380 Boundaries and Beyond
their trade through the Chinese networks, at the very least facilitating
British access to China’s richest Lower Yangzi region.^109
As John Crawfurd recorded in the 1820s, the Chinese ports trading
with Siam included Canton, Jiangmen, Changlim, Amoy, Ningbo, Shanghai,
Soochow and several ports in Hainan. Assorted cargoes were imported
from China, including such items as coarse earthenware, tea, dried fruits,
raw silk, nankeens, umbrellas and other minor articles. The Siamese
exports also consisted of a multitude of goods including black pepper,
sugar, tin, cardamoms, sappanwood, rosewood, ivory, various animal
hides and skins, and rice, all of higher value than those from China.^110
At this time, there were more Siamese than Chinese junks involved
in the trade. Three large junks of 600 to 900 tons each and 50—each of
120 to 300 tons—made their voyages to Canton, two of 420 tons each to
Changlim, two of 360 tons each to Amoy, eight of 300 to 480 tons each
to Ningbo, one of 300 tons to Soochow, and 15 of 300 to 480 tons each
to Shanghai, totaling 24,560 tons. A large number of smaller junks from
China also traded to Siam, including βive junks of 180 to 300 tons each
from Jiangmen, one of 300 tons from Changlim, and two of 180 tons each
from Amoy. They carried a considerable amount of Siamese goods, but
of less value. The various ports in Hainan also sent more than 50 junks
of about 120 to 200 tons each. The total number of junks engaged in
Sino-Siamese trade was 140, with a total tonnage of around 35,100 tons
and carrying cargoes of about 10,530 tons. It is apparent that the more
valuable part of the trade was conducted on the Siamese side on larger
junks. The most proβitable part of the trade was with Shanghai, Ningbo
and Soochow; the least was with Canton and Amoy. The Siamese junks
were all constructed in Siam under the direction of the Chinese. “With the
[major] ports of Canton, Nimpo [Ningbo], and Siang-hai [Shanghai], there
is no trade to Siam under the Chinese βlag,” as John Crawfurd puts it.^111
In the meantime, there is no doubt that the rapid development of
Changlim shipping allowed it to take over the dominant position of the
Fujian merchants in the Sino-Siamese trade. John Crawfurd noticed that
the trading junks from this port had gained a position of prominence in
the Indian Archipelago in the early nineteenth century. They were highly
competitive in Vietnam, Siam, Singapore and the Indian Archipelago. In
Vietnam, the local authorities favored the Chaozhou junks, allowing them
to pay lower duties than the others.^112 The red-prow Changlim junks
- Ibid., pp. 306, 515‒6.
- Ibid., pp. 408‒9.
- Ibid., pp. 410‒1, 413.
- Ibid., p. 518.
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