Merchants of Canton and Macao Success and Failure in Eighteenth-Century Chinese Trade Paul A. Van Dyke Hong Kong University Press The University of Hong Kong Pokfulam Road Hong Kong www.hkupress.org © 2016 Paul A. Van Dyke ISBN 978-988-8139-32-3 All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed and bound by Paramount Printing Co., Ltd. in Hong Kong, China qqqqq CONTENTS List of Tables ix List of Appendixes xi Preface xv Acknowledgements xxxiii Moneys, Weights, and Measures xxxv List of Abbreviations xxxvii Introduction Global Influences and Their Consequences 1 Chapter One Swequa 蔡瑞官 and Brothers 1741–1772 19 Chapter Two Monqua 蔡文官 and Family 1734–1796 39 Chapter Three Poankeequa 潘振承 and Family 1748–1788 61 Chapter Four Tan Anqua 陳安觀 1749–1790 and the Inland Tea Men 97 Chapter Five The Wu 伍 Family 1772–1802 107 Chapter Six The Porcelain Trade 123 Chapter Seven Thirteen Prominent Porcelain Dealers 1746–1806 133 Chapter Eight Miscellaneous Porcelain Dealers 1724–1844 161 Chapter Nine The Silk Trade 171 Chapter Ten Silk Weavers, Embroiderers, and Painters 187 viii Contents Conclusion Unwritten Realities of Trade 209 Appendixes 217 Notes 325 Bibliography 381 Index 425 qqqqq TABLES 1.1 European China Trade Records 1698–1833 xxiv 2.1 Number of Ships at Whampoa 1751–1760 4 5.1 EIC Shares of Trade Granted to the Four New Hong Merchants of 1792 118 7.1 Thirteen Prominent Porcelain Dealers 1746–1806 134 8.1 Other Porcelain Dealers Who Were Operating around 1779 162 8.2 Names of Porcelain Shops That Appear on Jinlun Huiguan (Silk Guild) Steles 166 9.1 Total Silk Exports from Canton in 1810 (from British Records) 182 9.2 Total Silk Exports from Canton in 1810 (from Dutch Records) 183 10.1 Prices of Nanking Raw Silk for 1777, 1781, and 1794 193 10.2 Average Silk Fabric Prices from Four Weavers in 1784 195 qqqqq APPENDIXES 1A Swequa’s Schedule 220 1B Tjobqua’s Schedule 222 1C Swequa’s Trade with the DAC, VOC and SOIC 1752–1769 223 1D Tjobqua’s (Zey Jauqua) Loans with the Swedes 1764–1772 224 1E Factory Rents Paid to Swequa and Tjobqua 1753–1763 226 1F Nomenclature Problems in Chapter 1 226 2A Teunqua’s Schedule 228 2B Monqua’s Schedule 230 2C Monqua’s Trade with the DAC 1764–1786 235 2D Monqua’s Trade with the VOC 1762–1792 235 2E Monqua’s Loans from Swedes Used to Finance His Junk Trade to Southeast Asia 1764–1769 237 2F Monqua’s Loans from Swedes Used to Finance His Foreign Trade at Canton 1766–1769 238 2G Nomenclature Problems in Chapter 2 239 3A Poankeequa’s Schedule 243 3B Schedule of Pan and Chen Trading Activities in the Dafeng Hang 達豐行 1753–1796 250 3C Poankeequa’s Trade with the DAC 1752–1788 252 3D Poankeequa and Sons’ Trade with the VOC 1773–1792 253 3E Destinations and Sponsors of Dafeng Hang 達豐行 Junks and Junk Quim Contay from Manila 253 3F Nomenclature Problems in Chapter 3 254 4A Tan Anqua’s Schedule 254 xii Appendixes 4B Tan Anqua’s Trade with the VOC and DAC 1757–1785 257 4C Nomenclature Problems in Chapter 4 257 5A Geowqua’s Schedule 258 5B Puiqua’s Schedule 261 5C Geowqua’s Trade with the DAC 1782–1797 263 5D Geowqua’s Trade with the VOC 1775–1792 264 5E Puiqua’s Trade with the DAC and VOC 1786–1800 264 5F Nomenclature Problems in Chapter 5 265 6A Total Tea and Porcelain Exports in 1764 266 6B Total EIC Exports 1760–1799 267 6C Total Tea, Porcelain and Silk Exports from Canton in 1798, 1801 and 1804–1814 268 6D Total Exports from Canton in 1784 269 7A Conjac’s Schedule 269 7B Echong’s 義昌 Schedule 270 7C Exchin’s 鷁昇 Schedule 271 7D Lisjoncon’s 李相公 Schedule 273 7E Soychong’s 聚昌 Schedule 275 7F Soyqua’s 修官 Schedule 278 7G Suchin Kinqua’s 璲珍店 Schedule 279 7H Suchin Tiauquon’s Schedule 280 7I Synchong’s 新昌 Schedule 282 7J Tonchong 傜昌 and Pontonchong’s 同昌 Schedule 284 7K Yeckhing’s 益興 Schedule 285 7L Youchong’s Schedule 286 7M Conjac and Tonchong’s (同昌 or 傜昌) Trade with the DAC 1750–1766 287 7N Conjac and Echong’s 義昌 Trade with the VOC 1762–1788 287 7O Lisjoncon 李相公 and Exchin’s 鷁昇 Trade with the DAC 1752–1805 288 7P Lisjoncon 李相公 and Exchin’s 鷁昇 Trade with the VOC 1757–1788 289 Appendixes xiii 7Q Soychong 聚昌 and Suchin Kinqua’s 璲珍店 Trade with the VOC 1758–1792 290 7R Soychong 聚昌 and Suchin Tiauquon’s Trade with the DAC 1746–1787 291 7S Soyqua 修官 and Youchong’s Trade with the DAC 1782–1806 292 7T Soyqua 修官 and Youchong’s Trade with the VOC 1760–1792 293 7U Synchong 新昌 and Yeckhing’s 益興 Trade with the VOC 1765–1792 293 7V Synchong 新昌 and Yeckhing’s 益興 Trade with the DAC 1782–1806 294 8A Miscellaneous Porcelain Dealers in EIC Records 1702–1775 295 8B Miscellaneous Porcelain Dealers in GIC Records 1724–1732 298 8C Miscellaneous Porcelain Dealers in VOC Records 1730–1791 298 8D Miscellaneous Porcelain Dealers in DAC Records 1734–1833 300 8E Miscellaneous Porcelain Dealers in USA Records 1784–1844 303 9 Contents of 34 Contracts 304 10A Silk Weavers’ Trade with the VOC 1772–1792 319 10B Silk Dealers and Weavers’ Trade with the DAC 1782–1799 320 10C Silk Embroiderers and Painters’ Trade with the VOC 1757–1788 321 10D Nomenclature Problems in Chapter 10 321 qqqqq PREFACE Since I wrote the first volume of this work several new studies have been completed on China’s foreign trade and the Hong merchants. Fred Grant Jr.’s study Chinese Cornerstone of Modern Banking: The Canton Guaranty System and the Origins of Bank Deposit Insurance 1780–1933 (2014) analyses the Hong merchants’ system of collective guarantees and how that became an early version of present-day bank deposit insur- ance. This work is the first of its kind. It shows more clearly the pressures faced by the Hong merchants under the guarantee system, whereby they were responsible for paying the debts of failed merchants.1 John Wong’s ‘Global Positioning: Houqua and His China Trade Partners in the Nineteenth Century’ is the first exhaustive study of the famous Hong merchant Houqua (Wu Bingjian 伍秉鑑). Wong spent many years researching this topic and has made good use of the American China trade records in the New England area and the English East India Company’s records in London. He has also gone extensively through the Chinese records in the British National Archive, the Number One Archive in Beijing and other records available in China, as well as various versions of the family genealogy. In the early nineteenth century, Houqua was one of the most successful merchants of the Canton trade. Wong covers in detail Houqua’s extensive investments worldwide. His influence stretched far beyond the Pearl River Delta.2 Two of Houqua’s predecessors, Geowqua and Puiqua, are discussed in Chapter 5 of this volume. Wang Shuo is completing her PhD dissertation on Houqua as well. It is entitled ‘Wu Bingjian and His Friends: The Relations Network of a Chinese Merchant in the Early 19th Century’. I have not seen the finished product yet but, as I understand it, Wang’s focus is on Houqua’s social relationships and interactions rather than trade.3 It will be interesting to see how her story differs from John Wong’s. Another recent PhD study by Li Yun 李雲 is focused on the Ye family.4 I did not know about Li Yun’s research at the time I wrote the first volume. I have a chapter on the Ye family merchants in that book. Li Yun has explored the Chinese sources very thoroughly including the Ye family genealogy. In my chapter I show that the last Ye merchant, Yanqua (Ye Shanglin 葉上林), retired to the tea lands after he quit the trade in 1804. The foreign records say this and there is an undated Chinese source showing a benefactor by the name of Ye Shanglin 葉上林 living in Wuyuan County in Jiangxi Province.5 Li does not agree with this outcome. He has pointed out that Yanqua was buried in Canton and therefore could not have gone to the tea lands to retire. Unfortunately, we have insufficient data to resolve these differences. Yanqua could have returned to xvi Preface Canton either while still alive or posthumously—we simply do not know. Consequently, we now have two possible theories of what happened to Yanqua after he retired: he might have stayed in Canton and died there (Li’s story) or he might have retired to the tea lands as planned and then at some later point (alive or dead) returned to Canton and was buried there (my story). There is little information about Yanqua’s involve- ment in the foreign trade in Chinese sources, so Li’s study does not change our under- standing of that part of his life. There are several recent PhD dissertations about the trade, which also have con- nections to the Chinese merchants.