满载中国乘客的船只——1816~1817年“阿米莉娅公主号”从伦敦到中国的航行

A Ship Full of Chinese Passengers:Princess Amelia's Voyage from London to China in 1816-1817

1816~1817年,英国东印度公司(EIC)的“阿米莉娅公主号”从伦敦前往中国,这条船上搭载着380名“乘客”身份的中国水手。而这380人的“经历”,关系到18世纪中后期亚洲海上新航线的开辟,东南亚地区欧洲商船对中国帆船贸易的侵蚀,欧洲垄断贸易巨头的衰落,中国水手在世界各地的兴起等全球性事件。

This story is about the common Chinese seamen who began to circumnavigate the globe en masse in the 1780s aboard ships of all nations.More specifically,it is about 380 of those seamen,who returned to Asia from London in 1816-1817 as passengers aboard the English East India Company(EIC)ship Princess Amelia.The story,however,is actually about more than the experiences of those 380 men.Their example represents a much broader arena of global phenomena that affected the entire world.Their examples are about new sea routes being explored in Asia in the mid-to-late-eighteenth century;about European ships encroaching upon the traditional trade of the Chinese junks in Southeast Asia;about the decline of the large European trading monopolies and their inability to compete with the rising power and influence of private enterprises;about the success of the Canton trade and the enormous attraction it had to aspiring businessmen of all nationalities and ranks;about the versatility of the Chinese people to adapt to a multitude of environments and establish themselves in major seaports throughout the world;and finally,their examples are about ancient diseases and Europeans dying aboard the ships that went to Asia and the need to replace those men with indigenous sailors in order to keep international commerce moving forward.Because the expansion and rise of Chinese seamen throughout the world has been little known or understood,I begin the story of the Chinese sailors in the late-eighteenth century with the establishment of new sea routes to China and the European encroachment on the traditional Chinese junk trade in Southeast Asia.That discussion will be followed by a number of examples of East India companies hiring Chinese seamen in China from the 1780s onward.In passing,I will discuss historical events that led to the 380 seamen seeking employment aboard British ships.And finally,I end the story with reasons why the men returned to Asia as passengers rather than as crew.Their numbers had risen to the point that they were threatening the livelihoods of indigenous seamen in the United Kingdom(UK).Their story is truly one with global dimensions and perfect for a Wills-style approach to historical research.