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the City, it had long been associated with the Old China Trade.
It was one of the places approved for recreational visits by the foreign merchants in the Factories, under long-standing regulations imposed by the Chinese authorities which had otherwise confined them to their own residences save on certain days of the month and to certain places
20
R
These locations included the famous Honam Temple, the Sea Banner Monastery, which dated from around 1600 and was one of the most celebrated temples of Canton. There was also a suburb named Fa Tei (Flower Ground), where several of the Co-hong merchants had homes and extensive gardens.21
The people in contact with foreigners
These comprised a wide range, from Manchu and Chinese high officials and their entourages, to the Canton-domiciled merchants of the Co-hong through whom the foreign merchants had to transact their business, and the many minor functionaries and underlings of civil office who were mostly locals, as well as the boat people, a race apart, who supplied essential transportation services and pilots. Most of the naval and military forces also comprised natives of the province.
I shall first say something in general about the Cantonese, and then the boat people, who, between them, constituted the great majority of the persons with whom the foreigners came into contact, in the course of time spent in Canton and the Delta.
The Cantonese
The Cantonese were the principal inhabitants of Canton and indeed the province. They are to be distinguished from the Hakka and other long-established residents. They style themselves "men of Tang," as opposed to "men of Han" on account of their having come into the South during that dynasty.22
This self-identification brings out the differences between the local inhabitants of north and south China, reminding us, also, of the well-known antipathies between the two groups and of the disparaging
34
the City, it had long been associated with the Old China Trade.
It was one of the places approved for recreational visits by the foreign merchants in the Factories, under long standing regulations imposed by the Chinese authorities which had otherwise confined them to their own residences save on certain days of the month and to certain places 20
R
These locations included the famous Honam Temple, the Sea Banner Monastery, which dated from around 1600 and was one of the most celebrated temples of Canton. There was also a suburb named Fa Tei (Flower Ground), where several of the Co-hong merchants had homes and extensive gardens.21
The people in contact with foreigners
These comprised a wide range, from Manchu and Chinese high officials and their entourages, to the Canton-domiciled merchants of the Co-hong through whom the foreign merchants had to transact their business, and the many minor functionaries and underlings of civil office who were mostly locals, as well as the boat people, a race apart, who supplied essential transportation services and pilots. Most of the naval and military forces also comprised natives of the province.
I shall first say something in general about the Cantonese, and then the boat people, who, between them, constituted the great majority of the persons with whom the foreigners came into contact, in the course of time spent in Canton and the Delta.
The Cantonese
The Cantonese were the principal inhabitants of Canton and indeed the province. They are to be distinguished from the Hakka and other long-established residents. They style themselves "men of Tang," as opposed to "men of Han" on account of their having come into the South during that dynasty."
22
This self-identification brings out the differences between the local inhabitants of north and south China, reminding us, also, of the well- known antipathies between the two groups and of the disparaging
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