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Article: New England and the China Trade.(Chinese Export Art at Historic Deerfield)(Book review)
- Article from:
- The Magazine Antiques
- Article date:
- May 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Brant Publications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In 1793 the Qianlong emperor of China wrote to George III of England: "We possess all things. I set no value on objects strange and ingenious, and have no use for your country's manufactures." Pride aside, everyone needs something, and the Chinese welcomed silver coins to melt up and refashion, and they could not live without ginseng, the forked root they felt fixed everything.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Ginseng grows in eastern Asia and in the woods of the eastern United States and Canada. So when the prosperous residents of the Connecticut River valley were casting about for an entree into the China Trade, they started digging up ginseng. The Empress of ...