Trade Winds
The global supply chain for China-produced luxury goods in the 18th and 19th centuries was similar to today’s flows of products. But it was tea, a cheap Chinese product, that had a lasting impact on trade and relations with the West
Ten carved balls in descending size, one inside the other, nestle inside a larger ivory ball, rather like an intricate Russian doll. A fan depicts scenes of European courting couples. On another fan, Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) officials are pictured in a traveling caravan with a large entourage. There are porcelain tea sets with a Chinese floral design but with European-style gilt trim. All are delicate. All feature both Chinese and European tastes. These are some of the displays at a recent exhibition on Chinese exports to Europe through the Maritime Silk Road during the 18th and 19th century. The exhibition was held by University College London's Center for Applied Archaeology, Art Exhibitions China and Liaoning Provincial Public Cultural Service Center at Liaoning Provincial Museum in Shenyang.
Major exports from China to Europe along the Maritime Silk Road in the 18th and 19th centuries included porcelain, tea, silk, paintings, fans, ivory carving, lacquerware and silverware. Many of the exhibits come from European collections, and they reflect the style of products European collectors valued most. It is a sign of the ancient global supply chain for luxury products going from East to West, and that China's role in this chain was similar to today. But ultimately, it was a cheap Chinese product that finally had the biggest influence on China and the West.
Skilled Artisans
For rich Europeans at that time, ivory carvings were the most popular made-in-china decorative items. During the Age of Discovery when Europeans set out to explore and colonize the world from the 15th to the 18th century, spices, slaves and ivory objects dominated trade between Europe and their colonies. Ivory was imported from European colonies in Africa and South Asia. The best ivory was shipped to Guangzhou in southern China where the best ivory carvers in the world worked. Skilled at carving all sorts of objects, some could carve up to 30 ivory nesting balls from one piece of ivory, one inside the other. The sophisticated, elegant ivory carving resonated with the refined, ornamental patterns that were popular in Europe. China processed materials from other parts of the world and sold the manufactured goods to Europe. It was not much different to the dominant international supply chain of today where China is known as the world's factory.
These precious materials were also used to produce smaller luxury items. For example, wealthy Europeans widely used name cards. The best cards were made of ivory or giant clam shells, and Guangzhou was the manufacturing center. But the materials were not from China, and the main market was Europe.
The trade developed only in Guangzhou and not elsewhere in China. In 1685, Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty relaxed the maritime trade ban put in place more than 300 years earlier by Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) founder Zhu Yuanzhang. He allowed customs bureaus to be set up in four coastal provinces – Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Guangdong customs bureau in Guangzhou dealt with most of the foreign trade. Seventy-two years later, Kangxi's grandson Emperor Qianlong (1735-1796) closed the other three customs bureaus, leaving Guangzhou as the only port open to foreign trade. There was a certain area in Guangzhou where Chinese and Europeans dealers did business and were settled.
No matter where the materials were from, China's exports to Europe combined both Chinese and European design elements. Europeans were eager to learn about the lifestyle of Chinese people, so artists in Guangzhou drew pictures on a piece of paper slightly larger than a postcard. These depicted the life of ordinary Chinese people, such as street vendors, pupils going to school, performers in variety shows and Taoist rituals. The paintings adopted the Western technique of linear perspective. They were not expensive, and were sold to Europeans as souvenirs and gifts, like China-made Christmas decorations and gifts are exported to Europe and the US today. Liu Haishu, a famous Chinese artist, praised the Guangzhou painters as
pioneers who introduced Western fine art to China. In 1912, Liu set up China's first fine art school which admitted both male and female students.
Fanning Success
Ivory and other precious materials including gold, silver, jade, polished tortoise shells, silk, sandalwood and giant clams were used to make frames for silk fans, another popular made-in-china luxury in Europe.
Complicated techniques were developed to produce the fans. The designs featured bright colors, flowery curves and Chinese and European scenes. Some fan designs showed noble European men courting women. Some showed Qing officials escorted by guards and servants as they traveled. For European aristocracy and the middle classes, a fan from China represented their social status. By contrast, fans for Chinese were usually made of bamboo and paper, decorated with light colors and simple designs. Typically, Chinese calligraphy and ink wash paintings of rivers and mountains decorated these fans. They were valued by how famous the calligraphers and painters were, not by the materials the fans were made of. Ancient Chinese literati liked to exchange fans as gifts, representing their scholarly tastes, not social status.
A language of “fan gestures” developed among European women. For example, when a lady repeatedly opens and closes her fan, she is telling a man “I miss you.” If she pulls her fan near her heart, she is saying “you have my love.” If she keeps flapping her fan, it is a warning to stay away. These fan signals were more effective and reserved than any oral expression.
To show off their wares, artists and manufacturers produced a sample fan for exporters and importers which contained many colors and designs. It was too expensive to prepare a sample for every color and material. Customers could see what choices of colors and materials they could have from one sample.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, most chinaware in Europe came from China, with Japan a minor supplier. The chinaware was put in the lowest hold on a cargo ship as ballast on the long journey to Europe. Silk and tea were stored in upper holds to keep them dry. These goods were a perfect mix for the long journey.
The chinaware was mainly tea sets. In the late Qing Dynasty, Chinese tea dominated the global tea market. Porcelain tea sets had become part of popular tea culture in daily life and social networking for Europeans at that time. The British, in particular, loved tea. After Britain became the global trade leader, the tea trade boomed. Chinese tea was popular among the aristocracy and the wealthy, and later it became affordable and popular for ordinary families. Given this, tea found a much larger market in Europe and the US than the limited market for luxuries like ivory balls and fans for the aristocracy or the wealthy. By contrast, there were few goods China wanted to buy from Europe. Chiming clocks were one of the very few things that found a market, but demand was low. Later, the clocks were made in Guangzhou. As a result, China's massive tea exports to Europe gave the country a huge trade surplus.
European powers were frustrated by their trade deficit and China's dominance in both luxuries and daily supplies like tea. Opium was exported to China. A real war was triggered later between China and Britain. Gunships replaced cargo ships between China and Europe. Guangzhou, the major trade center, became the main battlefield.