408 Boundaries and Beyond
between the Canton community and the broader regional commercial
networks along the coast.
The Fujianese merchants had also been active in Shanghai prior to the
eighteenth century and they had founded the Quan-Zhang Guild Hall there
in the late Ming period. The native-place-based association functioned
as an umbrella organization that strengthened the cohesiveness among
the merchants from the different districts of the two prefectures. The
organization broadened its membership by combining the strength
of two subregions and drawing together the sea merchants from the
districts of Longxi, Tong’an and Haicheng. A public burial ground was
established for deceased fellow residents from the districts of Quan-
Zhang prefectures.^210 Those hailing from Guangdong were mainly
Chaozhou and Canton people. The former founded the Chaozhou Guild
Hall in 1759. After the Opium War, the presence of the compradors from
the district of Xiangshan in the neighborhood of Canton became a very
conspicuous feature of Shanghai and hence enhanced the position of the
Canton merchants.^211 As has been noted earlier, the Canton natives did
not actively involve themselves in maritime trade. Therefore, the “Canton
men” were mostly of Fujian or Chaozhou origins.
Whenever deemed necessary, merchants would cast their net wider to
form a united association by breaking down the geographical boundaries
even farther. One such example was the Min-Yue Guild Hall in Tianjin.^212
It was an alliance of the merchants from Quan-Zhang and Chaozhou,
crossing the provincial lines. With enhanced strength and inβluence, the
united guild hall enjoyed a stronger voice and greater mediating power
in the local community. The sojourners and settlers took the βlexibility in
organization for granted since they were accustomed to forming alliances
in their native villages as a survival strategy. The Min-Yue Guild Hall was
founded during the prosperous Qianlong reign, at which time there was
an upsurge in coastal trade. The guild hall leadership rotated between the
three merchant groups. As was the common practice in Chinese migrant
communities at home or abroad, the guild hall owned a common burial
ground, known as the “Min-Yue Shanzhuang” (literally, the Mountain Villa
of the Min-Yue People) for their compatriots from the two provinces.^213
The Min-Yue merchants were active members in the local community.
- Gao Hongxia, Shanghai Fujian ren yanjiu, p. 187.
- Liu Zhenggang, Guangdong huiguan lun gao, p. 77.
- The Min-Yue Guild Hall in Tianjin was founded in 1739 by the sugar merchants
from Amoy and Chaozhou. See Murakami Ei, “Binetsu engaimin no katsudō to
shintyō”, p. 261fn110, citing Chong xiu Tianjin fuzhi 重修天津府志 [Revised
Edition of the Gazetteer of Tianjin Prefecture], juan 24 (1899, 1900). - Pang Yujie, Kaibu tongshang yu jindai Tianjin shangren, p. 45.
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