List of Tables; Abbreviations; Acknowledgements; Introduction: China Opens Its Doors to the World; Chapter One -- Forging the Canton System; Chapter Two -- Canton Customs Procedures; Chapter Three -- Piloting the Pearl River; Chapter Four -- Compradors and The Provisions Trade; Chapter Five -- Linguists; Color Plates; Chapter Six -- Administrative Initiatives and Shortcomings; Chapter Seven -- Flag Boats, Silver, Contraband and Rice; Chapter Eight -- Macao Trade, Junk Trade, Capital Market and Commission Merchants; Chapter Nine -- The Canton Trade in Retrospect
Summary
This study utilizes a wide range of new source materials to reconstruct the day-to-day operations of the port of Canton during the eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth centuries. Using a bottom-up approach, it provides a fresh look at the successes and failures of the trade by focusing on the practices and procedures rather than on the official policies and protocols
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-266) and index
