Kaori Abe - Chinese Middlemen in Hong Kong’s Colonial Economy, 1830–1890

First published 2018
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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2018 Kaori Abe

The right of Kaori Abe to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Abe, Kaori, author.
Title: Chinese middlemen in Hong Kongs colonial economy, 18301890 /
Kaori Abe.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2018. |
Series: Routledge studies in the modern history of Asia ; 127 |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017014673| ISBN 9781138684409 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781315543949 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: CompradorsChinaHong KongHistory
19th century. | Hong Kong (China)CommerceHistory19th century. |
Hong Kong (China)Economic conditions19th century. | Hong Kong
(China)History19th century.
Classification: LCC HF3852 .A24 2018 | DDC 381dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017014673

ISBN: 978-1-138-68440-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-54394-9 (ebk)

Typeset in Times New Roman
by Florence Production Ltd, Stoodleigh, Devon, UK

This monograph is based on my PhD research on the history of Hong Kong, which was supported by many people in various organisations. First and foremost, my deepest thanks goes to my PhD supervisor, Robert Bickers of the University of Bristol, who has generously spent so much of his time providing encouragement, advice, and useful material for this research. Without his support, it would have been impossible to complete this project. I also would like to greatly thank John Mark Carroll of the University of Hong Kong for supporting my research while I visited Hong Kong. Many thanks also to Lars Laamann of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, and Kikuchi Hideaki of International Christian University, Tokyo, for encouraging me to take on this PhD project. Financially, the Mytton scholarship of the University of Bristol provided partial assistance for my research, and the Universities China Committee in London (UCCL) provided a grant for a research trip to Hong Kong in March 2012.

My research has been furthered by many archivists and librarians in the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan and Hong Kong. Jardine, Matheson & Co. and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation generously allowed me to use their historical materials. Archivists at SOAS helped me to access the materials of the John Swire & Sons collections. I sincerely appreciate support from staff in the Baker Library (Harvard Business School), the Tung Wah Hospital Archives, the Po Leung Kuk Museum, the Special Collections (University of Hong Kong), Hong Kong Public Record Office, the National Archives (London), the British Library and Toyo Bunko (Tokyo). I also would like to thank Andrew Hillier and Ip Kung Sau for sharing their family materials with me.

I am heavily indebted to my friends and colleagues who provide me with inspiration, encouragement and advice for this research. It is hard to mention everyone in this limited space. I would like to thank all the friends I met in Hong Kong, especially Tommy To, Kayi Fung, To Wai Nar and Yosuke Ishizuka, for continuously encouraging me to conduct research on the history of Hong Kong. Those who provided comments on my research in conferences, workshops, seminars and other occasions greatly helped develop my research. In this capacity, I would like to thank, Jonathan Saha, Henrietta Harrison, Christopher Munn, Elizabeth Sinn, Lee Pui Tak, Calvin Hoito Wong, Gary Luk Chi Hung, Koji Hirata, Chan Yang, Sabrina Fairchild, Jon Chappell, Jim Williams, Gordon Barrett, Sara Shipway, Yuqun Gao, Helena Lopes, Kent Wan, Jonathan Howlett, Isabella Jackson, Sinae Hyun, Peidong Yang and Harry Yi-Jui Wu. For support in the translation of primary materials and for reading my draft, I am indebted to my friends and proofreaders, including Hsia-yang Liu, Yun-Hsin Chang, Yvonne Kong, Fion So, Sally Herd, Jack Liou, Li-Chao Chen, Michel West, Kang Yinchen and James Disley. My most heartfelt thanks go to Ho-wan To and all the members of my family, especially my parents who tirelessly support my long-term research.