RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 25 Item Table 5 Xu Run's Investment in Modern Enterprises Company Amount (T) % Place China Merchants' Steam Navigation Co 480,000 33.44 Shanghai Yun Wo Insurance Co. 100,000 Shanghai Chi Wo Insurance Co. 50,000 10 45 Shanghai Kaiping Coal Mines 150,000 Tianjin Guichi Coal Mines 100,000 Anhui Sanshan Silver Mines 60,000 Rehe Pingchuan Copper Mines 60,000 Jinzhou Mines 50,000 Other Mines 10,000 29 96 Shanghai Cotton Mill 50,000 Shanghai Shang Jinglun Cotton Mill 170,000 Shanghai Craseman & Hagen's Filanda (Yantai Saosi Ju) 10,200 Yantai Paper Manufactury 20,000 Shanghai Chinese Glass Works Co. 30,000 Shanghai Shanghai Dairy Farm Co. 30,000 Shanghai Hong Kong Liyuan Sugar Refinery 30,000 Hong Kong Tianyi Land Reclamation Co 5,000 Jinzhou Taggu Cultivation Co. 30,000 2.44 Tianjin Zhongshan Tongyi Ranyuan Cultivation Co 1,000($) Guangdong Total 1,435,200 99.99 (+$1,000)* * Mexican dollars have not been added in the total or calculated in the percentage Source: Xu Run, Qing Xu Yuzhi Xiansheng Run Zixu Nianpu. but educated in Hong Kong. He first came to Shanghai as an interpreter in the Chinese Maritime Customs in 1859. It is believed that he was introduced by an officer named Horatio Nelson Lay whom Tang had met in Hong Kong. Tang was recruited as a comprador by the Jardine, Matheson & Co. in 1863 but he left in 1872. During the decade of his compradorial career, he invested, planned, organized and assisted in the sale of stocks of a number of enterprises. These enterprises were called modern because they had adopted a new form of ownership, organization and management. Moreover, some of them such as steam navigation and insurance companies were the first to take place in China. Unlike Xu Page 45 Page 46 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 26 Run, it is difficult to assess Tang's personal wealth accumulated during his compradorial years due to the absence of sources. However, it is not impossible to have an idea of his business activities through his connections with other Cantonese merchants and compradors. Tang Tingshu left Jardines in 1873 when he was appointed General Manager (Zongban) of the recently organised China Merchants' Steam Navigation Co. The reason why he was appointed to the post was first his political patronage from Li Hongzhang; and second, his experience in organising steamship business. Tang put capital in Jardine's associate companies such as the Canton Insurance Office in 1868 and China Coast Steam Navigation Co. in which he had 40% of shares at 40,000 taels. Tang was mostly interested in this modern steamship business; he invested in and became one of the directors of the Union Steam Navigation Co. and also North China Steamer Co. established in 1867 and 1868 respectively. In 1870, Tang with his friends, purchased the steamer Nanzing and sold it to Jardines in which he had a personal investment of not more than fifteen thousand taels. At that time, Tang also put his capital into the steamer Suwonada of Augustine Heard & Co. and ships of two small steamship companies, Morris Lewis & Co. and H. Muller & Co. Although no evidence shows why the foreign owners of these companies invited Tang to join in partnership other than the motive of raising capital, it is certain that Tang was not inexperienced, for he was, as expressed by Liu Kwang-ching, "in some cases actually performing full managerial functions" in the modern steamship enterprises. More interesting is that Tang brought with him Cantonese capital as well as managerial staff to the China Merchants' Steam Navigation Co. Tang and Xu had entered with many management officers. Starting from Shanghai, these Cantonese spread to other treaty-ports such as Tianjin or Hankou. Tang frequently joined with Xu Run and another Cantonese comprador at Shanghai, Zheng Guanying, in coordinating business investment. For example, with Xu Run, he invested in Anhui Guichi mines in 1877; Pingchuan Copper Mines in 1887 and Qian'an Iron Works in 1888. With Zheng Guanying, he invested sixty-five thousand taels in Tianjin Tanggu Cultivation Co. in 1881, and ten years later, they planned to build a paper manufactory. Tang and Zheng united to open two wharf companies, one at Foshan in 1882 and one at Canton in 1890. And last but not least, Tang and Xu as well as Xu's uncle, contributed a thousand taels each in founding, in 1872, the first Cantonese Chamber of Commerce in ================================================================================