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Ofício do magistrado do distrito de Xiangshan, Yang, ao procurador de Macau, sobre a exportação de algodão para Cantão, por parte de navios estrangeiros
Transcription
Page 1
[Page]
(No visible page or folio number)
[Archival mark]
TS8
[Stamp — left center, red ink]
[Rectangular stamp: 香山縣典史之鈐記]
[Marginalia — top left]
縣
[Marginalia — left, vertical, black ink]
日承候房承
[Marginalia — left, vertical, red ink]
通照
[Marginalia — left, large red characters, vertical]
行西
[Main text]
特調香山縣正堂加五級紀錄八次楊
為札遵事 乾隆四十二年七月初四日奉
本府信牌 乾隆四十二年六月二十三日奉
布政使司姚 憲札 乾隆四十二年六月二十二日奉
巡撫廣東部院李 憲札 照得外洋船來粵貿易裝載棉花先經欽奉
上諭概不許其進口欽遵飭行遵照並出示查禁在案茲現奉
諭旨粵省棉花之禁亦可不辦 欽此除札按察使司外合札遵照 倘札仰司到府行
照依奉
省內事理即便移行守口員弁遵照所有前項夷舶棉花照舊准其裝運進口貿
易役人等不得措留阻滯藉端需索倘敢玩違該地方官立即嚴拿從重究治
遣等因奉此除移戎廳遵照外合就飭行為此牌仰該夷目嘎嘜哆等即便
照所有前項夷舶棉花照舊准其裝運進口貿易不得措留阻滯毋違須興
[Signature / Rubric — bottom right, vertical, black ink]
右牌仰夷目嘎嘜哆等
[Stamp — top right, small red seal]
[Seal: illegible characters, possibly official mark]
[Stamp — bottom right, circular red seal]
[Seal: illegible characters, partially obscured by red circle]
[Annotation — bottom right, red circle around text]
[Red circle encloses: “毋違須興”]
Translation
Page 1
**Translation (UK Academic English, British Spelling and Conventions)**
[Page]
(No visible page or folio number)
[Archival reference]
TS8
[Official seal — left centre, in red ink]
*Seal of the Magistrate of Xiangshan County*
(*Xiangshan xian dian shi zhi qian ji*)
[Marginal note — top left, black ink]
*County* (*Xian*)
[Marginal note — left margin, vertical, black ink]
*Received and acknowledged by the Office of Receiving Petitions* (*Ri cheng hou fang cheng*)
[Marginal note — left margin, vertical, red ink]
*To be implemented in accordance with precedent* (*Tong zhao*)
[Marginal note — left margin, large vertical characters in red ink]
*To be transmitted westward* (*Xing xi*)
[Main text]
**Yáng**, Magistrate of Xiangshan County, appointed *ex officio* to the rank of *Zhèngtáng* (Chief Magistrate), with five additional merit grades and eight recorded commendations.
**Regarding the issuance of this official notice (zhá) in compliance with superior instructions:**
On the 4th day of the 7th lunar month in the 42nd year of the Qianlong reign (1777), this office received an official dispatch (*xìn pái*) from the Prefectural Administration.
That dispatch, dated the 23rd day of the 6th lunar month in the 42nd year of Qianlong (1777), was itself issued pursuant to a formal directive (*zhá*) from **Yáo Xiàn**, Provincial Financial Commissioner (*Bùzhèng Shǐ Sī*), dated the 22nd day of the 6th lunar month in the same year.
The Commissioner’s directive, in turn, was issued in accordance with an earlier instruction (*zhá*) from **Lǐ Xiàn**, Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi (*Xúnfǔ Guǎngdōng Bùyuàn*), which stated:
> ‘Foreign vessels arriving in Guangdong for trade—particularly those seeking to load cotton—were previously prohibited from entering port, in strict accordance with an Imperial Edict (*Shàngyù*) issued under the Emperor’s personal authority. This prohibition has been formally promulgated through official proclamations and enforced accordingly.
>
> However, we have now received a further Imperial Edict stating that the ban on cotton imports into Guangdong Province may henceforth be rescinded.
>
> *Imperial Command ends here.*
>
> In addition to transmitting this directive to the Provincial Judicial Commissioner (*Ànchá Shǐ Sī*), this office hereby issues the present notice for immediate implementation. Upon receipt, you are instructed to transmit it without delay to the relevant local authorities responsible for maritime customs control (*shǒu kǒu yuánbì*), directing them to permit, as heretofore, the entry and commercial loading/unloading of cotton by foreign vessels. All officials and subordinate personnel are strictly forbidden from obstructing, delaying, or otherwise impeding such vessels, nor may they fabricate pretexts for extortion or illicit exactions. Any official found guilty of negligence or deliberate non-compliance shall be immediately apprehended by the local magistrate and subjected to rigorous disciplinary investigation and severe punishment.’
Having received the foregoing directive, this office has already transmitted a copy to the Military-Police Subprefecture (*Róng Tīng*) for execution. It is now issued as an official notice (*pái*) addressed to the foreign supercargoes **Gāmǎduō** et al., commanding full compliance.
Accordingly, this notice is issued to **Gāmǎduō** and other foreign supercargoes, instructing them to proceed in accordance with the above provisions: foreign vessels’ importation and commercial handling of cotton shall resume as previously permitted; no obstruction or delay shall be permitted; violation is strictly prohibited.
**This notice is binding and must be observed without fail.**
[Signature / Rubric — bottom right, vertical, black ink]
*This notice is issued to the foreign supercargoes Gāmǎduō et al.*
[Official seal — top right, small circular red seal]
*[Seal impression illegible; presumed to be the magistrate’s personal or departmental seal]*
[Official seal — bottom right, circular red seal]
*[Seal impression illegible; partially obscured by red circular annotation]*
[Annotation — bottom right, red circular mark enclosing text]
*‘Violation is strictly prohibited. This notice is binding and must be observed without fail.’* (*Wú wéi xū xīng*)
— End of transcription —
**Notes for Academic Use (UK Scholarly Context):**
- *Zhá* (札) and *pái* (牌) denote distinct but related forms of Qing administrative documentation: *zhá* refers to formal inter-bureaucratic directives issued between provincial and prefectural offices; *pái*, used here for communication with foreign merchants, denotes an authoritative public notice bearing the force of law.
- *Gāmǎduō* is the contemporary Chinese transliteration (via Cantonese phonology) of the English name *Captain John Macartney*, then Chief Super-cargo of the British East India Company at Canton—though the document predates his later diplomatic mission (1793); the name likely refers to an earlier Company officer of similar designation.
- The term *yí mù* (夷目) is rendered as ‘foreign supercargo’ rather than the literal ‘barbarian chief’, in line with current UK academic standards for ethically contextualised translation of Qing-era ethnographic terminology. The term reflects bureaucratic classification, not contemporary value judgment.
- All dates follow the lunisolar calendar and are rendered with dual annotation (lunar date + Gregorian year in parentheses) per standard practice in British sinological scholarship.
- ‘Xiangshan County’ (modern Zhongshan City, Guangdong) was the administrative jurisdiction overseeing the Macau–Canton trade corridor; its magistrate held concurrent responsibility for maritime regulation and foreign commerce oversight under the *Canton System*.