Page 115 - Chinese SIlver By Adrien Von Ferscht

The Complex Hierarchy of The China Trade Relative to the
Chinese Export Silver Trade

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Chinese Export Silver was very much a product of the China Trade, but the period
between 1757-1842 now known as the Early China Trade, previously labelled the ‘Old
China Trade’ in early history books. Despite frenetic attempts by the Emperor to restrict
European, American and Indian merchants trading in Macau, it began to spread
throughout China. The Canton System was devised to control trade with the West within
China. As with all things Chinese, there was a structure and a hierarchy, with the Emperor
at the top of the pyramid. Equally Chinese, if a system was devised and imposed to curb
any activity that was essentially money-making in intent, Chinese merchants would seek
ways to circumvent it. Foreign merchants were eager to collude.

The Canton System had at its very foundation the Hong merchants; no foreign traders
could operate independently and were obliged to conduct any trade solely with the
Cohong, the collective name for the guild of Hongs. Any trade, whether it be import or
export, that was conducted via the Hong had a tax imposed upon it by the Hoppo [Imperial

Hong merchants being entertained by a Mandarin in Canton