Bits of Old China

The following is a brief review of William C. Hunter's Bits of Old China, which is a fantastic firsthand account of American expatriate life in Canton:
In William C. Hunter's Bits of Old China, the reader is given a detailed account of the life of the fankwae in Canton. Hunter, a young boy when he embarked upon his first journey to the East, offers up a new perspective on American existence in the Thirteen Factories. The ideas and experiences of encounter, restriction and a sense of the exotic lend themselves to the reader's overall comprehension of the narrative. Defiance, too, makes an important appearance in Hunter's writing. It is clear that the Americans in Canton were ephemeral in the minds of the Chinese, yet they managed to typify the American Dream in a country on the other side of the world.
When Hunter reached the shores of Old China, excitement certainly crept its way through his bones. Hard work would most undoubtedly pay off while his ship was still in Chinese waters. The author looked forward to “Liberty Day” (3), which he proclaims, “This one and only day of liberty would be talked about and looked forward to during the whole passage out, and all sorts of plans made to the end of getting rid of one month's pay! Visions of yellow nankin trousers canvas shoes, and straw hats were mingled with black silk neckerchiefs, preserved ginger, and ricepaper paintings, as well as with 'strike a lights,' punk, and joss stick.”(3). If all was in order aboard the ship, this much anticipated day would be met with great satisfaction once the aforementioned were obtained. These items were exotic to the average American but also quite affordable. The nankeen and silk were truly the “Bits of Old China” Hunter so earnestly scribed about.
Encounters with the exotic were not as romantic as one may have envisioned, however. The pests of the East were nothing like the unoffensive western mosquitoes Hunter and his comrades were typically accustomed to. “In the south-west monsoon we were pestered with flies, mosquitoes, lizards, centipedes, and rats.” (16). Hunter goes on, saying, “The bite of the centipede was extremely painful, as I know to my cost on two occasions, on one of which I was disabled for two days.” (16). The bites of the centipedes can be compared to the restrictive pricks the Chinese enforced on the foreign merchants. Some of the most steadfast restrictions maintained that the fankwae were not permitted access outside of the factory walls, they should not smuggle goods between the factories, no foreign women were allowed and that they must depart at the end of tea season. Perhaps the most sensitive topic that brought great regulation was for the Americans to cease from selling any foreign mud to the Chinese—“...whereby they were ruined in health and plunged in inanition..” (1). This rule was entirely ignored, because a great profit could be procured. Personal concern for the affected was never of importance to the Americans, their only responsibility was personal gain.
The American traders further defied the celestial confinements bestowed upon them and continued to operate as they wished. They refused to halt the commerce brought from the sale of opium. They continued to bring their wives and families, often leaving them at the opening of the Pearl River. They would smuggle goods between the Thirteen Factories, stroll through the square, imbibe as much as they wanted and, even more, they seemed to stay as long as they pleased. Life was difficult, but certainly bearable. Common men could luxuriate for relatively low cost, yet the comforts of home were impossible to replicate. Hunter longed for his home in the west. Like his fellow men, he understood the importance of conducting trade in the East—whether at Whampoa, Canton, or India. Encounters with the exotic east and defiance against foreign powers conjure up a slew of romantic images, but life in the factories was far from that. William C. Hunter's Bits of Old China exemplifies the struggle of the American merchant in the Far East. The author chips away the thin surface layer of luxurious notions and reveals the difficulties he and his counterparts faced during their extended stays in foreign lands. These men took risks for the sake of capital gain. Many failed in desperation, some reveled in their newly found wealth, while others like Hunter memorialized their experiences through writing; giving the contemporary reader an idea of what life was like.

Source:
Hunter, William C. Bits of Old China. K. Paul, Trench, & Co., 1885.