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East India Company China Factory records, c.1595-1858

Title: East India Company China Factory records, c.1595-1858
Author/Creator: East India Company
British Library. India Office Library and Records. English East India Company Archive
Publisher: British Library
Publisher Date: 1595-1858.
Description: The Factory Records are some of the most interesting of the early papers of the East India Company, detailing as they do the work of their Agents and Factors in establishing factories (trading posts) and promoting trade in the East. The East India Company was established in 1600 as a joint-stock association of English merchants trading to the “Indies” and continued trading until 1833 when an Act of Parliament opened the trade with the East Indies to all shipping. Trade with Japan started with the visit of “The Clove”, the ship of the Company’s eighth voyage on its visit to the port of Hirado in 1613. Trade with Japan did not flourish. The market was already flooded with broadcloth and ivory, tin was as cheap as in England and there was no demand for pepper and spices. As a result, many of the goods were left for years in the warehouses of the factories and rotted away. Eventually the conflict with the Dutch and the unwillingness of the Japanese to trade with foreigners led to the closure of the factories in Japan in 1623. After their closure the Company decided to concentrate on trade with China and India. Early efforts were made to trade with China to obtain silks and porcelain and voyages were made to the East intermittently in the first half of the seventeenth century. The Company was represented in East Asia by factories in Taiwan and Tonkin (North Vietnam) which were opened in 1672, but the first foothold on mainland China was not gained until 1676, when Company merchants were given permission to trade at Amoy, Canton and Chusan. East India Company trade with China started in earnest in 1762 with the establishment of a factory at Canton.
Note: Original documents from the "English East India Company Archive, G/12 China Factory Records c.1595-1858", were converted from microfilm into digital format by the British Library, India Office Records.
Subject: East India Company--Records and correspondence
British--China--History--Sources
British--Japan--History--Sources
Great Britain--Commerce--History--China--Sources
Great Britain--Commerce--History--Japan--Sources
China--Commerce--History--Great Britain--Sources
Japan--Commerce--History--Great Britain--Sources
Links: 電子版 : East India Company China Factory records, c.1595-1858 Part 01
電子版 : East India Company China Factory records, c.1595-1858 Part 02
電子版 : East India Company China Factory records, c.1595-1858 Part 03
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電子版 : East India Company China Factory records, c.1595-1858 Part 08
電子版 : East India Company China Factory records, c.1595-1858 Part 09
電子版 : East India Company China Factory records, c.1595-1858 Part 10
電子版 : East India Company China Factory records, c.1595-1858 Part 11
電子版 : East India Company China Factory records, c.1595-1858 Part 12
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電子版 : East India Company China Factory records, c.1595-1858 Part 18
電子版 : East India Company China Factory records, c.1595-1858 Part 19
電子版 : East India Company China Factory records, c.1595-1858 Part 20
電子版 : East India Company China Factory records, c.1595-1858 Part 21
電子版 : East India Company China Factory records, c.1595-1858 Part 22
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電子版 : East India Company China Factory records, c.1595-1858 Part 24
電子版 : East India Company China Factory records, c.1595-1858 Part 25
電子版 : East India Company China Factory records, c.1595-1858 Part 26
電子版 : East India Company China Factory records, c.1595-185
Library URL: 991002299479706306