America's First Adventure in China: Trade, Treaties, Opium, and Salvation

295 Pages·2013·2.72 MB·English

by  John R Haddad

AmericA’s
First Adventure
in chinA

AmericA’s
First Adventure
in chinA
w
Trade, Treaties, Opium,
and Salvation
John r. hAddAd
Temple UniversiTy press
philadelphia
Temple UniversiTy press
philadelphia, pennsylvania 19122
www.temple.edu/tempress
Copyright © 2013 by Temple University
all rights reserved
published 2013
library of Congress Cataloging-in-publication data
haddad, John rogers.
america’s first adventure in China : trade, treaties, opium, and
salvation / John r. haddad.
pages cm
includes bibliographical references and index.
isBn 978-1-4399-0689-7 (cloth : alk. paper) —
isBn 978-1-4399-0691-0 (e-book) 1. United states—relations—
China. 2. China—relations—United states. 3. United
states—Commerce—China—history—18th century. 4. China—
Commerce—United states—history—18th century. 5. United
states—Commerce—China—history—19th century. 6. China—
Commerce—United states—history—19th century. 7. Opium
trade—China—history—19th century. 8. missions, american—
China—history—19th century. 9. China—history—Opium
War, 1840-1842. 10. China—history—Taiping rebellion, 1850-
1864. i. Title.
e183.8.C5h174 2013
327.73051—dc23
2012040901
The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the
american national standard for information sciences—permanence
of paper for printed library materials, ansi Z39.48-1992
printed in the United states of america
2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1
e
contents
acknowledgments vii
a note on the spelling of Chinese Words ix
introduction 1
1 First Contact: The voyage of the Empress of China 7
2 system men: The rise of perkins and Company 31
3 all for a Cup of Tea: Finding Goods for the Canton market 56
4 Beachhead of God: The First Wave of missionaries 81
5 rising on smoke: Opium and identity in Canton 110
6 Formal Ties: The Caleb Cushing mission 136
7 Centrifugal Force: The spread of people, Goods,
Capital, and ideas 160
8 heavenly War: americans and the Taiping rebellion 183
9 Cooperation: Burlingame and the reinvention of
sino-Western relations 208
Conclusion 231
notes 235
Bibliography 263
index 275

e
Acknowledgments
this book would not have been possible without the generosity, sup-
port, and insights of several people and institutions. i thank the
leadership at penn state harrisburg for granting me the sabbatical
that made the early stages of this project possible. i am also grateful to the
Fulbright program for placing me in a research-teaching position at hong
Kong University. There i joined the american studies program, whose
director, Kendall Johnson, was a wonderful host, a helpful colleague,
and a terrific friend. i would also like to thank Glenn shive of the hong
Kong–america Center who coordinated much of my Fulbright experience,
enriching it immeasurably.
i owe a debt of gratitude to those who read my work at various stages:
paul van dyke of sun yat-sen University in Guangzhou, peter Buck of
harvard University (retired), and steven Conn of Ohio state University.
along with saving me from mistakes, these readers generously provided me
with access to their knowledge and expertise. my editor, Janet Francendese,
who guided me every step of the way and was a true joy to work with,
deserves my maximal gratitude.
i also acknowledge the friends, colleagues, and mentors who offered
continuous encouragement. at penn state harrisburg, i benefited from the
unwavering support of simon Bronner, Charlie Kupfer, anne verplanck,
erin Battat, anthony Buccitelli, michael Barton, Catherine rios, david
Witwer, Greg Crawford, and Oranee Tawatnuntachai. Two others merit
special mention. a longtime friend, daniel medwed, was with me in Japan
when i first developed an interest in americans in asia; later, in graduate
school, the late William h. Goetzmann taught me how to convert this inter-
est into narrative history.
Finally, i thank family members. my parents, richard and Betsey, pro-
vided vital support and good cheer every step of the way, as did my brother,
viii  •  aCKnOWledGmenTs
rich, his wife, sandy, and their three boys, Tim, alex, and sam. similarly, i
am grateful to my wife’s family in China—in particular, my parents-in-law,
Wang Qingyi and yang Xiurong—who epitomize the Chinese tradition of
respecting scholarship. To my wife, Catherine, and my children, William
and elizabeth, i have this to say: you helped me in profound ways you may
never understand. Though perhaps it did not always seem like it, this effort
was for you all along.
e
A note on the spelling
of chinese Words
the romanization of Chinese poses problems for historians because,
for any given word or proper name, several different spellings can
exist. in the 1950s the Chinese adopted pinyin as the state’s official
system on the grounds that its spellings most closely approximate the true
sound of mandarin Chinese. For this reason, this book uses pinyin system
as its default system. That said, there are two exceptions to this rule. First,
some Chinese personal and place names, when converted into pinyin, ap-
pear unrecognizable to many of today’s readers, they being more familiar
with an older spelling. in these cases, the author has opted to leave certain
names in their older and more familiar form. second, when certain names
appear repeatedly one specific way in primary source materials, the author
has elected to retain these spellings. For example, since nineteenth-century
american sources, without exception, referred to the city of Guangzhou (a
pinyin spelling) as Canton, the latter spelling is used here. likewise, Beijing
appears in this text as peking.