Thirteen Factories

Coordinates: 23°06′35″N 113°15′06″E / 23.109743°N 113.251607°E / 23.109743; 113.251607
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Thirteen Factories
Hanyu Pinyin
Shísān Háng
Yale RomanizationShŕsān Háng
IPA[ʂɻ̩̌sánxǎŋ]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationSahp-sāam Hóng
JyutpingSap⁶-Saam¹ Hong²
IPA[sɐ̀p sáːm hɔ̌ːŋ]

The Thirteen Factories, also known as the Canton Factories, was a neighbourhood along the

Shamian Island south of Guangzhou's western suburbs
. Their former site is now part of Guangzhou Cultural Park.

Terminology

c. 1785 sketch for William Daniell's 1806 The European Factories, Canton
William Daniell's c. 1805 View of the Canton Factories
The factories c. 1807
The 1822 fire
The ruins of the initial factories after the 1822 fire
European Factories at Canton (c. 1840) by Auguste Borget
The layout of the factories just before the 1841 fire
British troops welcoming Viceroy Kiyeng after the Expedition to Canton in 1847
Further information: Hong (business), Cohong, and Factory (trading post)

The "factories" were not workshops or manufacturing centres but the offices, trading posts, and warehouses of foreign factors,[1] mercantile fiduciaries who bought and sold goods on consignment for their principals. The word derives from "feitoria" which means trading post in Portuguese (the first westerners to engage in trade with China).

The foreign agents were known at the time as "

East Indiamen might have five or more, which were ranked "chief supercargo", "2nd supercargo", and so on. A team of supercargos divided their work, some overseeing sales, others tea purchases, silk purchases, and so forth.[3] Permanent supercargos might divide their work by the order ships arrived. The bookkeepers who attended them were called "writers"; those serving with the ship, who also checked these accounts, "pursers".[4]

"Hong" is the Cantonese pronunciation of 行, the Chinese term for a properly-licensed business.[2] By analogy, it was applied to its chief, the Hong merchant, and its property, the factories themselves. It has also been suggested the term was first applied to the factories as they were arranged in a row along the riverbank, "row" or "rank" being an alternative meaning of the same Chinese character.[5]

Hu Bu (Board of Revenue), but the official had no connection to the Board. The Hoppo was responsible for fixing the charges levied as a ship entered the port, a responsibility that allowed him to become quite rich.[6]

History

Since the

East India Company.[10] Typically, cargo was ferried from the ships by its own crew and to the ships at the expense of the Chinese merchants on their "chop boats" (lighters). To avoid theft or piracy, foreign traders began assigning a few of their own seamen to these ships as guards.[8]

In 1686, Westerners were allowed to rent accommodations in the factory quarter to avoid the necessity of shuttling back to Pazhou each night. For the most part, the supercargos, their assistants, and the bookkeepers stayed at the factories, the crew—except for a few guards or those on shore leave

Macao through the spring and summer until the appearance of the next ship.[8] By the 1760s, every East India company had permanent supercargos[12] and rooms were being rented in Macao year-round as well.[8]

In the mid-1750s, the

East India Company realized that the fees and prices were both better at Ningbo; it was also nearer the main centres of Chinese tea production and silk manufacture. The impact of their shift on Guangzhou's tax receipts and a fear of a second Macao being created prompted attempts to force Ningbo to make itself less attractive. When that failed, the Qianlong Emperor issued a 1757 edict closing all ports but Guangzhou's to most Westerners.[13][n 1] In order to keep the traders in the factory area and out of the rest of the western suburbs, the 17 Chinese merchants of the port were obliged to establish the guild known to foreigners as the "Cohong" in 1760,[12] each paying an entrance fee of around 10,000 Spanish dollars (74,000 tls.) and submitting to a levy of about 3% on their future business. Ten of the merchants did so, the fees establishing the Consoo Fund and Hall, walkways, and a new street to which small-scale merchants were obliged to move in order to continue selling to the foreign traders.[n 2] Since the new street was particularly full of porcelain dealers, it came to be known as China Street.[9] The Hong merchants included Howqua (Wu Bingjian), Puankhequa, Mowqua, Goqua, Fatqua, Kingqua, Sunshing, Mingqua, Saoqua, and Punboqua.[15] Despite the existence of Sinophones[15] and the linguists usually accompanying each ship,[4] foreigners were notionally banned by imperial decree from learning the Chinese language,[1] there being officially appointed translators for that purpose.[15] The foreign traders—despite most working for government monopolies themselves—protested strongly at the Cohong's control over prices, advances, and exchange rates and predicted the death of trade with China.[12] In fact, the Cohong helped ensure Chinese production met the traders' needs—some ships had previously been obliged to wait as much as a year to be fully stocked[12]—and by 1769, the area was being expanded to make up for an extreme shortness of apartments.[16] In 1748, there had only been eight factories,[17] but there were seventeen by 1770, a number kept up until the great fire of 1822.[2]

It was discovered that, rather than depending on the monsoon winds, ships could arrive or depart at any time of year by rounding the

Philippines.[8] This opened the trade for smaller craft who might only need a few weeks to complete a visit, where the large company vessels still needed 4 to 5 months at minimum.[4] Subsequently, the British and Americans typically always had ships anchored off Pazhou, allowing them to keep their supercargos and staff in the Guangzhou factories all year.[8] During the 1780s, the Spanish also began to send several ships from Manila each year rather than the single vessel they had previously used;[8] they began renting a permanent factory in 1788.[10] (In practice, senior supercargos tended to prefer Macao during the summer regardless and to send their junior officers to deal with off-season trade.)[8]

In 1793,

porcelain. The balancing trade in goods from Europe was poor so payments had to be settled in large volumes of bullion until the trade in opium
rose to take its place.

In 1835, the medical missionary Peter Parker opened an ophthalmic hospital in the area.[19] Parker commissioned Lam Qua, a Western-trained Chinese painter who also had workshops in the area, to paint pre-operative portraits of patients who had large tumors or other major deformities.

The

Shamian sandbar south of the city's western suburbs.[20]

Organization

Main: Hong, Cohong, Canton System, and Old China Trade

Under the Canton System, between 1757 and 1842, Western merchants in China were restricted to live and conduct their business only in the approved area of the port of Guangzhou and only through government-approved merchant houses. Their factories formed a tight-knit community, which the historian Jacques Downs called a "golden ghetto" because it was both isolated and lucrative.[21]

These

Thai and domestic trade in the South China Sea. The Hoppo was appointed by the emperor to oversee taxation and customs collection; he also oversaw disputes among the merchants, in an attempt to restrain the foreigners from contacting the imperial government in Beijing directly.[1]

Architecture

The garden of the American factory c. 1845

The Western merchants were allowed to occupy two- or three-story buildings set back about 100 yards (91 m) from the river. Each factory contained a number of houses. The warehouses occupied the ground floors; the upper floors were taken up by living areas. The square in front of the factories was fenced off, with Chinese access restricted. There were no wells or access to running water. Chinese servants were used to bring in drinking and wash water and to empty the factories' chamber pots.[4]

The façades of the buildings used Western classical designs, but the structures otherwise were merchant buildings of local style. The layout featured courtyards, long, narrow hallways, with rooms on either side. Construction materials were local, such as brick with tile roofs, but the windows and stairs came from British sources abroad.[22]

Layout

The layout of the factories just before the 1856 fire

The area was bound on the north by Thirteen Factory Street, on the west by Pwanting Street, and on the east by a small creek.[

which?] Old China Street, New China Street, and Hog Lane divided the groups of factories from one another and were lined by retail stores selling a wide variety of Chinese goods. Peter Parker's hospital was located at 3 Hog Lane.[19]

The exact number of factories varied, but by the early 19th century it became stable at 17 or 18[23] including, from east to west:

English name Literal Translation/Transliteration[24] Chinese name (Cantonese)
Traditional
Simplified
 Pinyin Characters Sidney Lau
Creek Factory 小溪館 小溪馆 Xiǎoxī Guǎn 怡和行 Yi⁴ Wo⁴ Hong⁴
Dutch Factory 荷蘭館 荷兰馆 Hélán Guǎn 集義行 Jaap⁶ Yi⁶ Hong⁴
British Factory
(New English Factory)		 新英國館 新英国馆 Xīn Yīngguó Guǎn 保和行 Bo² Wo⁴ Hong⁴
Fung-tae Factory
Chow-Chow Factory
(Miscellaneous Factory)		 炒炒館 炒炒馆 Chǎochǎo Guǎn 豐泰行
巴斯行		 Fung¹ Taai³ Hong⁴
Ba¹ Si¹ Hong⁴
Old English Factory 舊英國館 旧英国馆 Jiù Yīngguó Guǎn 隆順行 Lung⁴ Sun⁶ Hong⁴
Swedish Factory 瑞典館 瑞典馆 Ruìdiǎn Guǎn 瑞行 Sui⁶ Hong⁴
"Imperial Factory"
(Austrian Factory)		 帝國館 帝国馆 Dìguó Guǎn 孖鹰行 Ma¹ Ying¹ Hong⁴
Paoushun Factory 寶順館 宝顺馆 Bǎoshùn Guǎn 寶順行 Bo² Sun⁶ Hong⁴
American Factory 美國館 美国馆 Měiguó Guǎn 廣源行 Gwong² Yuen⁴ Hong⁴
Mingqua's Factory 明官館 明官馆 Míngguān Guǎn 中和行 Jung¹ Wo⁴ Hong⁴
French Factory 法蘭西館 法兰西馆 Fǎlánxī Guǎn 高公行 Go¹ Gung¹ Hong⁴
Spanish Factory 西班牙館 西班牙馆 Xībānyá Guǎn 大呂宋行 lit. 'Great Luzon trade house' Daai⁶ Lui⁵ Sung³ Hong⁴
Danish Factory 丹麥館 丹麦馆 Dānmài Guǎn 黃旗行[16] lit. 'yellow banner trade house' Wong⁴ Kei⁴ Hong⁴

The Chow-Chow Factory was indirectly linked to the

British East India Company
.

Legacy

The former site of the thirteen factories is now part of the Cultural Park. Thirteen Factories Street, which ran north of the enclave, is now named Shisanhang (Thirteen Factories) Road.[20]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Korean and Japanese trade was organised separately at Zhapu in Zhejiang; Russians, due to their presence on China's northern borders, traded first at Beijing and then at Kyakhta.
  2. ^ Shops also lined 13 Factories Street between Hog Lane and China Street, creating a horseshoe-shaped path along which the traders and seamen could browse the wares on offer.[14]

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d Tamura (1998).
  2. ^ a b c d Van_DykeMok (2015), p. xv.
  3. ^ Van_DykeMok (2015), p. xv–xvi.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Van_DykeMok (2015), p. xvi.
  5. ^ Couling, Samuel M A (1907). Encyclopaedia Sinica. p. 235.
  6. ^ Downs (1997), p. 24.
  7. ^ Gong (2006).
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Van_DykeMok (2015), p. xvii.
  9. ^ a b Van_DykeMok (2015), p. 2.
  10. ^ a b Van_DykeMok (2015), p. xix.
  11. ^ Van_DykeMok (2015), pp. xvii–xviii.
  12. ^ a b c d Van_DykeMok (2015), p. 1.
  13. ^ Napier (1995), p. 58.
  14. ^ Van_DykeMok (2015), p. xviii.
  15. ^ a b c d Roberts (1837).
  16. ^ a b Van_DykeMok (2015), p. xx.
  17. ^ Kjellberg (1975), p. 99.
  18. ^ Ch'ien Lung, (Qianlong) Letter to George III
  19. ^ a b Key & al. (1986).
  20. ^ a b "Book review of Everything in Style: Harriet Low's Macau", Asian Review of Books.
  21. ^ Downs (1997), p. 4.
  22. ^ Perdue (2011).
  23. ^ Van_DykeMok (2015), p. 90.
  24. ^ Roberts 1837, p. 129.

Bibliography

External links

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