Page 49 - The colours of each piece: production and consumption of Chinese enamelled porcelain, c.1728-c.1780

CHAPTER 1 Introduction

The first part covers political activities involving the Chinese local government, the

measurements of the ship and negotiations regarding the policy of trade issued by the

Chinese government in Canton. This part of the records has been used by scholars to

illustrate the history of the Sino-Anglo trade, as well as the relationship between China

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and Britain. The second part is letters and registers of trade; for example, by the end
of the trading season, they would produce a register of goods they have ordered and

bought for the year. This contained the quantity of goods of each individual ship, as

well as the quantity of goods used in private trade.

The third part is about the trading activities at Canton, including renting the

warehouse, buying, packing and shipping commodities, mainly ‘China wares’, tea and

silk, as well as gold. An example is shown in Figure 1-2. This section takes the biggest

part of the ‘Factory Records’. After all, the most important thing for the Company

was to buy and bring sufficient quantities of commodities home. The EEIC officer

would need to investigate the market after their arrival before they buy any goods. For

example, they need to know the price of porcelain, and the available quantity of

porcelain in the market. All of their activities have been written down in detail in the

‘Factory Records’. When the EEIC officer and Chinese dealer agreed on a deal with

the Chinese dealer, a contract would be produced.

They have also noted down the packing activities, where commodities were

packed and by whom. When the goods were ready to ship, they would send boats and

ship all the packed goods by assigned officers. Seeing how porcelain trade was

operated, which dealers were involved and how much a single piece of a tea cup was

provides enormous detailed information regarding trade. However, these activities

67 For example, see Rogéio Miguel Puga, The British Presence in Macau, 1635-1793 (Hong
r
Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2013).
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