Description
Book SynopsisA comprehensive study of the prominent Chinese merchant Houqua, whose trading network and financial connections stretched from China to India, America and Britain. John D. Wong examines the dynamics of global exchange configured around nineteenth-century Canton, illustrating how the Chinese economy was integrated with global networks well before the Opium Wars.
Trade Review'John D. Wong's superbly researched study of Houqua brings together a vast array of disparate sources that show clearly how this remarkable global trader effectively outwitted the prevailing commercial politics.' Paul A. Van Dyke, Sun Yat-sen University, China
Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1. A study of the structural context: the colliding worlds in Canton; 2. Lodging in an existing institution: taming the lion at home; 3. Weaving a trading network: breaking free with the eagle; 4. Sustaining trust: overcoming business uncertainties through time and space; 5. To reorganize or to be recognized? Reconstituting business in the reconfigured world of global business; 6. Houqua's 'Swiss account' in America: the legacy of a farsighted entrepreneur; Conclusion; Epilogue; Bibliography; Index.
