foreign trading house; hong (historical)
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 3 examplesnoun
foreign trading firm; hong; foreign merchant house (in pre-modern China)
archaicHistorical term referring to foreign-owned trading companies established in treaty port China during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Also refers to Chinese-owned firms acting as intermediaries or exclusively trading with foreign merchants. The term is strongly associated with the colonial trade era and the comprador system.
Shí十
jiǔ九
shì世
jì纪
，
Shàng上
hǎi海
Wài外
tān滩
jù聚
jí集
le了
xǔ许
duō多
yáng洋
háng行
。
In the 19th century, many foreign trading houses gathered along Shanghai's Bund.
Tā他
de的
zǔ祖
fù父
céng曾
zài在
yī一
jiā家
Yīng英
guó国
yáng洋
háng行
lǐ里
dāng当
mǎi买
bàn办
。
His grandfather once worked as a comprador in a British trading house.
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Zhè这
xiē些
lǎo老
yáng洋
háng行
de的
jiàn建
zhù筑
xiàn现
zài在
chéng成
le了
bó博
wù物
guǎn馆
。
The buildings of these old foreign firms have now become museums.