Robinson Crusoe's Adventures in China and Defoe's Mercantilism
The porcelain trade between England and China incurred significant bullion expenses for England,which was a violation of Defoe's mercantilist principles,prompting his opposition to Chinese porcelain.The production of Chinese porcelain epitomized a land-based economy,in direct contrast to the labor-centered Mercantilism.It was the land-based economy that hindered the trade between England and China,and threatened the Mercantilism won in the Glorious Revolution.Amidst the Controversy between the land-based economy of the Tory and the mercantilist stance of the Whigs,Defoe made use of Robinson Crusoe's adventures in China to criticize the Tory's land-based economy through revealing its scientific backwardness,economic poverty,people's ignorance,and agrarian paternalism.Thus,Crusoe's criticism of China forms part of Defoe's defense of British Mercantilism.
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