China, almost all of it from the Americas. As the price for silver in
China was substantially higher than in Europe, vast amounts flowed
around the world to meet the insatiable demand for Chinese silk,
porcelain, and tea. The famous Acapulco galleon that arrived twice
yearly in Manila directly from Mexico brought silver to exchange for
Chinese products transported there by Chinese merchants.
As the lucrative galleon trade attracted more and more Chinese,
their numbers at Manila rose rapidly. Even though the Chinese pres-
ence depended entirely on the continued flow of Spanish silver, the
outnumbered Spanish saw the Chinese as a threat. In 1603, fearing
an uprising, the Spanish turned on the Chinese community and in an
appalling massacre killed as many as 23 000. In the aftermath of this
tragic event, two things became apparent. The first was that the
Ming government would, or could, do nothing to protect Chinese
settlers in Southeast Asia. The second was that Europeans had
become dependent on the Chinese, not just as middlemen importing
food and other consumer goods, but also artisans and labourers,
whose industry was essential for the economic life of European-
administered ports. The Spanish authorities were forced to re-admit
Chinese settlers, though they no longer permitted Chinese to live
within the walls of the Spanish town. Within a few years the Chinese
population of Manila again numbered several thousand. Five more
pogroms occurred in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and
yet each time the Chinese returned, lured by the prospects of profit
and a more comfortable life.
The Qing
In 1644 Beijing fell to the Manchus, a sinicised confederation of
warrior tribes from the northeastern steppes of Manchuria, who had
already proclaimed their Qing (‘pure’) dynasty eight years before. The
turmoil that accompanied the change of dynasty spilled over into
Enter the Europeans