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The Thirteen Factories: An Architecture of Sino-Western Collaboration and Confrontation

Johnathan Andrew Farris

in Enclave to Urbanity: Canton, Foreigners, and Architecture from the Late Eighteenth to the Early Twentieth Centuries

Chapter 1 covers the first of the three distinct phases of foreign habitation in Guangzhou, the Thirteen Factories, characterized by Westerners and Chinese employees living in close quarters in ... More

Chapter 1 covers the first of the three distinct phases of foreign habitation in Guangzhou, the Thirteen Factories, characterized by Westerners and Chinese employees living in close quarters in structures closely following adjacent buildings in a Chinese business district, which were part of the Cantonese vernacular tradition. By the late eighteenth century, these buildings had acquired Western façades using the vocabulary of Neoclassical architecture. While initially these buildings were occupied seasonally by the employees of various national joint stock “East India” companies, they would begin increasingly to be occupied by “resident” merchants whose working year became longer and longer in the nineteenth century.Less

The Shopping Streets in the Foreign Quarter1

Paul A. Van Dyke and Maria Kar-wing Mok

in Images of the Canton Factories 1760-1822: Reading History in Art

Chapter 9 is a bit different from all the other chapters. It is a discussion of the establishment of the shopping streets in the foreigner quarter. The Conclusion summarizes the main issues raised in ... More

Chapter 9 is a bit different from all the other chapters. It is a discussion of the establishment of the shopping streets in the foreigner quarter. The Conclusion summarizes the main issues raised in the book and discusses what the scenes of the factories can tell us about the history of Canton in general.Less

Westerners Draw Their Boundaries: Insular Living and Its Exceptions

Johnathan Andrew Farris

in Enclave to Urbanity: Canton, Foreigners, and Architecture from the Late Eighteenth to the Early Twentieth Centuries

Chapter 2 will cover the period encapsulated between circa 1860 and 1905. The victorious belligerents of the Arrow War, Britain and France, were granted substantial indemnity funds and the rights to ... More

Chapter 2 will cover the period encapsulated between circa 1860 and 1905. The victorious belligerents of the Arrow War, Britain and France, were granted substantial indemnity funds and the rights to construct a foreign concession in the form of an island in the river called Shamian, literally “sand-face,” after its origin as a sand bar. The Americans made an attempt to negotiate their own concession on the old factory site, but their use of this property was short-lived. The questions raised by this era revolve around an increasing isolation of the trading community from the Chinese populace, as well as the arrival of increasing numbers of missionaries whose job was, in contrast, to engage everyday CantoneseLess

New British Factories, Return of the Danes, and the Great Fire: 1815–1822

Paul A. Van Dyke and Maria Kar-wing Mok

in Images of the Canton Factories 1760-1822: Reading History in Art

Chapter 8 covers the years from 1815 to the fire of November 1822 when all of the factories burned down. This was the period when the British rebuilt their factories and when the Danes returned to ... More

Chapter 8 covers the years from 1815 to the fire of November 1822 when all of the factories burned down. This was the period when the British rebuilt their factories and when the Danes returned to Canton.Less

The Opening of Trade and the Debt Crisis: 1771–1781

Paul A. Van Dyke and Maria Kar-wing Mok

in Images of the Canton Factories 1760-1822: Reading History in Art

Chapter 2 then covers the period following the disbanding of the Co-hong and the opening of trade from 1771 to 1781. The resulting debt crisis that emerged in the late 1770s had an impact on the ... More

Chapter 2 then covers the period following the disbanding of the Co-hong and the opening of trade from 1771 to 1781. The resulting debt crisis that emerged in the late 1770s had an impact on the owners of the factories as well.Less

Vantage Points, Perspectives and Artistic Presentation

Paul A. Van Dyke and Maria Kar-wing Mok

in Images of the Canton Factories 1760-1822: Reading History in Art

Acknowledging the different vantage points used in paintings is important when interpreting factory scenes. A close examination of paintings from the 1760s to the 1820s reveals two commonly applied ... More

Acknowledging the different vantage points used in paintings is important when interpreting factory scenes. A close examination of paintings from the 1760s to the 1820s reveals two commonly applied vantage points.Less

American Entrepreneurs and the Brief Return of the French: 1800–1814

Paul A. Van Dyke and Maria Kar-wing Mok

in Images of the Canton Factories 1760-1822: Reading History in Art

Chapter 7 covers the years from 1800 to 1814. This was the period when American entrepreneurs began taking over parts of the factories and also when the French briefly returned to Canton.

Rise of the Private Traders: 1790–1799

Paul A. Van Dyke and Maria Kar-wing Mok

in Images of the Canton Factories 1760-1822: Reading History in Art

Chapter 6 introduces changes that took place in the 1790s—especially the large influx of private traders. Those individuals had a significant impact on the architecture and management of the ... More

Chapter 6 introduces changes that took place in the 1790s—especially the large influx of private traders. Those individuals had a significant impact on the architecture and management of the buildings.Less

Ups and Downs of Trade: 1782–1789

Paul A. Van Dyke and Maria Kar-wing Mok

in Images of the Canton Factories 1760-1822: Reading History in Art

Chapter 4 discusses the ups and downs of the trade in the 1780s. A downturn in the volume of trade might result in changes and alterations to the factories being postponed, which helps to explain why ... More

Chapter 4 discusses the ups and downs of the trade in the 1780s. A downturn in the volume of trade might result in changes and alterations to the factories being postponed, which helps to explain why the buildings remained the same in those years in paintings.Less

Dining, Shopping, Bombarding, and Touring: Foreigners in the Traditional City

Johnathan Andrew Farris

in Enclave to Urbanity: Canton, Foreigners, and Architecture from the Late Eighteenth to the Early Twentieth Centuries

Chapter 3, the relationship of foreigners to the Chinese city per se. Should nineteenth-century Westerners choose to wander outside the narrow confines of their residential enclaves, they would by ... More

Chapter 3, the relationship of foreigners to the Chinese city per se. Should nineteenth-century Westerners choose to wander outside the narrow confines of their residential enclaves, they would by and large have been confronted with an entirely Chinese, or more specifically largely Cantonese, and highly populated city to explore. Initially, the places they were allowed to frequent were very limited indeed, but with the treaties after the wars in the mid-nineteenth century, the gates of the Chinese city were essentially forced open. The removal of restrictions on foreign movements was one of several implicit motives for the Arrow War.Less

Problems with Porcelain

Paul A. Van Dyke and Maria Kar-wing Mok

in Images of the Canton Factories 1760-1822: Reading History in Art

The point of this discussion in chapter 3 is to provide answers as to why mistakes seem to appear more frequently on export porcelain factory scenes than on paintings. The painters were more ... More

The point of this discussion in chapter 3 is to provide answers as to why mistakes seem to appear more frequently on export porcelain factory scenes than on paintings. The painters were more attentive to details. The authors suggest that there were two types of craftsmen who worked with export factory scenes, and the craftsmen need to be treated separately.Less

Conclusion

Johnathan Andrew Farris

in Enclave to Urbanity: Canton, Foreigners, and Architecture from the Late Eighteenth to the Early Twentieth Centuries

In the present day, class, money, and privilege threaten to reinstate a separate existence that fails to serve the long-term best interests of the city’s Chinese and Western inhabitants. Tourists ... More

In the present day, class, money, and privilege threaten to reinstate a separate existence that fails to serve the long-term best interests of the city’s Chinese and Western inhabitants. Tourists sequestered on Shamian or businessmen dwelling in the extremely high-end new eastern suburbs may be in danger of once again becoming “insular dwellers.” Even transportation through city streets can make an enormous difference in perceptions and thus relations. Flashy private cars might be the equivalent of Victorian sedan chair riders. On the subway or on foot, the foreigner in Guangzhou is greeted with attention, generally of a bemused and friendly nature reminiscent of the Thirteen Factories era. Peaceful existence, enabled by knowledge from mutual interaction, seems predicated on a carefully articulated social and residential proximity and, at least to a degree, equality. While the nature of empires, East and West, has changed, the awareness of how habitation and cross-cultural relations relate remains important to establishing peace and prosperity at their intersections.Less

The Years of the Co-hong: 1760–1770

Paul A. Van Dyke and Maria Kar-wing Mok

in Images of the Canton Factories 1760-1822: Reading History in Art

Chapter 1 begins with a discussion of the Co-hong (1760-1770) and the changes that took place during those years. This was the period when things became more stable for trade, when foreigners began ... More

Chapter 1 begins with a discussion of the Co-hong (1760-1770) and the changes that took place during those years. This was the period when things became more stable for trade, when foreigners began investing in their buildings and when we start to see western architecture being introduced.Less

Xin Guangzhou: Architecture, Foreigners, and Modernity in the Early Twentieth Century

Johnathan Andrew Farris

in Enclave to Urbanity: Canton, Foreigners, and Architecture from the Late Eighteenth to the Early Twentieth Centuries

The final discussion, Chapter 4, examines the third phase of Western habitation, along with the emergence of a modern China and a “New Guangzhou” in the early twentieth century. The years immediately ... More

The final discussion, Chapter 4, examines the third phase of Western habitation, along with the emergence of a modern China and a “New Guangzhou” in the early twentieth century. The years immediately before and for several decades after the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty in 1911 are the focus here. Framing this era are the arrival of full-blown multinational corporations in the modern sense, and the arrival of foreign and foreign-influenced philanthropic educational and social institutions. Guangzhou’s status as the backyard of Sun Yat-sen influenced the city’s initiatives to modernize in terms not only of city fabric and utilities but also in terms of form and outlook. Leading the city’s modernization initiatives were a number of Western-educated Chinese.Less