Thirteen Factories

Painting of the factories, circa 1820, with flags of Denmark, Spain, the United States, Sweden, Britain, and the Netherlands

Chinese

十三行

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Shísānháng
IPA	[ʂɨ̌sánxǎŋ]
Yale Romanization	Shŕsānháng
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	Sap⁶ Saam¹ Hong²
IPA	[sɐ̀p sáːm hɔ̌ːŋ]
Yale Romanization	Sahp sāam hóng

The Thirteen Factories was an area of Guangzhou (Canton), China, where under the Canton System, the first foreign trade was allowed in the 18th century since the hai jin (海禁) ban on maritime activities. It is also referred to as the "Thirteen Hongs" or the "Canton Factories". The factory system came to an end in 1842 with the Treaty of Nanking. The site where the factories stood is now Wenhua Park, and Thirteen Hong Street, onto which the factories backed is now named Shisanhang Road.^[1]

Terminology

View of the European factories, 1805-06 by William Daniell

Factories were "foreigners' quarters", or trading posts, outside the city walls in Guangzhou rather than a place in the contemporary sense where goods are manufactured. The name came from the foreign agent term of "factors",^[2] who maintained offices or factories. Chinese citizens often referred to the factories as "Barbarian Houses"^[2] (the Chinese word translated as "Barbarian" in English can be interpreted simply as "foreigner" as well)^[3]

History

The Thirteen Factories, c. 1850

In 1684, the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty allowed foreigners to trade with China in four cities, including Guangzhou.^[4] In 1686, Westerners were also allowed to live in the area of the factories in Canton, at the head of the Pearl River. In 1748, there were only eight factories, but the number subsequently increased to thirteen.^[5] In 1757, the Qianlong Emperor limited Westerners to the port of Canton, and no other area.

In 1793, George III sent George Macartney to request that ports in northern China be opened to trade. The Qianlong Emperor refused^[2] the request.

The Thirteen Factories gradually lost importance after the First Opium War (1839–42), a conflict after China banned the import of British opium. The Qing Empire was defeated by the British and, as a consequence of the Treaty of Nanking (1842), was forced to open five ports to foreigners and to cede Hong Kong Island to the British. The Thirteen Factories was no longer the sole place for foreigners to trade and live in China. The factories burned down in 1856 during the Second Opium War and the western traders relocated to warehouses across the Pearl River on Honam until the British succeeded in claiming the site of a sandbar (Shamian Island) in 1859, and it was developed to become a foreign enclave.^[1]

Organization

The factories from land

Each factory was headed by a Chinese merchant, who went by such business names as Howqua (浩官), Mowqua, Puankhequa (潘启官), Goqua, Fatqua, Kingqua, Sunshing, Mingqua, Saoqua and Punboqua.^[6] Together the factories formed a guild known as the cohong; the actual number of factories fluctuated over the years, before settling at thirteen in the early 19th Century.

The emperor appointed an official called the hoppo (the spelling at the time of 戶部, Hubu, which was short for 粵海關部, Yuehaiguanbu), to take charge and collect taxes for the goods traded. The position also oversaw whether trades went accordingly. The hoppo was responsible for merchant relations on behalf of the Qing court. It was an important position since Western merchants were not allowed to communicate with the emperor directly.^[2]

By imperial decree, foreigners were not permitted to learn Chinese at the time^[2] although the British did have Robert Morrison as a translator.^[6] The four linguists representing the Chinese side included Atom, Achow, Atung and Akang.^[6]

In 1835, medical missionary Peter Parker, M.D. opened an Ophthalmic Hospital at 3 Hog Lane. Parker commissioned Lam Qua, a Western-trained Chinese painter who also had workshops in the Thirteen Factories area, to paint pre-operative portraits of patients who had large tumors or other major deformities.

Factories

Plan of the factories, 1856

The Western merchants were allowed to occupy two- or three-story buildings, set back one hundred yards from the river. Each factory contained three or four houses. The warehouses occupied the first floors and elegant apartments were on the second and third floors of the houses. The square in front of the factories was fenced and reserved for foreigners. The streets immediately adjoining the factories were named Thirteen Factory Street, Old China Street, and Hog Lane. These streets were filled with retail stores selling a wide variety of Chinese goods.