Hoppo

Hoppo or Administrator of the Canton Customs ( zh, t=粵海關部, s=粤海关部, p=Yuèhǎi Guānbù), was the Qing dynasty official at Guangzhou (Canton) given responsibility by the emperor for controlling shipping, collecting tariffs, and maintaining order among traders in and around the Pearl River Delta from 1685 to 1904.

Initially, the Hoppo was always a Manchu and a bondservant of the imperial family, appointed personally by the emperor, not a scholar-official chosen through the exams, but after the mid-18th century this expectation was relaxed. Since he depended on the good will of emperor and the Imperial Household Department, the Hoppo could be trusted to send revenues directly to the court rather than through the normal bureaucratic channels. In the mid-18th century the Qianlong emperor approved the Canton system, which restricted the burgeoning overseas trade with Europeans to Canton and granted a monopoly on that trade to Chinese merchants, who formed the Thirteen Hongs. European governments likewise granted monopolies to their trading companies, such as the British East India Company. Regulating the lucrative trade between the monopolies on either side gave the Hoppo great leeway in setting and collecting tariffs and fees, which were substantial, and the additional surcharges, bribes, and customary fees enabled him to send even more substantial sums to Beijing.

As the opium traffic grew in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the Hoppo was caught between conflicting demands. On the one hand, the British Parliament ended the East India Company's monopoly in 1834 and traders now demanded free trade and low, fixed tariffs; on the other hand, the Manchu court expected the Hoppo to control the foreign traders, stop Chinese smuggling, eliminate the opium trade, but continue to supply substantial revenue. Foreign objections to monopoly and his irregular impositions were among the causes of the Opium War (1839-1842). The Treaty of Nanking (1842) ended the Canton System but the office of Hoppo was not abolished until 1904 as part of the reforms at the end of the dynasty.

The word "Hoppo" is Chinese Pidgin English. Some have speculated that it derived from Hu Bu (" Board of Revenue", zh, t=戶部, s=户部). But the Hoppo had no connection to the Board, leaving the origin of the word uncertain.

The early history and functions of the office, 1685–1759

The position of Administrator of the Canton Customs (Hoppo) was established in 1685, when the Manchus had largely conquered the south. In the early years of the dynasty they feared that rebels and remnants of the Ming dynasty would attack from the sea, but now it felt safe to end restrictions on sea trade and allow ports along the southern coast to re-open. There were Hoppos at other ports, including Macao and Fujian. Initially, the emperor appointed Manchu bond-servants to the office, who would be dependent on the imperial clan and could be trusted to serve their interests. The opportunity to gather revenue was not limited to the regular tax quota set in the official regulations, a figure determined by the number of foreign ships that came to Canton, but included the unofficial quota and further extractions, each of which was roughly equal to the regular quota. The regular quota was sent to the provincial treasury, but the extra tax quota and exactions were sent directly to the Imperial Household Department, which was controlled by the imperial clan.

Hoppos met resistance from all sides. On the Chinese side were powerful merchants, the Thirteen Hongs, who, in many cases, had been in the import and export business for generations and could outlast any individual Hoppo, who depended on them for cash and local knowledge; on the European side, the British East India Company (E.I.C.), the Dutch East India Company (V.O.C.), and the Swedish East India Company, who had government covenents that guaranteed them monopolies, wanted the Hoppo to set low, predictable, and quickly settled charges. The emperor divided coastal trade coast into three types: internal trade, including trade with other ports up and down the coast; trade with Southeast Asia; and trade with European powers. In order to keep the office from accumulating too much power, the emperor allowed the Hoppo to touch only the European trade, although this type of trade turned out to be the most lucrative and, in the mid-18th century, fastest growing. The Viceroy of Guangdong and Guangxi, who had power over two provinces, might remain in office for a decade and was Han Chinese, tried to undermine the Hoppo's power and collect the lucrative fees for themselves.
The place of the Hoppo in the bureaucratic structure changed several times in a series of attempts to strike a balance between the Hoppo and the governor. At a certain point, one official served as both Viceroy and Hoppo; then there were two Hoppos; then the office virtually disappeared and the duties were carried out by provincial officials; and finally, in the 1750s, the Viceroy was appointed as Hoppo even though there was a Hoppo in office. In 1761, the court once again made the Hoppo an independent post, though with less power, and no longer was it only for ethnic Manchus.

Under the Canton System, 1759–1842

The Hoppo became central to China's trade relations with Europe after 1756, when the Canton system limited European trade to Canton and granted a monopoly in doing business with foreigners to a restricted group of Chinese merchants, who were organized into " Hongs," or "trading houses." Controlling relations between these two monopolies made the Hoppo's position lucrative but not comfortable. He had to pay off influential officials in order to be considered for appointment, pay them again once he was in office, and pay them once more at the end of his term if he expected to move on to another attractive position. He had only three years in office to recoup the money he had spent to gain it. The Hoppo sent an estimated million or so taels