The Foundation of Western Shanghai
Quadrant, Vol. 51, Nos. 7-8, p. 68, 2007
Quadrant, Vol. 51, No. 9, p. 40, 2007
67 Pages Posted: 14 Apr 2011
Date Written: May 26, 2007
Abstract
This paper describes the establishment of a Western presence in Shanghai, after the city was forced open to trade by the Treaty of Nanjing of 1842, which ended the First Opium War. It highlights the central significance of the illicit opium traffic in the development of trade relations, particularly the duopolistic control of the trade by the two dominant British firms, Jardine, Matheson & Co and Dent, Beal & Co. The paper discusses the complicity of the British consular representatives in the development of the trade. It describes the creation of the first distinct western settlement for British, American and French traders on the banks of the Huangpu River outside the walled city of Shanghai and the arrival of a number of western trading companies. The opium receiving ships remained at the mouth of the Huangpu River beyond the jurisdiction of the British consul. Trade extended beyond opium to tea and silk. The paper sets out the role and functions of the Chinese compradors, technological developments in transport in the form of clipper ships, the geography and the architectural style of the buildings of the Western settlement and the social structure of the new trading port.
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