Page 227 - The colours of each piece: production and consumption of Chinese enamelled porcelain, c.1728-c.1780

CHAPTER 6 A New Context of Porcelain Trade 1760-1770

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the shape of the dishes did not meet their requirements. Such a rejection could be

handled well by Hong merchants, as they could put these pieces in stock and wait for

the next season or sell them to other companies. However, for an outside merchant

who did not necessarily have a warehouse, such a rejection could spell disaster.

However, when Canton became the single port, it would be less risky to open a shop

and establish a partnership with Hong merchants.

For East India Companies, the confinement of Canton brought difficulty to trade

in China, as they wanted more ports to be open. However, it was beneficial to local

dealers. It was from this point that trade at Canton could be predictable. Because

Canton became the single port, local merchants would have some basic ideas on the

number of ships arriving at Canton each season. Thus, in terms of the investment in

trade, the risk was reduced.

6.4. The Establishment of Co-Hong in 1760

The confinement of Canton brought certain advantages for local merchants and also

increasing competition among sellers. In order to keep the monopoly of the trade, the

Hong merchants of Canton formed themselves into the Co-Hong (Gonghang,公行) in

1760 to regulate the trade of their respective members and to consolidate their

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monopoly. They simply acted as a unified body, which set prices and maintained

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collective discipline in dealing between its members and Western traders. It is

34 Jörg, Porcelain and the Dutch Trade, p.114.
35 Co-Hong was first established in 1720 and was soon dissolved in 1721.
36 Liu Yong, The Dutch East India Company's Tea Trade with China: 1757 – 1781 (Leiden: Brill,
2007), p.98.
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