Thirteen Factories
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Thirteen Factories or Thirteen Hong (十三行) is an area of Canton City, China where the first foreign trade was allowed in the 18th century. The name derives from the foreign agents, known as factors, who maintained offices or factories.
In 1684, the Emperor Kangxi of the Qing allowed foreigners to trade with China in four cities, including Canton. In 1686, Westerners were allowed to live and trade in the area of Thirteen Factories in the city of Canton, at the head of the Pearl River. In 1757, the Emperor Qianlong limited Westerners to the port of Canton, and no other area.
The Western factors were allowed to occupy two- or three-story buildings, set back one hundred yards from the river, what came to be known as the Thirteen Factories area. Warehouses occupied the first floors and elegant apartments were on the second and third floors of the buildings. 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.
In 1835, medical missionary Peter Parker, M.D. opened an Ophthalmic Hospital at 3 Hog Lane. Lam Qua, a Western-trained Chinese painter who also had workshops in the Thirteen Factories area, was commissioned by Parker to paint pre-operative portraits of patients who had large tumors or other major deformities.
The Thirteen Factories gradually lost importance after the First Opium War, a conflict after China banned the import of British opium. The Qing court was defeated by Great Britain and forced to open five ports to foreigners and to cede Hong Kong to Great Britain. The Thirteen Factories was no longer the sole place for foreigners to trade and live in China.
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[edit] References
- Fan, F. British Naturalists in Qing China Harvard University Press (2004) ISBN 0-674-01143-0
- Key JD, Callahan JA, Walters W. Hog Lane surgery (Ophthalmic Hospital, Canton, China)[1] Minn Med. (May, 1986)
