• Preface
• Introduction
• 1. The years of the Co-hong 1760-1770
• 2. The opening of trade and the debt crisis 1771-1781
• 3. Problems with porcelain
• 4. Ups and downs of trade 1782-1789
• 5. Vantage points, perspectives and artistic presentation
• 6. Rise of the private traders 1790-1799
• 7. American entrepreneurs and the brief return of the French 1800-1814
• 8. New British factories, return of the Danes, and the Great Fire 1815-1822
• 9. The shopping streets in the Foreign Quarter
• Conclusion
• Appendix. Foreign movements between Canton and Macao 1760-1769.

Hundreds of Chinese export paintings of Canton trading houses and shopping streets are in museums and private collections throughout the world, and scholars of art and history have often questioned the reliability of these historical paintings. In this illustrated volume, Paul Van Dyke and Maria Mok examine these Chinese export paintings by matching the changes in the images with new historical data collected from various archives. Many factory paintings are reliable historical records in their own right and can be dated to a single year.

Merchants were central to the huge growth in China's foreign trade and contributed to the development of world markets and networks. Merchants of Canton and Macao: Success and Failure in Eighteenth-Century Chinese Trade brings together much new research about the inner workings of the merchants of Canton and Macao. The book studies in detail the leading Chinese merchants and merchant families as well as the porcelain and silk trades. By examining the successes and failures of dozens of Chinese merchants involved in foreign trade, it provides fresh insights into China's unique form of capitalism and her role in the rise of global commerce. Van Dyke's conclusions on the nature of Qing policy towards foreign trade are bold, original and supported by intensive research. In contrast to the traditional focus on British and American trade, his research draws on archives in multiple languages, spread around the world.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Preface
• Introduction : global influences and their consequences
• Swequa and brothers 1741-1772
• Monqua and family 1734-1796
• Poankeequa and family 1748-1788
• Tan Anqua 1749-1790 and the inland tea men
• The Wu family 1772-1802
• The porcelain trade
• Thirteen prominent porcelain dealers 1746-1806
• Miscellaneous porcelain dealers 1724-1844
• The silk trade
• Silk weavers, embroiderers, and painters
• Conclusion : unwritten realities of trade.

Merchants were central to the huge growth in China's foreign trade and contributed to the development of world markets and networks. Merchants of Canton and Macao: Success and Failure in Eighteenth-Century Chinese Trade brings together much new research about the inner workings of the merchants of Canton and Macao. The book studies in detail the leading Chinese merchants and merchant families as well as the porcelain and silk trades. By examining the successes and failures of dozens of Chinese merchants involved in foreign trade, it provides fresh insights into China's unique form of capitalism and her role in the rise of global commerce. Van Dyke's conclusions on the nature of Qing policy towards foreign trade are bold, original and supported by intensive research. In contrast to the traditional focus on British and American trade, his research draws on archives in multiple languages, spread around the world.

• List of TablesList of AbbreviationsPrefaceAcknowledgementsIntroduction
• Chapter 1: The Years of the Co-hong 1760-1770
• Chapter 2: The Opening of Trade and the Debt Crisis 1771-1781
• Chapter 3: Problems with Porcelain
• Chapter 4: Ups and Downs of Trade 1782-1789
• Chapter 5: Vantage Points, Perspectives and Artistic Presentation
• Chapter 6: Rise of the Private Traders 1790-1799
• Chapter 7: American Entrepreneurs and the Brief Return of the French 1800-1814
• Chapter 8: New British Factories, Return of the Danes, and the Great Fire 1815-1822
• Chapter 9: The Shopping Streets in the Foreign QuarterConclusionAppendix: Foreign Movements between Canton and Macao 1760-1769BibliographyIndex.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

Hundreds of Chinese export paintings of Canton trading houses and shopping streets are in museums and private collections throughout the world, and scholars of art and history have often questioned the reliability of these historical paintings. In this illustrated volume, Paul Van Dyke and Maria Mok examine these Chinese export paintings by matching the changes in the images with new historical data collected from various archives. Many factory paintings are reliable historical records in their own right and can be dated to a single year. Dating images with such precision was not possible in the past owing to insufficient information on the scenes. The new findings in this volume provide unprecedented opportunities to re-date many art works and prove that images of the Canton factories painted on canvas by Chinese artists are far more trustworthy than what scholars have believed in the past.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

Paul Van Dyke works in many languages and archives to uncover the history of Peark River trade. This two-volume work is likely to be the most definitive reference work on the major trading families of Guangzhou.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

This study utilizes a wide range of new source materials to reconstruct the day-to-day operations of the port of Canton during the eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth centuries. Using a bottom-up approach, it provides a fresh look at the successes and failures of the trade by focusing on the practices and procedures rather than on the official policies and protocols. The narrative, however, reads like a story as the author unravels the daily lives of all the players from sampan operators, pilots, compradors and linguists, to country traders, supercargoes, Hong merchants and customs officials. New areas to studies of this kind are covered as well, such as Armenians, junk traders and rice traders, all of whom played intricate roles in moving the commerce forward. "The Canton Trade" shows that contrary to popular belief, the trade was stable, predictable and secure, with many incentives built into the policies to encourage it to grow. The huge expansion of trade was, in fact, one of the factors that contributed to its collapse as the increase in revenues blinded government officials to the long-term deterioration of the lower administrative echelons. In the end, the system was toppled, but that happened mainly because it had already defeated itself.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• List of Tables; Abbreviations; Acknowledgements; Introduction: China Opens Its Doors to the World; Chapter One
• Forging the Canton System; Chapter Two
• Canton Customs Procedures; Chapter Three
• Piloting the Pearl River; Chapter Four
• Compradors and The Provisions Trade; Chapter Five
• Linguists; Color Plates; Chapter Six
• Administrative Initiatives and Shortcomings; Chapter Seven
• Flag Boats, Silver, Contraband and Rice; Chapter Eight
• Macao Trade, Junk Trade, Capital Market and Commission Merchants; Chapter Nine
• The Canton Trade in Retrospect.

This study utilizes a wide range of new source materials to reconstruct the day-to-day operations of the port of Canton during the eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth centuries. Using a bottom-up approach, it provides a fresh look at the successes and failures of the trade by focusing on the practices and procedures rather than on the official policies and protocols.

• Americans, Macao and China / John E. Wills, Jr. and Paul A. Van Dyke
• Revolutions and Divergences: The Macao Vortex in a Transforming World / John E. Wills, Jr.
• A Clash of Civilizations in the Pearl River Delta: Stephen Girard's Trade with China, 1787-1824 / Jonathan Goldstein
• American Ships, Macao, and the Bombay Marine, 1806-1817: Delicate Lines for a Junior Officer to Tread-the Role of Daniel Ross in the Charting of the China Seas / Stephen Davies
• Smuggling Networks of the Pearl River Delta before
• 1842: Implications for Macao and the American China Trade / Paul A. Van Dyke
• The April
• 1820 Debt Settlement between Conseequa and Benjamin Chew Wilcocks / Frederic D. Grant, Jr.
• The Importance of the China Trade in American Exploration and Conquest in the Pacific, 1830-1850 / Michael Block
• Henrietta Hall Shuck: Engendering Faith, Education, and Culture in Nineteenth-Century Macao / Isabel Morais
• Five American Women's Perceptions of China 1829-1941: "A Yard-stick of Our Own Construction" / Susan E. Schopp
• Duties and Limitations: The Role of United States Consuls in Macao, 1849-1869 / Vincent Wai-kit Ho.

The theme of this volume is the American relationship with Macao and its region through trade, politics and culture, and the focus is mainly on the late 18th and 19th centuries. The essays address topics such as the role of the China trade in US pacific expansion and exploration, US consuls, smuggling networks, missionary and educational work, and American women's perceptions of China. In all of the encounters, Macao emerges as a central player, adding a new dimension to our understanding of Sino-American relations.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)