The Eighteenth Century, The Sino-british Tea Trade And Its Impact On British Society

Trade between different nations affects the civilization of the societies concerned. The dissertation studies the tea trade and its impact on the British society. The thesis is divided into four chapters plus an introduction and a conclusion:The Instruction talks about the analytical approach, the meaning of the theme and the source material. It has also a comment on the current research into this topic. Beginning from a review of the history of Sino-European tea trade, Chapter One looks at how Sino-British tea trade had developed, including the transportation of the merchandise, the species of tea and the quantity of the cargo. Chapter Two traces the spread of the tea drinking in British society. It notices that the drinking of tea first became a fashion in the upper society and then spread to the other sections. The new habit of tea drinking soon touched a controversy over the merits and shortcomings of the tea drinking in British society.Charter Three examines the socio-economic impact of this newly required drinking habit on the British society. The introduction of this new drink encountered the resistance and criticism from those who favored the traditional wine and coffee drink. Only after the manner of the tea drinking was customized to suit the British taste, it was then accepted and popularized. Tea drinking increased the leisure time of the ordinary people and had wider economic significance. The spread of tea drinking promoted the development of the trade and production of ceramics. Britain's success in the production of ceramics soon altered the trade structure between the East India Company and China which was conducted traditionally by the exchange of tea, rice, chinaware and silver.Chapter Four discusses the political and economic aspects of the international tea trade. Tea was cheaper in the continental Europe than in Britain, which caused wide-spread smuggle of tea from European continent into British Isle. British parliament's Commutation Act undermined the tea trade by the East India Company of the continental Europe and helped the British East India Company to control Sino-European tea trade. To arrange a more balanced trade structure between China and Britain, two delegation headed by Charles Cathcart and George Macartney were dispatched to Beijing for trade negotiation. The failure of George McCartney's mission to China paved the way for a more violent clash between China and Britain in the middle 19th century.