The China-Britain Relationship And The Change Of The System Of The Hong Merchants In Jiaqing Period(1796—1820 A. D.)

Hong system(Co-hong system)is a series of important China-dominant foreign trade and negotiation systems,including Qing dynasty managing Hong merchants and managing foreign trade and negotiation through Hong merchants,the relationship between Hong merchants and Hoppo and Guangdong authority.As the Britain had dominated the Chinese-Western trade and the strengh of economy and military got stronger,and the trend of the decline of Qing dynasty formed and deepen,Britain gradually dominated the China-Britain relationship,the Chinese-Western relationship,which was represented by the China-Britain relations at that time,underwent a radical transformation from western countries obeying the tributary system to the Qing dynasty was forced to participate the modern international system.In this process,the existing China dominant Hong merchants’ system was replaced by Britain-dominant Hong merchants’ system of middleman and agents,the Hong merchants used to be privileged businessmen authorized by the Qing dynasty,then they became the tool for the interests of the Britain.This process began in the 1780 s,ended by the abolishment of the Hong merchants system in the Treaty of Nanking in 1842,the Jiaqing period(1796-1820 A.D.)is a crucial period of the reversion of the dominant of Chinese-Britain trade and negotiation,the conflict about the dominant of the Chinese-Britain trade and negotiation system and the decline of the hong merchants system,this M.A.thesis is researching the decline of the hong merchans and the Hong merchants system in Jiaqing period.In Jiaqing period the hong merchants’ system declined and the Britain-dominant Hong merchants’ system of middleman and agents established and developed as the decline of the Qing dynasty,the changes of the dominance of China-Britain relationship and Britain being more and more provocative to China.From 1796 to 1801,the new strategy to China during this period was not defined yet,but the Hong merchants’ system began to decline and the elements making the Hong merchants system declined became mature gradually,the Britain was searching for the alternative system of the Hong system,some of them were the prototypes of the system controling hong merchants.From 1802 to 1810,the Hong merchants tended to decline sharply,the Britain tried to impact the existing system outside the system,and started using the Hong merchants crisis to intervene the operation of some Hong merchants for erosing the Hong merchants system,the Hong merchants’ system of middleman started to establish in these Hong merchants.From 1811 to 1820,the Britain challenged the system in all aspects and tried to establish Britain-dominant system of trade and negotiation,the confrontation between China snd Britain went further.The decline of the Hong system accelerated,the Britain-dominant Hong merchants’ system of middleman and agents gradually got fixed.By 1820,the Hong merchants can hardly play their parts in existing Hong merchant system,the Britain-dominant Hong merchants’ system of middleman and agents had been fixed and deepened,the existing Hong merchants system had collapsed internally indeed.