Expanding Possibilities 407
facilitators. They even acted as mediators between the ofβicials and the
common people in the local community.^207
In Canton, the Hong merchants could trace their connection with the
Fujianese merchants back to at least around 1700, when the Amoy and
other Quan-Zhang merchants began to establish themselves in the city.
The South Fujianese merchants built a functional coastal network of
commerce in major seaports such as Canton, Amoy, Hangzhou, Dinghai
and others. By the early eighteenth century, they had also established
themselves as the most inβluential Hong merchants in Canton, whose
business activities spanned Canton, Macao and Amoy. Their successful
integration into the Canton mercantile community did not weaken their
Fujian identity. The βirst generation merchant migrants would eventually
opt to retire to their native town. In their business expansion, their double
identities as both Fujian and Canton men were extremely helpful in their
commercial undertakings.
By the mid-eighteenth century, the resident status of the Fujian
merchants in Canton had begun to evolve from that of sojourners to
settlers as more Fujianese merchants chose to settle in Canton and
become Canton men.^208 The decision made by the prominent Hong
merchant Phuankhequa (Pan Qiguan, 1714‒88), who was also the leading
merchant of the Thirteen Hong, is illustrative. Pan was born into a poor
family in the Tong’an district of South Fujian and at a young age took up
manual work as a boatman. He arrived in Guangdong when he was nearly
30 years of age and had thrice traveled to Luzon to trade. After these
ventures, he had been able to accumulate enough capital to commence
his own merchant βirm, the Tongwen Hong. Initially, he made annual
visits to his ancestral homeland, but later decided to take up permanent
residence in Canton in order to manage his expanding transactions with
the British East India Company. His eldest son, You Neng, was born in
Canton in 1742.^209 At that time, the Hong merchants most likely also
assumed the leadership positions at the Quan-Zhang Guild Hall (the
Quan-Zhang Hui Guan), a clear indication of their multiple identities.
They were Canton men, Quan-Zhang men, Fujian men and even more at
the same time when, for instance, their native-district identity was taken
into consideration. The multiple identities allowed them to move freely
- Ibid., pp. 88‒94.
- Weng Eang Cheong, The Hong Merchants of Canton: Chinese Merchants in Sino-
Western Trade (London: Curzon Press, 1997), pp. 26‒66. - Pan Gang’er, Huang Qichen and Chen Kuo-tung 潘刚兒、黃啟臣、陈国栋,
Guangdong shisan hang zhi yi: Pan Tongwen (fu) hang 广州十三行之一：潘同
文（孚）行 [The Pang Tongwen Hong, one of the Thirteen Hongs] (Guangzhou:
Huanan ligong daxue chubanshe, 2006), pp. 1‒3.