Wu Bingjian (; 17694 September 1843), trading as "Houqua" and better known in the West as "Howqua", was a hong merchant in the

Thirteen Factories The Thirteen Factories, also known as the , was a neighbourhood along the Pearl River in southwestern Guangzhou (Canton) in the Qing Empire from to 1856 around modern day Xiguan, in Guangzhou's Liwan District. These warehouses and stores were ...

, head of the '' E-wo hong'' and leader of the Canton

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 1 ...

. He was once the richest man in the world.

Biography

A Hokkien by his paternal ancestry with ancestry from

Quanzhou Quanzhou, alternatively known as Chinchew, is a prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China. It is Fujian's largest metropolitan region, with an area of and a popul ...

, Wu was known to the West as ''Howqua'', as was his father, Wu Guorong, the founder of the family business or '' hong''. The name "Howqua" is a romanization, in his native

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...

language, of the business name under which he traded, "浩官" (). He became rich on the trade between China and the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

in the middle of the 19th century during the

First Opium War The First Opium War (), also known as the Opium War or the Anglo-Sino War was a series of military engagements fought between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of the ...

. Perhaps the wealthiest man in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

during the nineteenth century, Howqua was the senior of the hong merchants in Canton, one of the few authorized to trade silk and porcelain with foreigners. In an 1822 fire which burned down many 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 1 ...

s, the silver that melted allegedly formed a little stream almost two miles in length. Of the three million dollars that the Qing government was required to pay the British as stipulated in the

Treaty of Nanking The Treaty of Nanjing was the peace treaty which ended the First Opium War (1839–1842) between Great Britain and the Qing dynasty of China on 29 August 1842. It was the first of what the Chinese later termed the Unequal Treaties. In the ...

, Howqua single-handedly contributed one million. He died the same year 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 ...

. The founders of then world-renowned firms including

James Matheson Sir James Nicolas Sutherland Matheson, 1st Baronet, FRS (17 November 179631 December 1878), was a Scottish Tai-Pan. Born in Shiness, Lairg, Sutherland, Scotland, he was the son of Captain Donald Matheson. He attended Edinburgh's Royal High Sch ...

, William Jardine,

Samuel Russell Samuel Russell (August 25, 1789 – May 5, 1862), was an American entrepreneur and trader, and founder of Russell & Company, the largest and most important American trading house in China from 1842 to its closing in 1891. Early life Russel ...

and

Abiel Abbot Low Abiel Abbot Low (February 7, 1811 – January 7, 1893) was an American entrepreneur, businessman, trader and philanthropist who gained most of his fortune from the China trade, importing teas, porcelains, and silk, and building and operating a ...

all had a close relationship with Howqua. Portraits of the pigtailed Howqua in his robes still hang in Salem and

Newport mansions The Preservation Society of Newport County is a private, non-profit organization based in Newport, Rhode Island. It is Rhode Island's largest and most-visited cultural organization. The organization protects the architectural heritage of Newpor ...

built by American merchants grateful for his assistance.

Legacy

Following the 1842

, which spelled the end of the Thirteen Factories, Jardine Matheson & Co continued to use "Ewo" as their Chinese name. p.12
Online version at Google books
/ref> A settlement on the east bank of

Lake Eildon The Eildon Dam or Eildon Weir, a rock and earth-fill embankment dam with a controlled spillway across the Goulburn River, is located between the regional towns of and within Lake Eildon National Park, in the Alpine region of Victoria, Aust ...

, from

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market to ...

, in

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in ...

, is named after him, possibly by Chinese miners who passed through the area during the

Victorian gold rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony, and an influx of population growth and financial capit ...

References

External links

''In Chinese'' – Howqua's Bio on NetEase

''In Chinese'' – Howqua's Bio on Hudong

In English – The story of the merchant
(site maintained by tea importer) {{Authority control 1769 births 1843 deaths History of Hong Kong History of foreign trade in China Businesspeople from Fujian People from Quanzhou Hokkien people Billionaires from Guangdong 18th-century Chinese businesspeople 19th-century Chinese businesspeople

Biography

Legacy

See also

References

Further reading

External links