The ''Ewo Hong'' () was a
Qing dynasty ''
hong Hong may refer to:
Places
*Høng, a town in Denmark
*Hong Kong, a city and a special administrative region in China
*Hong, Nigeria
*Hong River in China and Vietnam
*Lake Hong in China
Surnames
*Hong (Chinese name)
*Hong (Korean name)
Organiz ...
'' established by ''Wǔ Guóyíng'' () in
Canton
Canton may refer to:
Administrative division terminology
* Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland
* Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French
Arts and ente ...
(Guangzhou) in 1783 and later became the leader of the
cohong
The ''Cohong'', sometimes spelled or , a guild of Chinese merchants or ''hongs'', operated the import-export monopoly in Canton (present-day Guangzhou) during the Qing dynasty (16441911). During the century prior to the First Opium War of 18 ...
of the
Thirteen Factories under the stewardship of
Howqua
Wu Bingjian (; 17694 September 1843), trading as "Houqua" and better known in the West as "Howqua", was a hong merchant in the Thirteen Factories, head of the '' E-wo hong'' and leader of the Canton Cohong. He was once the richest man in the wor ...
, who took over in 1803. Ewo later became one of the most successful ''hongs'' and the largest creditor of the
East India Company, whilst Howqua's personal monetary worth reached more than 26 million
Mexican dollars. As a result of the ''Ewo hong's'' upright and honest reputation,
Jardine, Matheson & Co. later adopted "Ewo" as the Chinese name for their firm.
[ p.12]
Online version at Google books
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References
{{China-hist-stub
History of Guangdong
Companies established in 1783