Lesson Two

Rise & Fall of the Canton Trade System – Lesson 02

A Tale of Two Cities: The China Trade in Canton & Hong Kong

Introduction
From the 18th through the mid-19th centuries, Western trade with China was controlled by the Chinese government through the city of Canton. When it lost the First Opium War in 1842, China also lost its tight control on trade with the West. It was forced to open up “treaty ports” and give outright territorial concessions that provided Western traders with more freedom in China and the power to control terms of trade. One post-Opium War concession gave Great Britain possession of Hong Kong; Britain would control Hong Kong until 1999. Under British control, Hong Kong quickly overtook Canton as the major center for Western trade with China.

Both Canton and Hong Kong played critical roles in the development of early trade and diplomatic relations between China and the nations of the West. These cities were not only geographic centers of trade but, more broadly, points of contact where intensified contact and transmission of information and culture took place; knowledge of each country developed through the conduit provided by these locales. By examining the roles of these two cities, students can learn important lessons in cultural geography as well as history.

In this lesson students examine written and visual information about the Pearl River ports of Canton and Hong Kong, and consider the development of cross-cultural knowledge and international relations between Western nations and China in the 18th and 19th centuries. Students create geographic profiles of the two cities as case studies of points of cultural contact and exchange. Teachers may end the lesson at this point, or continue with an essay assignment: discussing how changes in Chinese-Western interaction from Canton to Hong Kong set the tone for 100 years of international relations to follow.

Objectives
At the conclusion of this activity, students will be better able to:

Read and analyze visual texts.

Organize and synthesize information.

Compare and contrast information in varied primary source materials.

Discuss changes in economic and power relationships between China and its Western trading partners, from the beginning of the Canton trade system in the late-18th century through the introduction of the free trade system after the First Opium War.

Develop and/or refine the skills necessary to succeed in answering essay questions. (optional culminating activity).

Time Required
2-3 class periods.

Materials and preparation
This lesson uses the “Five Themes of Geography” as a guide for student analysis and development of city profiles. If students are not familiar with these themes, teachers may want to introduce the themes and provide general examples that will make the themes concrete for students. Click here for an overview of the themes.

Handout 02-A for all students

Lesson 02 mini-database, “Canton and Hong Kong,” (.pdf, 2.4 Mb) for all students or groups.

Student access (individually or in small groups) to the following essay chapters within Rise & Fall of the Canton Trade System:

Rise & Fall of the Canton Trade System I, China in the World, chapter 1

Rise & Fall of the Canton Trade System III: Canton & Hong Kong, chapter 1.

Computers for student use in constructing PowerPoint presentations.

Procedure
1. Prior to beginning this lesson, assign students to read “Trade with the West,” chapter 1 of the Rise & Fall of the Canton Trade System I essay, as homework.

2. In class, review information from the chapter with students to create a starting point for the lesson. Explain to students that trade through Canton flourished from the late-18th century until the 1840s, when, due to defeat in the First Opium War, China was forced to open other ports to trade and to cede Hong Kong to British control. Explain to students that, because Canton developed under Chinese control and Hong Kong developed under British control, the cities took on different personalities and norms. Students will consider the different characters of these cities through a research project in which they compile profiles of the two cities and create PowerPoint presentations to present their comparisons.

Ask students to consider what differences they might expect to find between Canton, where trade was regulated by the Chinese, and Hong Kong, where the British government was in control. Record responses and ask students to consider these hypotheses as they conduct the activity.

3. Divide the class into two groups and assign one group to research Canton while the other researches Hong Kong. According to teacher preference, students may work with partners or independently as they conduct their research. Distribute Handout 02-A to guide student research, and review the handout with the class. Students will need access to Rise & Fall of the Canton Trade System I and III. Advise students that they must consult both images and written text within these essays. The Lesson 02 mini-database compiles artwork depicting the two cities. Allow one class period and homework for students to complete fact finding.

When students have finished their research and data collection, they should each have a city profile consisting of three statements about their city for each research category: location, place, and movement. For each statement, they also should have selected one related visual.

4. Next, create student pairs or quads including students who researched Canton and students who researched Hong Kong. Instruct students to share their findings through discussion and to then work together in their teams to create a PowerPoint presentation that compares and contrasts Canton and Hong Kong. Students are to use their research findings, summary statements, and illustrations from their city profiles.

5. Provide time for some teams to share their presentations and provide adequate time for classroom discussion of student findings about Canton and Hong Kong. Through class discussion, determine ways in which the cities developed differently and why this might have been so. Ask students to identify a key difference in the way that the two cities developed—namely, that Canton was under Chinese government control and Hong Kong was under the British government. Questions to target essential understandings about the two cities might include the following:

How were foreigners restricted in the city of Canton and why? How did these restrictions affect the ways in which the foreigners lived in Canton? How did restrictions affect what foreigners learned about China and the Chinese? How did these restrictions affect interaction between Chinese and foreigners?

What did the relationship between foreigners and Chinese seem to be in Canton? How did foreigners feel about China and the Chinese with whom they worked?

How did British control make a difference in the lives of foreigners and Chinese in Hong Kong compared to Canton? Who had greater freedom and whose lives were restricted in Hong Kong? What was life like for the British living and working in Hong Kong?

What did the relationship between foreigners and Chinese seem to be in Hong Kong? How did foreigners feel about China and the Chinese with whom they worked?

Did you notice any differences in attitudes towards the Chinese on the part of Westerners, mainly British, living in Hong Kong compared to the attitudes that characterized interactions in Canton? Were Western attitudes more or less favorable? Why might this be the case? How might China’s defeat in the Opium War have affected attitudes? How might British control of Hong Kong have affected attitudes? How might the trend in Western attitudes have influenced the future of Western-Chinese relations?

6. Optional: as a culminating activity, students may be asked to apply their knowledge through an essay activity. Distribute the following essay question.

Historian Peter Perdue writes, “Hong Kong became not merely a symbol of the new era of ‘free trade,’ but arch-symbol of the new era of China’s loss of autonomy.” Based on your comparison of the development of Canton and Hong Kong and Western-Chinese relations in these cities during the first 100 years of the China trade, construct an essay in which you support or refute this statement.

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