The Foreign Laws Of Qing Dynasty And The Disrupting Of Thirteen Hongs Institution

During the early Qing Dynasty,since the sea trading with foreign country was opened,especially when Canton was announced by Qianlong as the only legal port,Canton Factory had played an important role in it,which worked over a century,experienced its up and down.With monopoly priorities,the Canton factories prospered at the beginning,but finally bankrupted under the double pressure of Qing governor and foreign merchants.With the intense punishment to Canton Factory,the Canton factory system collapsed.From the founding of Co-hong in 1760 to the abolishing of the business system in 1843,there were 47 factories operating,of which 37 factories closed from 1771 to 1839,it was average a factory stopped business less than two years.According to the previous research,it predicts that the plight of the canton merchants is mainly due to the extortion of the government and the officials,as well as the luxury consumption of themselves,including the maintenance of business facilities,the cost of their families’ expenses.From the line of canton merchants’ income and expenditure situation,they couldn’t make ends meet.It indeed caused the decline of them.In addition,to guarantee it can last for a long time,I believe that the implementation of a system requires the regulation and protection of the law.The Canton Factories system is the product of the feudal autocratic system.It was reasonable that the canton factories system can exist and develop in that period.But with the change of domestic and foreign circumstances,the Qing government didn’t make effective adjustments,especially in the formulation and implementation of the law.Existed many drawbacks,like the lack of legal norms and protection.It resulted the merchants can’t survive.Based on the analysis of the business debt cases,this paper will explain how Qing Dynasty’s foreign laws lead to the disintegration of the Canton factories system.It showed that the gradually unfit of Qing Dynasty foreign law and the developing of Sino-western trading environment made the business debt problem even worse,increased the difficulty in their business,and accelerated the failure of Canton factories system.