The First British Trade Expedition to China: Captain Weddell and the Courteen Fleet in Asia and Late Ming Canton

The First British Trade Expedition to China: Captain Weddell and the Courteen Fleet in Asia and Late Ming Canton

A groundbreaking study of early modern British enterprise in south China. In The First British Trade Expedition to China , Nicholas D. Jackson explores the pioneering British trade expedition to China launched in the late Ming period by Charles I and the Courteen Association. Utilizing the vivid perspective of its commander Captain John Weddell, this study concentrates on the fleet’s adventures in south China between Portuguese Macao and the provincial capital, Guangzhou. Tracing the obscure origins of Sino-British diplomatic and commercial relations back to the late Ming era, Jackson examines the first episodes of Sino-British interaction, exchange, and collision in the seventeenth century. His analysis constitutes a groundbreaking study of early modern British initiatives and enterprises in the coastal areas of south China. "In this lively account of Sino-British exchanges, Nicholas D. Jackson provides us with the first book-length narrative of the much-neglected Weddell voyage to China in 1637. Scholars of the British Empire and East-West interactions will find much relevance in this masterfully delivered dialogue between two contending world powers." -Paul A. Van Dyke, author of The Canton Trade: Life and Enterprise on the China Coast, 1700-1845 "This book presents vivid and arresting details highlighting the differences between the early modern and modern eras. It features quasi-piratical actions by men with the audacity to venture into unknown lands, who were on the one hand defrauded by 'interpreters' of dubious origin and 'officials' of unverified credentials, but nonetheless emerged from the fray with laden ships and the incremental knowledge that contributed to the subsequent economic dominance of Europe." -Evelyn S. Rawski, University of Pittsburgh Nicholas D. Jackson is associate professor in the School of World History at Capital Normal University in Beijing. He is the author of Hobbes, Bramhall and the Politics of Liberty and Necessity .