Expanding Possibilities 381
also took over from those owned by the Fujianese to become the most
numerous in Siam.^113
Junks from Zhejiang and Jiangnan (Jiangsu and Anhui) in the Lower-
Yangzi subregion were also βitted out in the 1820s. This area produced
large quantities of raw silk, teas and nankeens. It had a βlourishing trade
with the Philippines, the Vietnam coast, Cambodia and Siam. There were
24 junks of considerable size sailing to Siam, 16, likewise of large tonnage,
to the Vietnam coast and βive to the Philippines. The total number of junks
in this branch of trade was 45, and their average total burden did not fall
short of 17,000 tons.^114
Many small junks from Hainan, presumably of Cantonese ownership,
made their voyages to the Nanyang in the 1820s. Among them, 50 traded
to Siam, and 43 to the Vietnam coast.^115 A note of caution is needed in any
discussions about ownership. There is every possibility that the actual
investors were originally either residents of Quan-Zhang or Chaozhou,
or both. The 50 junks of 120 to 200 tons each sailed for Siam when the
northeast monsoon winds began. From Qiongzhou or Haiko in Hainan,
they reached the southern Siamese ports earlier than those larger vessels
from other places. With this advantage, they were the early birds arriving
in Bangkok in January, in advance of the large junks from Fujian and
Zhejiang. The latter two would usually show up one to two months later,
in late February or early April.^116
Commenting on the impressive scope of the Chinese junk trade in the
Nanyang around the 1820s, T’ien Ju-k’ang has the following to say:
If 1820 (the 25th years of the Jiaqing Emperor) is taken as the
year for the tabulation, there were 295 junks sailing to Southeast
Asia, with a total tonnage of 85,200 tons around the time. The total
tonnage of the British East Indian Company ships sailing between
Britain and China during the sixteen years from 1805 to 1820 was
29,572 in 1816, the highest βigure, and 16,073, the lowest. The
annual average was 21,432 tons. Therefore, the number of Chinese
junks engaging in overseas trade was more than four times the
British ships coming to trade in China.- Sarasin Viraphol, Tribute and Proϔit, pp. 195‒6.
- John Phipps was citing the submission by John Crawfurd to the Select Committee
of the House of Commons on 25 March 1830. See Practical treatise on the China
and Eastern Trade, p. 203. - Sucheta Mazumdar, Sugar and Society in China, pp. 111‒2. Refer also to John
Phipps, Practical Treatise on the China and Eastern Trade, p. 203, for the source
of information cited by Sucheta Mazumdar. - Sarasin Viraphol, Tribute and Proϔit, p. 188.