368 Boundaries and Beyond
Commodities from Guizhou were composed of metals, medical herbs,
tobacco and musk. From Sichuan came gold, brass, iron, tin, musk and
drugs. A large volume of trade was carried on with Fujian by both land
and sea. Besides black teas that traveled overland to Canton, commodities
such as earthenware, lacquerware, umbrellas, tobacco, indigo, paper and
grass cloth arriving by sea were all brought in on the Fujian junks that
also transported sugar and camphor from Taiwan. Zhejiang, including
Ningbo and Hangzhou, sent the best of silks, embroidery, ham and
the very costly Longjing tea. There was an inβluential group of Ningbo
merchants who resided in Canton. Items including cotton, silks and
nankeens were among the imports from Jiangsu. The principal articles
from Jiangsu and Anhui were green teas and silks. The trade with Anhui
focused on green teas that had an annual value of several million dollars.
There was a considerable number of Anhui merchants present in Canton.
The βinest porcelain came from Jiangxi. Hunan, Hubei and Honan sent
in their musk, rhubarb and other medicinal drugs. Brought in down the
coast from Shandong to Canton were fruits, vegetables, drugs, wines and
hides. Merchants and bankers from Shanxi returned to Canton with their
capital and they also brought with them musk, rhubarb, medical herbs
and fans. Likewise, several merchants and rich bankers from Shanxi
showed up in Canton and conducted a similar trade there. Gansu sent
gold, quicksilver, musk and tobacco.^60 As Edmund Roberts sums up,
“Here the productions of every part of China are found, and a very brisk
and lucrative commerce is carried on by merchants and factors from all
the provinces.”^61
Despite their active role in inter-provincial trade, it is amazing to βind
such a lack of interest in seafaring trading activities among the native
Cantonese. In fact, they and their coastal neighbors did not have any
qualms about sailing activities, as can be seen from their notorious role
in coastal piracy in the late eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries.
Nevertheless, the presence of entrepreneurial merchants from outside
Canton was enough to uphold the position of Canton as a major port city.
Large numbers of trading junks, mostly from Amoy and Chaozhou,
anchored in the harbor. These expatriates also maintained large
commercial establishments in Canton. The Fujianese settlers numbered
some four thousand. They controlled the largest amount of the βloating
capital in the city and successfully established a complex network of
businesses there. In their capacity as brokers and agents, they undertook
- Anon., “A Dissertation”, pp. 32‒4; and Edmund Roberts, Embassy to the Eastern
Courts, pp. 119‒21. - Edmund Roberts, Embassy to the Eastern Courts, p. 118.
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