The great Canton trade era is a phenomenon that has fascinated historians and enthusiasts for 150 years. From its beginnings in the late seventeenth century, the trade grew steadily until it was forced to end in 1842. Many reasons have been given for its collapse, such as its heavy dependence on silver, widespread opium smuggling, internal corruption in Chinese administrative structures and a lack of interest on the part of the Chinese in encouraging international trade. While there is a kernel of truth in all these reasons, none can explain why the trade grew to the extent it did, for...

The Dutch and English had been interested in establishing trade with China since the early seventeenth century, when they first arrived in Asia. Both nations tried without success to set up a base on the South China coast, such as the Portuguese had done in Macao.¹ The Dutch managed to conduct trade with China via Taiwan after 1624, but then lost that base when the Ming loyalist Zheng Chenggong and his fleet were forced to leave China and take control of Taiwan in 1662. In the next two decades the Dutch tried to open direct trade with China, but in...

China’s Maritime Customs (Yuehaiguan) in Canton were responsible for all ships in the Pearl River Delta. Only trading vessels were allowed to travel up the river, and they had to follow a series of procedures to clear customs. When they first anchored in Macao Roads, each ship had to apply for a pilot to guide them to the customhouse at the mouth of the river, known by foreigners as Bocca Tigris (Humen 虎門). There was a small group of individuals licensed by Chinese customs to guide ships upriver, and they were called ‘Macao pilots’ (Aomen yinshuiren 澳門引水人).

Macao pilots had...

The voyage upriver from Macao to Whampoa was a perilous one in the early eighteenth century. Large ships often had draughts in excess of eighteen feet, and the shallowest shoals in the main course of the river were themselves only eighteen feet.¹ Thus, the only way ships could reach Whampoa was to sail with the ebb and flow of the tide.

Strong currents, frequent storms and the many hidden perils beneath the Pearl River made it a hazardous passage for all deep-running vessels. Currents and powerful eddies could send a ship whirling around in a circle in the blink of...

The provisions trade in Canton provided large quantities of supplies and victuals to an ever-increasing number of ships; it became one of the most important industries for the smooth conduct of trade and control of foreigners in China. As we will see, the weaknesses that developed within the provisions trade would affect the overall effectiveness of the Canton System.

In 1731 provision purveyors or ‘compradors’¹ were officially licensed by the Junminfu at Qianshan. Like the Macao pilots, they wore a wooden license around their waist so it could be easily seen from a distance.² The compradors’ licensing fees were passed...

THE LINGUISTS WERE THE APPOINTED mediators between the foreigners and the Chinese officials so they were constantly confronted with the limits of what each side would accept. Hoppos and governors-general had considerable freedom to negotiate the terms of commerce, but always within parameters defined by Beijing. Any requests from traders that went beyond those limitations were forbidden and could not be negotiated. Some freedoms and restrictions were clearly laid out in edicts sent to Canton from the Imperial Court, but they were not followed with the same degree of consistency. Other limitations were not written down but just ‘understood’ and...

AFTER THEIR INCEPTION, MANY CHANGES were made to the customs procedures to help the Hoppos control and monitor smuggling and corruption. Moving the Junminfu to Qianshan in 1731 and licensing the pilots, compradors and linguists was part of this effort to tighten up the ranks. In 1744, the first vice-prefect (tongzhi 同知) was established in the village of Mongha near Macao.¹ These measures helped to bring Macao and the delta under closer administrative control, which, in turn, brought greater security to the regulation of commerce.

In later decades, the Hoppos and governors-general continued to experiment with other methods and policies...

AS WOULD BE EXPECTED FOR any major maritime entrepôt, there was an active contraband trade in the Pearl River Delta. In the early decades of the eighteenth century, trade in metals, such as gold, iron and copper and regulated products like salt, saltpetre and certain silks were either forbidden or restricted as to the quantities and types that could be sold. But that did not prevent some of those commodities establishing a market in China. One of the ways contraband came in and out of China was in the bottoms of the foreign flag boats.

As was noted earlier, foreign...

IT HAS BEEN SHOWN IN past studies that Macao was in many ways an extension of the Canton market.¹ Chinese and Portuguese documents that have survived from the eighteenth century show how the two ports were operating closely with each other on administrative levels.² But owing to a lack of historical data, little has been said of market influences. With information that has recently emerged from European archives, we can now begin to show more clearly the relationship governing these cities. Because Macao was so closely connected with the junk trade, capital market and commission merchants, we will deal with...

The Canton trade was one of the most important contributors to the rise of modern ‘global’ economies. From 1700 to 1842, the foreign demand for tea and porcelain grew with each passing decade, and China continued to meet the demand with an ever-expanding supply. As the tea trade developed, world markets became more integrated; as investment capital continued to flow into China in ever increasing quantities, international financial structures became more sophisticated; as the global movements of silver and commodities became more structured, global commerce became more regular. Greater consistency, in turn, helped to reduce risks, which increased profits and...

TODAY, FOREIGN ARCHIVES HOLD the best and most detailed accounts available about the Hong merchants, the Canton junk traders, the dozens of linguists, compradors and pilots, and the tens of thousands of other Chinese involved in trade. No records were kept or preserved about these matters because they were not important to the state. Some Chinese merchants became extremely wealthy and built large estates, but their fortunes did not last and the memories of many of their lives have vanished. This was not owing to deliberate or intentional efforts by the architects of the Canton System to undermine or prejudice...