CAI AND QIU ENTERPRISES: MERCHANTS OF CANTON (1730-1784)廣東商人 (1730 - 1784) ：蔡氏與邱氏企業
This article reconstructs the trajectory and commercial networks of the Cai and Qiu family firms in Canton between 1730 and 1784, arguing that the expansion and resilience of these groups depended both on mercantile alliances and on strategies of identification and succession within a fragmented and...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Articles |
| Published: |
Instituto Cultural de Macau
July 2005
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40015/3794 |
| _version_ | 1877196271123431424 |
|---|---|
| author | Paul A. Van Dyke |
| author_autocomplete | Paul A. Van Dyke |
| author_browse | Paul A. Van Dyke |
| author_facet | Paul A. Van Dyke Paul A. Van Dyke |
| author_sort | Paul A. Van Dyke |
| container_title | Review of Culture |
| container_title_str | Review of Culture |
| container_volume | 15 |
| container_volume_str | 15 |
| description | This article reconstructs the trajectory and commercial networks of the Cai and Qiu family firms in Canton between 1730 and 1784, arguing that the expansion and resilience of these groups depended both on mercantile alliances and on strategies of identification and succession within a fragmented and polysemic documentary environment. The methodology is based on the "cross-reading" of European and colonial records—especially Belgian mercantile diaries and ledgers (the Ostend General Company of the Indies), Dutch resolutions and account books, and English sources—comparing variant spellings of names, family relations (father, partners, and "sons" in lists and inventories), and chronologies inferred from events such as marriages and the commencement of commercial activities.
Van Dyke shows that "Hunqua" appears repeatedly with multiple nominative possibilities, requiring careful discrimination among individuals sharing the same surname, branches, and associated family names. From this disentangling, the study more confidently attributes to Cai Hunqua (identified in Dutch series as "Young Honqua" and later "Tjayhonqua") a central role in trade with European companies and in the consolidation of a lasting alliance with the Suqua/Chen. It concludes that, by mapping genealogies and encoding onomastic ambiguities, it is possible to recover the internal functioning of mercantile houses and their long-term connections within the Atlantic-Asian system. |
| first_indexed | 2026-09-11T02:56:53Z |
| format | Articles |
| genre | Articles |
| genre_facet | Articles |
| hierarchy_browse | Review of Culture{{{_ID_}}}zotero-coll-76L3BRGH |
| hierarchy_parent_id | zotero-coll-76L3BRGH |
| hierarchy_parent_title | Review of Culture |
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| hierarchy_top_title | News |
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| issn | 1682-1106 |
| last_indexed | 2026-09-11T02:56:53Z |
| latest_content_date | 2026-09-11T02:56:53Z |
| publishDate | July 2005 |
| publishDateRange | 2005 |
| publishDateSort | 2005 |
| publishPlace | Macau |
| publisher | Instituto Cultural de Macau |
| publisherStr | Instituto Cultural de Macau |
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| spelling | CAI AND QIU ENTERPRISES: MERCHANTS OF CANTON (1730-1784)廣東商人 (1730 - 1784) ：蔡氏與邱氏企業 This article reconstructs the trajectory and commercial networks of the Cai and Qiu family firms in Canton between 1730 and 1784, arguing that the expansion and resilience of these groups depended both on mercantile alliances and on strategies of identification and succession within a fragmented and polysemic documentary environment. The methodology is based on the "cross-reading" of European and colonial records—especially Belgian mercantile diaries and ledgers (the Ostend General Company of the Indies), Dutch resolutions and account books, and English sources—comparing variant spellings of names, family relations (father, partners, and "sons" in lists and inventories), and chronologies inferred from events such as marriages and the commencement of commercial activities. Van Dyke shows that "Hunqua" appears repeatedly with multiple nominative possibilities, requiring careful discrimination among individuals sharing the same surname, branches, and associated family names. From this disentangling, the study more confidently attributes to Cai Hunqua (identified in Dutch series as "Young Honqua" and later "Tjayhonqua") a central role in trade with European companies and in the consolidation of a lasting alliance with the Suqua/Chen. It concludes that, by mapping genealogies and encoding onomastic ambiguities, it is possible to recover the internal functioning of mercantile houses and their long-term connections within the Atlantic-Asian system. Instituto Cultural de Macau Macau Review of Culture Articles July 2005 Paul A. Van Dyke |
| spellingShingle | CAI AND QIU ENTERPRISES: MERCHANTS OF CANTON (1730-1784)廣東商人 (1730 - 1784) ：蔡氏與邱氏企業 Paul A. Van Dyke |
| title | CAI AND QIU ENTERPRISES: MERCHANTS OF CANTON (1730-1784)廣東商人 (1730 - 1784) ：蔡氏與邱氏企業 |
| title_autocomplete | CAI AND QIU ENTERPRISES: MERCHANTS OF CANTON (1730-1784)廣東商人 (1730 - 1784) ：蔡氏與邱氏企業 |
| title_full | CAI AND QIU ENTERPRISES: MERCHANTS OF CANTON (1730-1784)廣東商人 (1730 - 1784) ：蔡氏與邱氏企業 |
| title_fullStr | CAI AND QIU ENTERPRISES: MERCHANTS OF CANTON (1730-1784)廣東商人 (1730 - 1784) ：蔡氏與邱氏企業 |
| title_full_unstemmed | CAI AND QIU ENTERPRISES: MERCHANTS OF CANTON (1730-1784)廣東商人 (1730 - 1784) ：蔡氏與邱氏企業 |
| title_short | CAI AND QIU ENTERPRISES: MERCHANTS OF CANTON (1730-1784)廣東商人 (1730 - 1784) ：蔡氏與邱氏企業 |
| title_sort | cai and qiu enterprises: merchants of canton (1730-1784)廣東商人 (1730 - 1784) ：蔡氏與邱氏企業 |
| url | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40015/3794 |
| zotero_collection_key | 76L3BRGH |