
Visible Cities
Canton, Nagasaki, and Batavia and the Coming of the Americans
Leonard Blusse(Author)
Harvard University Press
Published on 1. April 2008
Book
Hardback
148 pages
978-0-674-02614-8 (ISBN)
Description
The eighteenth century witnessed the rise of the China market and the changes that resulted in global consumption patterns, from opium smoking to tea drinking. In a valuable transnational perspective, Leonard Blusse chronicles the economic and cultural transformations in East Asia through three key cities. Canton was the port of call for foreign merchants in the Qing empire. Nagasaki was the official port of Tokugawa Japan. Batavia served as the connection site between the Indian Ocean and China seas for ships of the Dutch East India Company.
The effects of global change were wrenching. The monopolies suffered challenges, trade corridors shifted, and new players appeared. Yankee traders in their fast clipper ships made great inroads. As Dutch control declined, Batavia lost its premier position. Nagasaki became a shadow of its former self. Canton, however, surged to become the foremost port of East Asia. But on the horizon were new kinds of port cities, not controlled from above and more attuned to the needs of the overseas trading network. With the establishment of the free port of Singapore and the rise of the treaty ports-Hong Kong, Shanghai, Yokohama-the nature of the China seas trade, and relations between East Asia and the West, changed forever.
The effects of global change were wrenching. The monopolies suffered challenges, trade corridors shifted, and new players appeared. Yankee traders in their fast clipper ships made great inroads. As Dutch control declined, Batavia lost its premier position. Nagasaki became a shadow of its former self. Canton, however, surged to become the foremost port of East Asia. But on the horizon were new kinds of port cities, not controlled from above and more attuned to the needs of the overseas trading network. With the establishment of the free port of Singapore and the rise of the treaty ports-Hong Kong, Shanghai, Yokohama-the nature of the China seas trade, and relations between East Asia and the West, changed forever.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge, Mass
United States
Target group
College/higher education
US School Grade: College Graduate Student
Illustrations
16 halftones, 1 map
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-674-02614-8 (9780674026148)
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E-Book
07/2009
Harvard University Press
€93.99
Available for download
Person
Leonard Blusse (Leonard Blusse van Oud Alblas) is Professor Emeritus of the History of European-Asian Relations, Leiden University.
Content
* Preface * Three Windows of Opportunity * Managing Trade across Cultures * Bridging the Divide * Notes * Bibliography * Index