Interesting view of the harbour of the city of Canton, nowadays Guangzhou, depicting its hongs or trading factories after the occurrence of the first great fire in the 1st of November of 1822 originated in a pastry shop on the Cantonese suburban area, located one mile north from the factories’ neighbourhood.
Bearing witness to the written reports survived until the present day, this painting illustrates very accurately and with extreme detail the devastating outcome of the terrible conflagration of 1822. The city, still ablaze and in ruins with buildings partially destroyed with collapsed facades, is depicted on a moment of reorganization, with the remaining goods being withdrawn from the ruined hongs in a desolation scenery given by the ships with their the naked and blazed masts.
Multiple Chinese and Eastern figures are illustrated spanned across the wharf and square, where several tents are pitched by Chinese troops here called to patrol and prevent plunder. Some of the goods were recovered from the river banks, others piled up still remain there, left to be picked up.
Several Chinese ships, including some anchored, and its crew members, are positioned on the river and alongside the bay, ensuring the well-functioning logistics process. Different types of ships are identified on the river scenery, the Sampanas – with its curved cabins covered with wicker mats; some large tonnage Juncos – ships with keel and sails; the Tankas – ships with a large stern and a slimmer bow, partially covered by wicker mats, supported on a bamboo structure. Standing out from the remaining ships, an Eastern ship, with a hull and white sail with the old Union Jack.
According to Robert Morrison, who witnessed the scene on the morning of Sunday 3 November, it “exhibited nothing but the ruins of wall the foreign factories, with the exception of the American consul’s (Mr Wilcocks) Mr Berry’s and part of Mr. Magniac’s: The English warehouse was entirely consumed; but nine suits [sic] of apartments were preserved (Mr Berry’s was the Swedish hong, and Mr Magniac’s the Creek hong).
Paintings like such are highly valued and extremely important as they act as an incredible imagery record for the surviving historical testimonies documenting this incident and its consequences. Exhibited almost a photographic evidence of the remaining architectural scenery of Canton devastated by the great fire, these reliable sources of image were later used in the reconstruction of the factories that occurred years later followed upon the agreement between by hong and eastern merchants.


Teresa Peralta


Bibliography:
Patric Corner, The Hongs of Canton, London, English Art Books, 2009.
Carl L Crossman, The Decorative Arts of The China Trade, Suffolk, 1991.






Interessante vista do porto da cidade de Cantão, hoje Guangzhou, e das suas feitorias ou fábricas, após o primeiro grande incendio, que deflagrou a 1 de Novembro de 1822 e teve origem numa loja de bolos dos subúrbios da cidade a uma milha a norte das feitorias.
A pintura testemunha com rigor os relatos escritos que nos deixaram os observadores deste terrível acontecimento. Nela se representa a cidade ainda fumegante em ruinas, com algumas fachadas de pé e edifícios completamente arruinados, no momento em que se procede à organização de salvaguarda das mercadorias que se conseguiram retirar das feitorias destruídas. A desolação permanece nos mastros despidos e calcinados das suas bandeiras.
Os múltiplos intervenientes, chineses e ocidentais, distribuem-se ao longo do cais e da praça, onde sobressaem tendas armadas pelas tropas chinesas, que foram chamadas de modo a evitar saques. Supomos que alguns dos bens recuperados terão sido removidos da margem do rio, enquanto outros ainda lá se encontram empilhados.
No rio e ao longo da baia inúmeras embarcações chinesas com os seus tripulantes, algumas ancoradas, de modo a assegurar toda a logística de resgate: Sampanas - com cabines curvas cobertas de esteiras; Juncos, alguns de grande tonelagem – barcos em quilha com velas de lâminas rígida; Tankas – embarcações largas na popa e estreitando na proa, parcialmente cobertas por esteiras de vime apoiadas numa estrutura de bambu,
Nestas águas sobressai um único barco ocidental, com o casco e a vela branca estampada com a antiga bandeira britânica.
According to Robert Morrison, who witnessed the scene on the morning of Sunday 3 November, it “exhibited nothing but the ruins of wall the foreign factories, with the exception of the American consul’s (Mr Wilcocks) Mr Berry’s and part of Mr. Magniac’s: The English warehouse was entirely consumed; but nine suits [sic] of apartments were preserved (Mr Berry’s was the Swedish hong, and Mr Magniac’s the Creek hong)[1]
Pinturas como esta são marcos concebidos, não como impressões fugazes, mas como registos imagéticos de documentos históricos de um incidente importante e suas consequências.
Representam como que um registo fotográfico fidedigno dos edifícios após o incendio, permitindo a sua avaliação pelos soberanos ocidentais. Estas feitorias foram reconstruídas anos mais tarde após a negociação entre mercadores hong e ocidentais.


Teresa Peralta


Bibliografia:


Patric Corner, The Hongs of Canton, London, English Art Books, 2009.
Carl L Crossman, The Decorative Arts of The China Trade, Suffolk, 1991.

[1] Cf.: Chinese Repository May 1835, 35; Apud Patric Corner, The Hongs of Canton, London, English Art Books, 2009, p. 92