7. Dwelling Factors: Western Merchants in Canton

Abstract

Canton (Guangzhou), China, witnessed the earliest and longest settlement of English speaking Westerners in China. Other Western merchant nationalities began appearing in Canton regularly in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, with the French East India Company and the British East India Company each sending a couple of ships a year between 1699 and 1714. This is when more permanent residences for Western merchants were established in Canton, on the banks of the Pearl River. Each of the Thirteen Factories had its own particular appellation, both in English and Chinese. The foreign factories were built overwhelmingly of local materials. During the first half of the nineteenth century, three types of bricks were commonly used in Canton. Although the factories have long since vanished, their images survive in great numbers painted in oil and gouache, or on the sides of fans and punch bowls. Keywords:Canton; East India Company; nineteenth century; Pearl River; thirteen factories; western merchants