Since the era of great voyages, the flow of commodities, material culture, and information across the globe has become more frequent. When examining the history of nation-states, it is essential not only to focus on internal developments but also to consider the influence of external ideas and forces. As Globalization progresses, historians face the challenge of considering both domestic and international perspectives. According to Lynn Hunt, “Globalization means not just interconnection, but also interdependence.” (Lynn Hunt, _Writing History in the Global Era_, Elephant Publishing House, 2017, p.122).
In the 1960s, American sinologist G. William Skinner explored a regional approach to studying Chinese history in his book _Marketing and Social Structure in Rural China_. He attempted to develop a theoretical framework for research by examining rural structures and regional markets. This approach became known as the “Skinner Model.” Another American scholar, Paul A. Cohen, in his work _Discovering History in China: American Historical Writing on the Recent Chinese Past_, critiqued the “impact-response” model of modernization represented by Fei Zhengqing, advocating instead for an understanding of Chinese history and current conditions based on internal factors. These two approaches have had a significant impact on Chinese studies both at home and abroad.
Tea was one of the most globalized commodities in modern China. During the 18th and 19th centuries, when China was drawn into the process of globalization, “the tea trade and opium trade played a very critical role.” (Zhong Weimin, _Tea and Opium: China in the Nineteenth-Century Global Economy_, Zhonghua Book Company, 2021, p.257). Drawing from my year-long experience living and studying in Boston, I examined various museums, archives, and historical sites related to tea in the area. Inspired by Cohen's idea of “discovering history in China,” I aim to trace the journey of Chinese tea as a commodity and cultural phenomenon since the 18th century, attempting to “discover” the legacy of Chinese tea affairs, records, and scholarship in Boston. Through this, I hope to gain a deeper understanding of the international dimensions of Chinese tea history from a transnational perspective. Please correct me if there are any inaccuracies.
### Tea Affairs: Relics of Chinese Tea in the Boston Tea Party of 1773
In the 17th century, Dutch traders introduced Chinese tea to Europe, and the British East India Company soon began its lucrative trade with China. By the 18th century, Chinese tea had become common in Britain and its North American colonies, including New England's Boston region, which had a population of over 16,000 and was economically prosperous. However, most of the tea consumed locally was smuggled by the Dutch, and the people were sensitive to tax measures imposed by the mother country. In 1773, the British Parliament, aiming to rescue the financially troubled East India Company, forced the shipment of Chinese tea stored in London warehouses to be sold in Boston. Although exempt from duties in London, the tea was subject to a duty of three pence per pound in Boston. This made the East India Company's tea cheaper than the Dutch contraband, causing outrage among local merchants and other elites fearful of “taxation without representation.” On December 16, members of the Sons of Liberty, disguised as Mohawk Indians, dumped 340 chests of Chinese tea from three ships into the harbor, marking the infamous Boston Tea Party. The subsequent punitive measures and the blockade of Boston Harbor by the British led to America's path toward independence. Thus, Britain lost the American colonies due to the forced sale of Chinese tea, while America gained independence after the dumping of 46 tons (valued at £9,659 6s 4d by the British East India Company, equivalent to approximately $1.7 million today) of Chinese tea. Specific types and values of the tea are shown in Table 1.
### Tea Archives: Important Records of Sino-American Tea Trade in the 19th Century Held by Various Cultural Institutions in Boston
Boston, as an important commercial and educational center since colonial times, holds a significant place in the economic and cultural landscape of the United States. Until the rise of New York Port facilitated by the Erie Canal and the Central Pacific Railroad, Boston was the most important port city in the northeastern United States. Due to its geographical location, shipbuilding industry, and the entrepreneurial spirit of local merchants, Boston developed an early trade relationship with China, resulting in a large number of tea-related records. Specifically, the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston Public Library, Peabody Museum, and Harvard University Library all hold archival materials related to local merchants' voyages to China for tea, the promotion of tea consumption through commercial networks, and the evolution of tea-drinking customs. Examples include the James Murray Forbes Letters Collection, the Samuel Shaw Papers (1775-1887), the Thomas Hutchinson Letterbooks (five boxes), and the Hooper-Sturgis Papers (1798-1857).
The Baker Library at Harvard Business School has developed a specialized collection called the “Nineteenth Century China Trade Manuscript Collections,” which includes archives of important American companies/trading firms, merchants, and business families after American independence. These collections provide “rich professional and individualized perspectives on early Sino-American relations” and insights into “the complexity of life for American merchants in Chinese treaty ports” (see Table 2 for a catalog).
From the perspective of the 19th-century globalization of commodities such as tea, the archives held by the Baker Library about trading firms and merchants involved in trade with China before the rise of Wall Street actually document the heyday of trade Capitalism centered around Boston in American tradition. These traders and commercial families built robust trade and commodity flows between China and the United States, providing valuable historical evidence for studying the impact of Chinese tea trade and consumption on American capital industrialization, urbanization, and daily tea culture (teahouses and tea parties).
### Tea Scholarship: Okakura Tenshin's “The Book of Tea” in Boston, Criticizing Modern Chinese tea culture
In the English-speaking world, Boston also occupies a position in the production of knowledge about Chinese tea culture in English. For historical writings on Chinese tea affairs in Chinese, works like Lu Yu's _Classic of Tea_ and Emperor