Page 102 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V

trading patterns, pacific 1879

1571. Embracement of the Chinese junk trade via Manila The Manila Galleons carried an annual average of 2
Bay implied abandonment of the spice trade via Cebu, million pesos (i.e., fifty tons of silver) during the seven-
but the burgeoning silver-for-silk trade generated prodi- teenth century (voyages that continued until the last
gious mercantile rewards. galleon was captured in 1815 during Mexico’s War of
Relations between China and the Philippines predate Independence). Manila galleons carried as much silver
the sixteenth century. Filipino traders had reached Can- over the Pacific as the combined shipments of the Por-
ton by 982 CE. Chinese sources refer to a Philippine mar- tuguese Estado da India, the Dutch East India Company,
itime raid of a coastal village in Fujian (southern China) and the English East India Company—major connectors
in the twelfth century. Filipino ambassadors were received between Asian and European markets.
at the emperor Yung-lo’s (Chu Ti) court in 1406 bearing Merchants of many ethnicities enjoyed high profits:
“tribute.” Commerce thrived as well among the archipel- Chinese silks exports rushed toward high silk prices in
agoes and surrounding Southeast Asian countries (as well American markets, while American silver simultaneously
as Japan). Like the majority of the Philippines,“Maniland” rushed toward high silver prices in China. For instance,
was already religiously and culturally Islamic by the six- in 1630 the Portuguese shipped mainly Chinese silks
teenth century. worth 1,500,000 pesos (3,000,000 pesos worth in Mex-
Batavia, on the island of Java, was established as the ico), contradicting the common claim that galleon trade
headquarters of the Dutch East India Company in 1619. declined during the seventeenth century.
From this strategic position in the Sunda Strait, the Manila’s population was diverse: Spaniards of Intra-
Dutch displaced the Portuguese and established domi- muros (the walled center of Manila) were surrounded by
nance over the lucrative spice trade. segregated populations of Chinese and Japanese, with
groups of free and enslaved blacks living in the city.
Silver and the Origins of Jesuits organized sodalities for blacks and the local gov-
Cross-Pacific Linkages ernment expelled five hundred free blacks for vagrancy in
Tectonic forces endowed mountains around the Pacific’s 1638. Some Manila galleon slaves were sold upon arrival
edge—its volcanic “Ring of Fire”—with vast holdings of at Acapulco. Africans were sailors on Portuguese ships
metals. Earthquakes and volcanic activity are character- navigating between China and Nagasaki; they defended
istics of these mountain ranges, as well as of the islands Macao against a Dutch fleet and were active in Goa and
and archipelagoes of the Pacific. Much economic and other Portuguese settlements.
social coherence around the Pacific region stems ulti- At the main square in Mexico City, authorities estab-
mately from geological history, and nothing influenced lished a “Parian” (Chinese neighborhood) where all kinds
trade relations around the Pacific Ocean more—from the of products arriving via the Philippines were sold. Trade
mid-sixteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century— between Mexico and Peru reflected the vital Manila trade.
than the production and shipment of metals. When a 1634 prohibition blocked Mexican silks from
Continuous trade between Asia and the Americas did Peruvian markets,Chinese finished silks rose to 90 percent
not exist prior to the founding of the city of Manila in or more of the value of goods traded between Mexico and
1571. The sudden eruption of substantial direct Peru. Spanish officials traveling in Central America and
exchanges between America and China depended upon Peru in the eighteenth century reported widespread sale of
two industries: Spanish-American silver and Chinese Chinese porcelain in Lima and open sale and usage of Chi-
silks. Manila was the linchpin that connected China and nese silks everywhere from Chile to Panama.
Mexico. From Acapulco, Chinese goods were in turn
transshipped to Peru and elsewhere in the Americas (and China and the Pacific
even on to Spain). The first Filipino and Chinese immi- China occupied a central role in the Asian and Pacific
grants arrived in America aboard these galleons. economy. Large fleets of junks reached Africa and the