Institution
Canton System
The Canton System was the arrangement formalised by the Qing Empire in 1757 that restricted all Western maritime trade to the single port of Guangzhou, known to Europeans as Canton. Foreign merchants had to trade through licensed Chinese merchant intermediaries known as the Cohong. Western resentment of the system contributed to the tensions that led to the Opium Wars.
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See also
Cite this entry
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Canton System. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/canton-system
- MLA
- “Canton System.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/canton-system. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Canton System.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/canton-system.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Canton System’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/canton-system (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻