| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Empress of China |
| Builder | Mr. John Peck, Boston, U.S.[1][2] |
| Launched | 1783[3] |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 360 tons[3] |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship[3] |
| Complement | 34[4] |
| Armament | 4 × 6-pounder guns[2] |
Empress of China, also known as Chinese Queen, was a three-masted, square-rigged sailing ship of 360 tons,[3] initially built in 1783 for service as a privateer.[5] After the Treaty of Paris brought a formal end to the American Revolutionary War, the vessel was refitted for commercial purposes. She became the first American ship to sail from the newly independent United States to China, opening what is known today as the Old China Trade and transporting the first official representative of the American government to Canton.[6]
- ^ "Canton Witnesses the 226th Anniversary of The Empress of China's Arrival and US-China Trade Relations Kickoff". Consulate General of the United States Guangzhou China. U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on 20 January 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
- ^ a b Chadwick Foster Smith, Philip (1984). The Empress of China. Philadelphia Maritime Museum. p. 28. ISBN 0-913346-09-8. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
- ^ a b c d Tantillo, Len. (2000). "Voyage of the Sloop Experiment," Archived 2009-01-01 at the Wayback Machine The Hudson River in the Age of Sail (exhibition). Hudson River Maritime Museum.
- ^ Markoe, Karen. "Two Hundred Years of U.S. Trade with China (1784-1984)". Asia for Educators. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
- ^ Smith, Philip Chadwick Foster. (1984). The Empress of China, p. 25.
- ^ US Dept. of State, Office of the Historian: Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations, 1774-2008: China.