Page:Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China.djvu/790

 

ANTON, the cradle and still the chief seat of British trade in China, is a city of absorbing interest whether it be regarded historically or commercially, for its origin is obscured in the mists of antiquity and its exports and imports exceed in value those of any other port in the empire, with the exception of Shanghai.

According to Chinese chronologists, the city was founded before the commencement of the Christian era. However this may be, the term Kwong Chow, by which the surrounding district is still known, is met with three centuries after Christ. Canton first acquired its celebrity as a mart for foreign trade in the eighth and ninth centuries, and in the tenth century Arab navigators were making regular voyages between this port and the western ports of Asia. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to find their way thither, arriving in 1516. They were followed about one hundred years later by the Dutch, who, in turn, were succeeded by the British.

It was in July, 1655, that Captain Weddell, commander of the London, having first bombarded the Bogue forts that commanded the entrance to the Canton River, was granted by the Viceroy full participation in the Canton trade. For some years after this the agents of the East India Company conducted operations with the city from the Portuguese colony of Macao. In 1684 they established their famous factory at Canton, and laid the foundations of a very profitable trade, which, in spite of many irritating restrictions and exactions, was continued for a century and a half. The Company's charter expired in 1834, and with it their monopoly ceased. Five years later, Great Britain, irritated beyond endurance by a long succession of annoyances and insults, was driven to declare war against China, and Canton was menaced with capture in 1841. Then was concluded the Treaty of Chuenpi, under which Hongkong was ceded to the British, and Canton was opened freely to trade. The dispute between the Chinese and foreigners, however, did not cease until 1857, when Canton was taken by the British and the French. The city was occupied by the Allied Forces for about four years, and since the withdrawal of the garrison foreigners of all nationalities have been free to come and go without let or hindrance.

Upon returning to Canton after the capture of the city, the foreign merchants found that the factory and other buildings which they had occupied along the side of the river were in ruins. Temporary recourse was therefore had to the warehouses on the opposite bank of the river. Eventually it was decided to convert an extensive mud flat known as the Shameen into a permanent settlement for the British by filling it in and enclosing it with a massive granite embankment. An artificial island, separated from the mainland by a canal of 100 feet in width, was thus formed. An irregular oval in shape, it measures 2,850 feet in length, and 950 feet in breadth at its widest part. Towards the cost of making this settlement—325,000 Mexican dollars—the British Government contributed four-fifths, and the French Government one-fifth. The British Concession consists of 45 acres, and the French Concession of 11 acres.

Such, briefly, is the record of Canton's past relations with the outside world. The old exclusiveness of the Chinese has gradually given way to a more enlightened policy, and with the opening of other ports in the empire to foreign trade the relative importance of Canton has diminished. The gross value of the trade of the port coming under