274

THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE

earliest  trading  caravans  reached  Peking  in  1658,  1672,  and
I ^77-  The  first  treaty  was  signed  in  1689,  partly  to  regulate ­
  land  trade,  but  chiefly  to  recover  from  Russia  ground
she  had  occupied  in  farther  Manchuria.  Other  diplomatic
missions  followed  in  1692,  1719,  1727,  1755,  and  others  up
to  the  mission  which  signed  the  treaty  of  1858.  In  1806
the  Russians  sent  two  ships  to  open  up  the  sea  trade  with
Canton  ;  they  obtained  cargoes,  but  the  only  result  was
that  the  Chinese  prohibited  all  trade  to  nations  not  already
on  the  spot.
The  French  first  made  touch  with  China,  other  than  by
missionary  enterprise,  by  a  letter  written  by  Louis  XIV.
to  Kanghi  in  1688.  The  first  commercial  attempt  was  in
1728,  but  it  was  followed  up  only  by  private  enterprise.
The  French  flag  was  again  hoisted  at  Canton  in  1802,  but
was  hauled  down  on  the  resumption  of  hostilities  with  the
English,  and  was  not  again  raised  until  1829.  Their  first
diplomatic  mission  was  in  1844,  and  by  it  the  first  treaty
was  signed.
The  Americans  first  made  direct  entry  into  the  China
trade  in  1784,  their  previous  connection  with  it  having  been
solely  through  the  East  India  Company,  which  was  especially ­
  insistent  that  they  should  buy  its  tea.  Though  now
an  independent  nation,  they  crept  in  under  the  wing  of  the
English,  but  with  the  friendly  support  of  the  French,  and
joined  in  the  “  factory  ”  life  of  the  day.  The  only  political
event  especially  concerning  them  was  the  suspension  of
American  trading  in  1821  owing  to  what  the  Americans
believed  was  the  accidental  killing  of  a  Chinese  by  an
American  sailor  ;  when  the  American  was  given  up  and  had
been  strangled,  trade  was  resumed.  The  first  American
embassy  was  in  1844,  when  the  first  treaty  was  signed.
y  this  time  the  Americans  had  attained  a  position  in  the
trade  of  Canton  second  only  to  the  English,  a  development
^ased  rather  upon  the  prestige  of  others  than  upon  their
owiF  knt  furthered  by  the  Yankee  trading  instinct.
ther  nations  had  come  at  various  dates  to  share  h 1
t  te  China  trade,  and  there  had  been  established  among