Authorities strive to increase the number of people and cases that qualify for legal assistance After obtaining 100,000 yuan($16,100)in earnings owed from the construction company he had worked with for more than five...Authorities strive to increase the number of people and cases that qualify for legal assistance After obtaining 100,000 yuan($16,100)in earnings owed from the construction company he had worked with for more than five years,Chen Xing—a migrant worker from southwest China’s Guizhou Province—appeared somewhat emotional.展开更多
Merchants from many countries went to China to trade in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, including Portuguese, Spanish, English, French, Flemish, Armenians, Muslims, Parsees, Dutch, Danish, Austrians, Ital...Merchants from many countries went to China to trade in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, including Portuguese, Spanish, English, French, Flemish, Armenians, Muslims, Parsees, Dutch, Danish, Austrians, Italians, and Americans. Many of these travelers kept detailed records of their encounters with China. Their documents can be very helpful in unraveling parts of the history that are silent in Chinese sources. These records can be divided into three basic groups, those of： East India companies, private traders, and private travelers. East India companies kept massive volumes of records and tended to be very systematic in the type of information they recorded from one year to the next. Private trade records were much less sophisticated than those of the companies, and often consisted of miscellaneous bundles of receipts, reports, letters, contracts, and journals. Private travel records were written by persons who sailed on merchant ships but were not necessarily merchants themselves. They recorded what they saw and heard along the way, which is information that often does appear in other records. Taken as a whole, company records, private trade records and private travel journals add much detail to the history of China that cannot be found in Chinese language sources.展开更多
文摘Authorities strive to increase the number of people and cases that qualify for legal assistance After obtaining 100,000 yuan($16,100)in earnings owed from the construction company he had worked with for more than five years,Chen Xing—a migrant worker from southwest China’s Guizhou Province—appeared somewhat emotional.
文摘Merchants from many countries went to China to trade in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, including Portuguese, Spanish, English, French, Flemish, Armenians, Muslims, Parsees, Dutch, Danish, Austrians, Italians, and Americans. Many of these travelers kept detailed records of their encounters with China. Their documents can be very helpful in unraveling parts of the history that are silent in Chinese sources. These records can be divided into three basic groups, those of： East India companies, private traders, and private travelers. East India companies kept massive volumes of records and tended to be very systematic in the type of information they recorded from one year to the next. Private trade records were much less sophisticated than those of the companies, and often consisted of miscellaneous bundles of receipts, reports, letters, contracts, and journals. Private travel records were written by persons who sailed on merchant ships but were not necessarily merchants themselves. They recorded what they saw and heard along the way, which is information that often does appear in other records. Taken as a whole, company records, private trade records and private travel journals add much detail to the history of China that cannot be found in Chinese language sources.
