Guangzhou Landscape. Westerners "shape" (1517-1840)

As one of the most important seaports in China during Ming and Qing Dynasties,Canton had received thousands of Westerners coming here to do business, to traveland to missionize. Some of those Westemers recorded what they had seen and heardin Canton, and some described the details of what they knew about the city. Thisthesis is mainly based on those records written by the travelers, the missionaries andthe envoys who came to Canton from 1517 to 1840. Through arranging, classifying,analyzing these records as well as contrasting them to the related Chinese materials,we can get a more real image of Canton in Ming and Qing. My research work isdivided into for part.The first part is mainly about the Westerner's general concept of Canton, throughwhich, we may get a more clear idea on what and to which extent the Westernersknew about the geographic location, the climate, the city formation and the cityconstruction of Canton.The second part is mainly about what the Westerners saw and how they feelabout the Pearl River (from Whampoa to Canton), including the Whampoe Reach andits isles nearby, the most important natural and human landscapes alongside the riverand the floating city under the Canton city.The third part is chiefly concentrated on the foreign factories which located inthe south-west suburb of Canton. Through the Westerners' detailed description, wemay know the general appearance of the Canton suburb, the exotic factories and theshops and streets around them.The fourth part gives an outline of the Cantonese through Westerners'eyes,including the visage, the costume, the characteristic the custom of the Cantonese andso on. Furthmore, some special examples are raised here to show more aspects of thiscertain people.