Dutchman and, by adoption, an American), and his multilingual capacities (besides his native language and English, Van Braam knew French, Portuguese and had a speaking knowledge of Cantonese) as a medium between East and West cultures, he has received increasing global academic interest in the past decade. Thus, his cul- tural legacy cannot be narrowly identified as either “Dutch” or “American.” Instead of exploring the fabulous cultural impacts of his legacy, this paper aims to probe the institutional, political, and economic conditions of the voc and the Canton trade system6 that made the 1794 Dutch embassy to the Qing court possible. The round trip between Guangzhou and Beijing offered the members of embassy a rare chance to peer into the interior of the Qing Empire and not be restricted to the “trading zone” or “contact zone”; that is, the foreign compound by the Pearl River in Guangzhou. For many years, Van Braam was regarded as the initiator of this ill-fated embassy. De Guignes, mentioned above, ascribed the sole initiative to Van Braam’s ambition. Additionally, he implied that the Chinese officials at Guangzhou also expected the arrival of a European embassy for such a significant event. It is the willingness of both par- ties, in fact, that eventually urged the authorities at Batavia to dispatch this embassy.7 Considering the misleading suggestions given by Van Braam to the ill-informed high authorities back in Java, the Dutch sinologist J.J.L. Duyvendak has concluded that it was Van Braam who longed for the dispatch of such a mission and for himself to serve as ambassador. He emphasizes the role played by Van Braam, saying that he was “the man who was chiefly responsible for the mission.”8 Boxer also agrees that “the man who was chiefly responsible for this 5 George R. Loehr, “A.E. van Braam Houckgeest: The First American at the Court of China,” The Princeton University Library Chronicle 15, no. 4 (Summer 1954): 179–193. 6 Paul van Dyke, The Canton Trade: Life and Enterprise on the China Coast, 1700–1845 (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2005). 7 Chrétien-Louis-Josephe de Guignes, Voyages à Peking, Manille et L’Île de France, faits dans l’intervalle des années 1784 à 1801. Tome 1, Voyage à Peking pendant les Années 1794 et 1795 (Paris: Imprimerie Impériale, 1808), vol. 1, 254–256. 8 J.J.L. Duyvendak, “The Last Dutch Embassy to the Chinese Court (1794–1795),” T’oung Pao 34 (1938): 1–137, esp. 4..