Page 59 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

CHAPTER II

THE "CANTON SYSTEM"

Embarking for China was a momentous day in the life

of an American merchant, an occasion second in importance only

to the day of his arrival back home. His family and friends

accompanied the departing merchant down to the wharf and

aboard ship. "As the ship cast off, the neighbouring wharves

were crowded with lookers-on, national and private flags were

run up the mast heads of sea-going craft lying near. 11 The
crowds cheered the vessel as it slowly glided away. Relatives

and friends remained on board until the last moment, until the

vessel was about to clear the harbor. Then the merchant was
1
on his way to the Celestial Empire.

For the merchant the pain of separation was acute, due

not only to the distance between China and the United States

but also to the length of residence at Canton. A typical stay

at Canton for an American merchant in the pre-treaty China

trade was a term of seven years. The distance between China and

the United States made visits extremely impractical. Even by

1844, when the famous clipper ships entered the China trade,

a voyage to Caonton required more than three months under

1 1
william C. Hunter, The 'Fan Kwae at Canton before
Treaty days, 1825-1844 (London, 1882), p. 1.

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