Research Catalog

Title

East sails West : the voyage of the Keying, 1846-1855 / Stephen Davies.

Author

Davies, Stephen, 1945-

Publication

• Hong Kong : Hong Kong University Press, 2014
• ©2014

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xxvi, 334 pages : illustrations (some color), maps, portrait; 24 cm

Summary

In December 1846, the Keying, a Chinese junk purchased by British investors, set sail from Hong Kong for London. Named after the Chinese Imperial Commissioner who had signed away Hong Kong to the British, manned by a Chinese and European crew, and carrying a traveling exhibition of Chinese items, the Keying had a troubled voyage. After quarrels on the way and a diversion to New York, culminating in a legal dispute over arrears of wages for Chinese members of the crew, it finally reached London in 1848, where it went on exhibition on the River Thames until 1853. It was then auctioned off, towed to Liverpool, and finally broken up. In this account of the ship, the crew and the voyage, Stephen Davies tells a story of missed opportunities, with an erratic course, overambitious aims, and achievements born of lucky breaks -- a microcosm, in fact, of early Hong Kong and of the relations between China and the West.

Subject

• Keying (Junk)
• Voyages and travels > History > 19th century
• Junks > China > History > 19th century
• Sailors > China > History > 19th century
• Sailors > Europe > History > 19th century

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages [307]-322) and index.

Contents

List of illustrations -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction : views from different seas -- Part 1. The voyage of the Keying -- Origins, purchase and commissioning -- The ship's name -- The crew and the voyage to New York -- The troubled stay in New York -- The final leg : towards journey's end -- Journey's end : the London stay -- The endgame -- Part 2. The ship itself : type, build, performance -- What kind of vessel was the Keying? -- A re-appraisal of the Keying's likely shape -- The Keying's dimensions and shape -- How fast could she go? -- Part 3. The scrapyard of history -- Voyage over -- Appendix. The images of the Keying -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.

Call Number

JFE 14-4838

ISBN

• 9789888208203 (hbk.)
• 9888208209 (hbk.)

OCLC

861648909

Author

Davies, Stephen, 1945- author.

Title

East sails West : the voyage of the Keying, 1846-1855 / Stephen Davies.

Publisher

Hong Kong : Hong Kong University Press, 2014

Copyright Date

©2014

Type of Content

text

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages [307]-322) and index.

Research Call Number

JFE 14-4838