The French Hong: The Physical Plant

Chapter 5 focuses on the buildings that provided the French with living, work, and warehouse space in Canton; over the years, they rented at least seven different ones, and occasionally more than one at a time. They most often referred to these structures, which were a familiar form of Cantonese vernacular architecture, as hangs or hams (hongs), and only rarely as factoreries (factories). Their 1767 renovations to the façade of the hong that they rented from the merchant Tinqua were widely emulated by other trading nations on the Canton riverfront; less impressively, control of the same hong was twice a cause of major friction among French traders, the second time with long-lasting consequences. Besides identifying the various French hongs and locations, building structure, layout, furnishings, and residents, the chapter also explores the significance of the hong, to both the Chinese and the international community, as the symbol of a nation’s success in the Canton Trade. As the outward expression of a nation’s presence in Canton, the hong served as the public face of that nation, and thus came to assume an importance that far exceeded any merely physical function.