Canton system

Canton system
System of trade that developed between Chinese and foreign merchants in the southern China city of Guangzhou (Canton).

From 1759 to 1842, all foreign trade coming into China was confined to Guangzhou and had to be conducted with authorized Chinese merchants. Foreign merchants were confined to a small area outside the city wall and were subject to Chinese law and other restrictions. British merchants' complaints grew during the early 19th century, and, with Britain's victory in the first Opium War (1839–42), China was forced to abolish the system. See also British East India Co.; Treaty of Nanjing.

* * *

▪ Chinese history
 trading pattern that developed between Chinese and foreign merchants, especially British, in the South China trading city of Guangzhou (Canton) (Canton) from the 17th to the 19th century. The major characteristics of the system developed between 1760 and 1842, when all foreign trade coming into China was confined to Canton and the foreign traders entering the city were subject to a series of regulations by the Chinese government.

      Guangzhou was historically the major southern port in China and the main outlet for the country's tea, rhubarb, silk, spices, and handcrafted articles that were sought by Western traders. As a result, the British East India Company, which had a monopoly on British trade with China, made Guangzhou its major Chinese port early in the 17th century, and other Western trading companies soon followed their example. The Canton-system trade came to consist of three major elements: the native Chinese trade with Southeast Asia; the “country” trade of Europeans, who attempted to earn currency to buy Chinese goods by carrying merchandise from India and Southeast Asia into China; and the “China trade” between Europe and China.

      The Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12) appointed merchant firms, which in return for paying a large fee to the authorities were given a monopoly on all trade coming into China from one of these three groups. The merchant guild, or hong (hang in Pinyin), that handled trade between China and the West was known to the Westerners as the cohong (a corruption of gonghang, meaning “officially authorized merchants”). The cohong merchants had to guarantee every foreign ship coming into the harbour and take full responsibility for all persons connected with the ship. In turn, the East India Company was responsible to the cohong for all British ships and personnel. The two governments of Britain and China had no dealings with one another but related to each other only through the intermediary merchant groups.

      In response to a British attempt to expand their trade to some of the North China ports, the Qing emperor in 1757 issued a decree explicitly ordering that Guangzhou be made the only port opened to foreign commerce. This had the effect of tightening Chinese regulations on foreign traders. Foreign merchants became subject to numerous demanding regulations, including the exclusion of foreign warships from the area, the prohibition of foreign women or firearms, and a variety of restrictions on the merchants' personal freedom. While in Guangzhou they were confined to a small riverbank area outside the city wall where their 13 warehouses, or “factories,” were located. They were also subject to Chinese law, in which a prisoner was presumed guilty until proved innocent and was often subject to torture and arbitrary imprisonment. Furthermore, ships coming into the harbour were liable to a host of petty exactions and fees levied by the Chinese authorities.

      In the early 19th century, British traders began to chafe at these restrictions. The complaints grew more numerous with the abolition of the East India Company monopoly in 1834 and the ensuing influx of private traders into China. At the same time, the British “country trade” increasingly centred on the illegal importation of opium into China from India as a means of paying for the British purchases of tea and silk. Chinese attempts to halt the opium trade, which had caused social and economic disruption, resulted in the first Opium War (Opium Wars) (1839–42) between Britain and China. Britain's victory in this conflict forced the Chinese to abolish the Canton system and replace it with five treaty ports in which foreigners could live and work outside Chinese legal jurisdiction, trading with whomever they pleased.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Canton System — The Canton System (1760 1842) served as a means for China to control trade with the west within its own country. HistoryDespite Chinese efforts to keep European traders and citizens within the area of Macau, European trade spread throughout China …   Wikipedia

  • system — systemless, adj. /sis teuhm/, n. 1. an assemblage or combination of things or parts forming a complex or unitary whole: a mountain system; a railroad system. 2. any assemblage or set of correlated members: a system of currency; a system of… …   Universalium

  • Canton Charter Township, Michigan —   Charter township   Canton Municipal Building …   Wikipedia

  • Canton Elektronik — GmbH Co. KG Rechtsform GmbH Co. KG Gründung 17. Oktober 1972 Sitz …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Canton, Massachusetts — Infobox Settlement official name = Canton, Massachusetts motto = imagesize = image caption = image mapsize = 250px map caption = Location in Norfolk County in Massachusetts mapsize1 = map caption1 = subdivision type = Country subdivision name =… …   Wikipedia

  • Canton, Ohio — Infobox Settlement official name = City of Canton settlement type = City nickname = Hall of Fame City imagesize = image caption = Skyline of downtown Canton from William McKinley Monument in Monument Park. image mapsize = 250px map caption =… …   Wikipedia

  • Canton (village), New York — Infobox Settlement official name = Canton, New York settlement type = Village nickname = motto = imagesize = image caption = image |pushpin pushpin label position = pushpin map caption =Location within the state of New York pushpin mapsize =… …   Wikipedia

  • canton — cantonal, adj. cantonalism, n. /kan tn, ton, kan ton / for 1 7; /kan ton , tohn or/, esp. Brit., / toohn / for 8, n. 1. a small territorial district, esp. one of the states of the Swiss confederation. 2. (in a department of France) a division of… …   Universalium

  • Canton — /kan ton , kan ton/ for 1; /kan tn/ for 2 5, n. 1. Also called Kwangchow, Guangzhou, Kuangchou. Older Spelling. a seaport in and the capital of Guangdong province, in SE China, on the Zhu Jiang. 3,000,000. 2. a city in NE Ohio: location of the… …   Universalium

  • Canton of Geneva — Infobox Canton|short name=Geneva local names=Genève|coord= coord|46|12|N|6|7|E|region:CH GE type:adm1st|display=title flag img path=Flag of Canton of Geneva.svg coa img path= Coat of Arms of Geneva.svg locatormap img path=Swiss Canton Map GE.png… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”