Shanghai and the West: First Contact

Quadrant, Vol. 51, Nos. 1-2, p. 18, 2007

44 Pages Posted: 14 Apr 2011

Date Written: September 20, 2006

Abstract

This paper explores the first contact between China and the West in Shanghai in the 1830’s. Contact began with a covert mission for the East India Company on The Lord Amherst in 1832. The mission delivered a petition requesting the right to trade in Shanghai, contrary to the rule that all such trade had to occur through Guangzhou (Canton). Shanghai was already a great trading port and mercantile city. The geography and social structure of the city at the time is set out in detail. This first contact was followed up immediately by the British opium smugglers, based in Guangzhou, led by William Jardine. Those activities were supported by a Protestant missionary, Karl Gutzlaff, on the Jardine Matheson & Co opium clipper The Sylph.

Suggested Citation

Spigelman, James J., Shanghai and the West: First Contact (September 20, 2006). Quadrant, Vol. 51, Nos. 1-2, p. 18, 2007, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1806740

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