The Dutch East India Company's Tea Trade with China, 1757-1781 »

Y. Liu (1974) obtained his MA in History in 2000 at Xiamen University, China and received his doctorate in History in 2006 at Leiden University, the Netherlands. His main interests are the history of overseas Chinese in South-east Asia as well as Sino-European trade.

This case study of the tea trade of the Dutch East India Company with China deals with the most profitable phase of the Dutch Company’s China trade, focusing on the question why and how the tea trade was taken out of the hands of the High Government in Batavia and put under the supervision of the newly established China Committee in 1757. Various factors which contributed to the phenomenal rise of this trade and its sudden decline are dealt with in detail.
Filling in lacunae left open by previous research and this monograph contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the VOC trade with Asia.

Acknowledgements     xiii
Abbreviations     xv
Notes on spelling     xvi
Glossary     xvii
Explanation of the units of measurements     xxii
Introduction     1
Outline of the VOC tea trade with China     2
Previous research     5
Subject and framework     10
Source materials     11
The China Committee and its management of the direct China trade     17
Introduction     17
Preparations for an improved management of the China trade     17
Establishment of the China Committee     23
Instructions of the China Committee     26
To the Company servants on the China ships and in China     28
To the High Government in Batavia     34
Trade goods and funds sent from the Dutch Republic     36
The China Committee's demands for the "VOC teas"     38
Conclusion     39
Batavia's role in the direct China trade     43
Introduction     43
Batavia's contributions to the direct China trade     44
Supply of trade goods     44
Supplementing trade funds     49
Complement of equipment and personnel     50
Assistance with instructions     51
Benefits to Batavia from the direct China trade     55
Commodities for use in Batavia     55
Gold for the intra-Asian trade     59
Conclusion     63
The purchase of the "VOC teas" in Canton     65
Introduction     65
The "VOC teas"     68
The "VOC tea"-supplying agents     74
The "VOC tea" procurements     79
Conclusion     89
The Dutch-Chinese-European triangle in China     91
Introduction     91
Protests against the establishment of the Co-hong     92
Purchase of the Herstelder     101
Recapture of the Goede Hoop     111
Conclusion     117
The sale of the "VOC teas" in Europe     119
Introduction     119
Company auctions of the "VOC teas"     119
Domestic distribution of the "VOC teas"     131
Re-export of the "VOC teas"     141
Conclusion     142
The "Golden Age" of the tea trade and its conclusion     145
The "Golden Age" of the tea trade     145
Conclusion of the "Golden Age"     149
Notes      153
Appendices     177
Precious metals brought by the VOC China ships into Canton, 1758-1794     177
Assessments of the merchandise imported by the VOC into Canton, 1758-1793     178
Tea-supplying agents of the VOC in Canton, 1762-1780     204
Teas exported from Canton to the Dutch Republic, 1742-1794     212
Teas sent from Batavia to the Dutch Republic, 1730-1787     223
Teas auctioned by the VOC in the Dutch Republic, 1729-1790     227
Prices of teas at the Company auctions by the VOC Chambers, 1777-1780     233
Auctions of teas held by the Zeeland Chamber, 1758-1776     237
Selling prices of Bohea and Souchong on the Amsterdam Commodity Exchange, 1732-1795     259
Selling prices of teas by several tea-dealers in Amsterdam, 1776-1795     260
Average wages: Western and Eastern Netherlands, 1725-1790     262
Bibliography     263
Index     271
List of Figures
Organizational structure of the VOC China trade, 1757-1794     27
Volumes of teas bought in Canton and Batavia and sold in the Dutch Republic by the VOC, 1729-1790     126
Purchases (in Canton and Batavia) and sales (in the Dutch Republic) of the "VOC teas", 1729-1790     127
List of Illustrations
View of the Island of Onrust, near Batavia, from at sea in 1779      52
Tea garden, tea plant, tea leaves, and tea products     66
The packing of the "VOC teas" in Canton     86
Wooden-framed transom of a tea shop, with the inscription "The Green Tea Tree"     134
Advertisement for the shop "The Old Town Hall"     136
The first shopkeepers of "The Cloverleaf"     137
The shop "The Cloverleaf"     138
Announcement of the tax on coffee, tea, chocolate et al., 1734     140
List of Maps
Sailing routes of the China ships between the Dutch Republic and China, 1729-1794     4
Tin and pepper supplying areas of the VOC China trade     46
The "VOC tea"-producing areas and the routes of transporting teas to Canton     70
The Pearl River Delta     102
List of Tables
Percentage of black teas purchased by the VOC in Canton, 1760-1780     73
Percentage of green teas purchased by the VOC in Canton, 1760-1780     73