James Flint (merchant) facts for kids

James Flint (Chinese name: 洪任輝, Hóng Rènhuī, 1720 — unknown) was a British merchant and diplomat in the 1700s. He worked for the East India Company, a powerful trading company. Flint is known for his role in starting the Canton System, which was a special way China traded with Western countries. He was one of the first English people to learn the Chinese language. Flint broke the rules of the Qing dynasty court by complaining directly to the Qianlong Emperor. This led to him being held for three years in Macau, a Portuguese colony. Later in life, he helped bring the soybean to North America.

James Flint's Early Life and Work

James Flint was left in China as a teenager in 1736 by Captain Rigby of the East India Company ship Normanton. He grew up speaking Mandarin Chinese. For reasons we don't know, he took on the Chinese name Hóng Rènhuī (洪任辉). In 1739, he traveled to Bombay and other places where the East India Company had offices.

Three years later, he came back to China to keep studying Chinese. The Company even paid for his studies! Because of this, James Flint became the East India Company's first Chinese interpreter in British history. In 1741, he started working at the Company's trading post in Canton. He felt that British trade there wasn't good enough, even though it was better than what the French and Dutch were doing.

In 1746, Flint traveled on the Company ship Tavistock. He became the "Linguist to all our Supra Cargoes in general." This meant he was the main language expert for all the Company's senior traders. He earned 90 taels of silver per ship and got free housing at the Company's trading posts.

During the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748), a big war in Europe, the East India Company stayed strong and grew its business in China. But its total trade was still less than what all its European rivals traded together. Because of this, the Company really wanted to trade more deeply inside China. Since trading in Canton wasn't ideal, the British decided to try trading again in Ningbo and other northern ports.

The Flint Affair: A Diplomatic Challenge

By the 1750s, Britain's economy had grown a lot. Canton could no longer handle all the trade the East India Company needed. A group of foreign businessmen, led by Flint, were already unhappy about illegal fees and demands from the Canton customs office. They wanted to buy large amounts of raw silk, tea, and Nankeen cloth directly from where they were made or from a nearby port. Between 1755 and 1757, Flint and his partners sailed north several times to trade in Ningbo in Zhejiang Province.

Chinese officials knew that allowing trade in Zhejiang would bring more money and development to the province. However, foreign trade had been focused on Canton for a long time. This created a powerful group of Chinese merchants, customs officials, and government workers in Canton. This group had a complete control over trade and made a lot of money from corruption and illegal fees. They didn't want any of their profits to move north. Also, opening new ports in Zhejiang would mean more work for local officials. So, Yang Yingju, the Governor-general of Min-Zhe (who was in charge of Zhejiang), asked officials in Beijing to stop trade in Ningbo. The emperor also received reports about armed Western ships along the coast. These reports urged him to make Westerners trade only in Guangzhou, where the Chinese navy could watch them more easily.

In 1757, the Qianlong Emperor listened to his officials. He put in place a new foreign trade rule: all ships from overseas were only allowed to trade in Canton. This system was known in Chinese as Yī kŏu tōngshāng (一口通商), meaning "Single port commerce system." The Canton System started partly because of James Flint's actions.

Flint's Bold Complaint in Tianjin

The East India Company didn't want to follow this new rule. So, in May 1759, James Flint left Canton again and sailed north towards Ningbo. But when he arrived in Dinghai, he found Chinese soldiers waiting. They told him to go back south. The next month, Flint left Dinghai, but instead of returning to Canton, he sailed straight for Tianjin.

On June 24, he arrived outside Tianjin. He announced himself as an English official of the Fourth Grade, which was a fairly high rank in the Chinese government. He explained that he had traded in Guangdong and Macau before, but a merchant named Li Guanghua had not paid him money he owed. Flint said he had complained to Li Yongbiao, the Hoppo (Guangdong Customs Supervisor), and Li Shiyao, the Governor-general of Liangguang. But they both refused to listen. So, he had come to Ningbo. Now, he said, British officials had asked him to come to Tianjin to have his complaint heard in Beijing.

The Governor-general of Zhili, who was in charge of Tianjin, then reported Flint's complaint to the Qianlong Emperor. This started a big diplomatic problem known as the "Flint Affair." When the emperor heard the complaint, he said: "This matter concerning a foreigner and the State must be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the clear laws of the Celestial Empire. " The emperor also said that if Flint's complaint was true, Li Yongbiao and the others responsible would be publicly executed.

Flint was quickly sent back to Canton by land, with a special Chinese official. He was the first British person to make that journey. A general named Xin Zhu rushed to Guangdong to investigate. There, he and the emperor's official arrested Li Yongbiao and Li Shiyao. They showed them Flint's complaint, which listed seven problems. However, Flint's real reason for going to Ningbo was to break the single port trade system and trade there. He had even said when he arrived in Dinghai that his ship was full of silver for trading.

While Flint was back in Canton, another British merchant ship, the Chesterfield, arrived near Zhejiang. But its offer to trade was refused. The ship's captain then claimed he needed to stay a few days to fix the sails. After a short disagreement, the ship left. The Qianlong Emperor was suspicious. He believed the ship's arrival was connected to Flint's complaint. He thought Flint was trying to distract them while his partner on the Chesterfield tried to open the ports of Zhejiang for trade. The Chesterfield and its crew were never seen again.

The Emperor's Decision

The Qianlong Emperor decided Flint's case based on three main ideas:

• If the complaint about illegal fees and corruption was true, Li Yongbiao would be executed, and the details would be made public.
• Any Chinese person who helped Flint write his complaint would be executed right away.
• Flint's idea of traveling from Canton to Tianjin to complain was terrible. Flint should also stop criticizing government rules.

According to Li Shiyao's written statement, Li Yongbiao had not stolen any government money. He had bought goods for himself but hadn't been paid for them. However, some of his relatives had taken goods from foreign traders and failed to pay. The emperor decided that Li Yongbiao had been blackmailed by his relatives. He removed Li from his job and sent him away. Li's relatives and other customs officials involved received different punishments.

The emperor also ruled that the Chinese people who wrote Flint's complaint were especially bad. After looking closely at the document, the emperor concluded that it was written with the help of Liu Yabian, a merchant, and then edited by Lin Huan, a translator for the East India Company. Qianlong then ordered Li Shibiao to gather the Hong merchants in Canton. There, Liu Yabian was publicly executed. This was meant to be a lesson about what would happen to Chinese citizens who helped "barbarians" (foreigners).

Even though Lin Huan was far away, Qianlong made sure he was brought back to face punishment, and he was also executed. At the same time, the emperor ordered that any of Lin's family members trying to leave the country be caught and questioned. This order was so strict that people along the coast no longer dared to use their usual sea routes to Jakarta.

As for Flint, for the crime of "barbarian" (foreigner) working with Chinese "scoundrels" to create a complaint that tried to overthrow the single port trade system, Qianlong ordered him to be imprisoned in Macau for three years. After that, he would be sent out of China and banned from the country forever.

What Happened Next

When dealing with Flint's seven specific complaints, the Chinese court outlawed the many forms of illegal fees from merchants to officials, known as guīlǐ or "customary charges." Chinese merchants who owed money to foreign traders would be pressured to pay. Taxes on supplies aboard a foreign ship when it left would be removed. The system where Chinese merchants guaranteed visiting traders would stay.

Even though Qianlong's punishment of Li Yongbiao partly met Flint's demands, forbidding illegal fees and enforcing the merchant guarantee system wasn't a big win for Flint. Also, Qianlong ordered the Grand Minister for Guangdong to tell the foreign traders that China had plenty of rich goods. There was no urgent need to get small products from abroad. He would say something similar decades later when he met the 1793 Macartney Embassy. The single port trading system based in Canton would remain in place, crushing Flint's hopes for opening up Zhejiang.

Even worse, to keep a tighter watch on foreign traders in Canton, on December 24, 1759, the Chinese Court announced the "Vigilance Towards Foreign Barbarian Regulations." These rules, also known as the "Five counter-measures against the barbarians," forbade foreign trade in the winter and forced Western merchants to live in the Thirteen Factories.

After Flint was released, he was taken to Whampoa. He boarded the Company ship Horsenden and sailed for England. In total, he earned £8,500 between 1760 and 1766. £6,500 of this was from his work as a supercargo (senior trader), and £2,000 was for the "hardships suffered," including his three years in prison.

Bringing Soybeans to North America

During his years in China, Flint had many chances to see Chinese farming practices up close. Because of this, when he returned from the East, he teamed up with another former East India Company employee, Samuel Bowen. Flint had met Bowen on the Company ship Success in 1759. Together, they worked to bring the soybean to North America.

Bowen, possibly with money from Flint, bought land in Georgia. There, he made soy sauce and soy vermicelli noodles. In 1770, Flint wrote letters to the famous U.S. statesman and scientist Benjamin Franklin. They discussed how the Chinese turned soybeans into tofu. Flint's letter is the earliest known use of the word "tofu" in the English language.

Images for kids

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  The Qianlong Emperor, who ruled China during James Flint's time.