The Supply Chain Of Tea Drinker ( Tribune 411 )

The British wanted to do business with China after seeing the market potential because of the population, as well as the significant growth in the past two centuries. China’s population increased by 330 million people less than two centuries. The agricultural production in China was not able to keep up with the rapid increase in population. The British saw opportunity in this and believed that they could generate a great amount of money from the market. China’s refusal to trade with the British was

Spence gives a reader a clear insight in T'an-ch'eng's economy and it's economic policies in chapter two, The Land. T'an-ch'eng government had a rather simple philosophy, the more you made the more you paid. The taxes were paid based on percentage of what you made or volunteer to work for the government. The government did take interest in its taxpayers only then people were unable to pay at all. Local History showed that there was a schedule of nine tax payments. People paid more during the harvest seasons and less during the hottest midsummer months. Structured Chinese government devised a responsible and supervisory system, which insured that the taxes were collected at full without any spillovers. Theft and cheating was a common occurrence at city's market, thus government officials created collecting points for the farmers to avoid direct contact with middlemen. All of the factors presented by Spence give the reader a closer look on the financial struggle of an ordinary seventeenth century farmer.

“This was the routine of the old China trade. These were the commodities traditionally brought to China and traditionally carried away. And at the heart of the trade was tea. It came from no other place. India did not then produce any, nor Ceylon, Java, or Formosa; Japan was inaccessible; the world perforce drank China teas. Above all, the English drank them” (17).

“For all the Tea in China -How England Stole the World 's Favorite Drink and Changed History

Once established as England's national drink, tea imports from first China and India led to massive trade. The book describes the power of the British East India Company, which “generated more revenue than the British government and ruled over far more people,”

Saberi, H. (2010). Tea Comes to the West. In Tea:A Global History. [Adobe Digital Editions Version]. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/

Wang Xijue, an official in the Ming Dynasty Court, said that the Chinese government required that taxes and tariffs be paid in silver (Document 3). Xijue mentions how China’s silver policy adversely affected grain prices which affected the poor peasant farmers the most. Furthermore, Ye Chungji, a Chinese county official, stated how China’s policy of requiring domestic taxes to be paid in silver may explain order limiting wedding expenses (Document 1). Chunji, as a county official through China’s merit-based civil service system, uses the word “frugal” which justified the limitation on wedding expenses by noting it was in keeping with the Confucian value of frugality. This just proves how paying in silver affected the traditional Chinese culture. Due to this, the traditional Confucian social order was threatened. To add on, Xu Dunqui Ming writes in an essay that seems directed at the general public, of the unfairness of dye shops in the commercial city of Hangzhou and explains Ming China’s conversion from a barter economy to a currency-based market economy as customers now “receive a bill, which must paid with silver obtained from a moneylender” (Document 5). This only silver means of exchange likely harmed lower classes the most by plunging them even further into debt by forcing them to borrow from a money lender to get silver and explains the decline of traditional Chinese society and economy. Furthermore, the increased flow of silver brought inflation in China. He Qiaoyuan, a Ming court official, reported to the emperor that the trade ban should be lifted because of the inflated price of Chinese products in the Philippines by commenting on large supply of Spanish silver in the Philippines that led to massive inflation of 100 to 200 percent for silk yarn (Document 7). However, Qiaoyuan’s motives in his report is suspicious because repealing the ban on

Title: Control and Protest (Pages 98-102) Subtitle: Introduction Paragraph 1. A. With England's victory over the French, they faced difficulties with their new lands. B. England has used up a large amount of money fighting in the war and also had to decide how to manage the new lands.

Wang Xijue writes in a report to the emperor about the reason grain is so cheap. The price is so low because there is hardly any silver in the area to trade with. As he said, “The national government requires silver for taxes but disburses little silver in its expenditures.” (doc. 3) Inflation was also shown in the report to the emperor written by He Qiaoyuan. The report describes how since China will only accept silver in exchange for goods, it makes goods from China more and more expensive as they get traded farther away, “Chinese silk yarn worth 100 bars of silver can be sold in the Philippines at a price of 200 or 300 bars of silver there.” (doc. 7) The point of view in this document is from someone who is trying to repeal the ban on foreign trade. If they get rid of the ban, China can make a lot more money since their products are so desired. These examples show that there is too much silver going into China and not enough coming out. They also explain how people in China are affected due to the scarcity of silver in their towns. Inflation affected the economics of China

The colonist’s high demand for British goods and the mother country’s low demands for American goods several hurt these merchants economically since they could not make enough money to counteract the American demanded goods and actually make a profit.

Although the large increase of silver flow into China was beneficial, it created harmful effects. The Chinese government during the 1570s required all domestic taxes and trade fees to be paid in silver; however, the increased flow of silver aided the people of China in following this rule set out by the Chinese government. As a Ming

It was a political issue that affects China’s motives in trade because the trading system was the Canton system, which does not involve the government. The Canton system was a trading system operated by merchants called the Hong

The Ming Chinese government had required that all domestic taxes and trade fees be paid in silver. The idea of this fee had been because China had been getting a lot of silver by trading with other countries. Things are worth less in China, like silk, sugar, and pottery, because a lot of the people living there have those things already. However, those things are worth more in other countries

The combination of increasing unemployment rate and food price created severe poverty across the nation (Goldfinger par. 1-3). The currencies in China, too, went through a lot of changes to accommodate the increasing trade. At first, the silver Spanish dollars became rare and increased in value so much that it was outlawed as a usable currency. However, at the same time, the Chinese copper currency were also being used less due to the fact that the metal was becoming rare and the administration of the currency was extremely poor. The Mexican dollar was introduced but the problem was not solved until paper money were used in 1853 (Goldfinger par. 2). To make the economy worse, during the First Opium War, China had to pay six million silver dollars to ransom Canton, and an additional nine million dollars were paid to foreigner traders for their loss. Later, twelve million taels of silver were paid to Britain and France under the treaties negotiated after the Second Opium War. All of those factors weakened the Chinese economy in the 1800s (Allingham par.5-9). However, the Opium Wars’ impact is everlasting, for “the Chinese have embarked on a long and arduous struggle to expunge the humiliations which they suffered during and since the Opium War…Foreign industrialists may continue to dream of the supposedly unlimited China market, but the Chinese…are determined to keep the 'open door' sufficiently ajar to import vital technologies, while keeping all unwanted

There were many problems with the system of trade in China; even before opium trading began. China, believing herself to be the most civilized and advanced country, did not feel the need to satisfy Britain, a “barbarian” country’s request for freer trade and were concerned the British wanted land. Britain however,