18 tobaccoasia Issue 1, 2025 January / February
According to the definition in the Encyclopedia Britannica, a cigar is a "cylindrical roll
of tobacco for smoking"
[1]
. From 1500-300 B.C., the Maya on the Yucatán Peninsula,
in what is now Mexico, were the first to cultivate tobacco and begin to make cigars,
which became popular around the world with the spread of tobacco.
Authoritative and scientific research on tracing the cigar development in China
has always been lacking. This article sorts out cigar import routes into China in the
16th century based on the cigar development in the Americas, the scope division of
monopoly rights, and interests between Portugal and Spain in maritime trade during
the early days of the Age of Exploration, as well as the Maritime Silk Road.
I. The impact of the three treaties between Portugal and Spain on the
spread of cigars in the late 15
th
century and early 16
th
century.
(1) Impact of the Treaty of Alcáçovas on discovering cigars in the Americas at the end of the
15th century
This article analyzes the spreading pathway of cigars in the world and traces the in-
ternational routes of cigars introduced into China via sorting out historical data such
as Portuguese and Spanish voyages in the 15th and 16th centuries, as well as the
Maritime Silk Road in China.
Tracing the International
Pathway of Introducing
American Cigars into China
By
Bai
Yuanliang,
China
Cigar
Museum
SPONSORED CONTENT
Figure 1: The pathway and time of the
American cigars introduced from Brazil to
Zhangquan, Fujian, China.
