Page 328 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

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sionaries throughout his residence at Canton. The house's
involvement with missionaries, combined with its lack of invol­

vement with opium, earned it the name "Zion's Corner" from the

other American merchants. After Olyphant left Canton in 1837,

King continued his uncle's interest in mission work.

Other American merchants at Canton did not assist the

missionaries as did Olyphant. While he despatched ships along

the China coast for the distribution of religious tracts

(virtually the only merchant at Canton to do so), the other

American houses sent along the same coast their vessels laden

with opium. They did not offer space to missionaries. The

only evidence of other American merchants' support for mission

work was the inclusion of some of their names in the Chinese

Repository's reports on the annual meetings of the philanthropic
45
societies. To the missionaries, however, even the willingness

of American merchants to join these societies in the mid-1830's

must have seemed an asset. Earlier, in August 1831, Bridgman

noted in his journal: "We observed the monthly concert for

prayer this evening. Three persons only, besides Dr. Morrison

44
olyphant wrote petitions to the American Board of
Commissioners to request their sending missionaries to Canton.
He offered free passage and free lodging to any one missionary
the Board would designate. Olyphant was an extremely close
friend of Robert Morrison and even named his son after Morrison.
Robert Morrison Olyphant later became chief of Olyphant & Co. in the
1
1850 s.
45
The only Americans who appeared to attend meetings
of the societies or serve as officers in them were the tai­
pans or chiefs of the major American houses. These few men,
however, participated in all three societies.