Comprador
The institution of the comprador (Chinese: 江 摆渡 jīangbăidù, or 康 白 度 kāngbăidù or 買辦 mǎibàn) played an important role in China's trade with the West in the 19th century .
history
Since the Opium War , some contractual ports have been open to Western traders, but for a long time they have not been able to penetrate the interior of the country or into the complex Chinese trade structures. Here the comprador acted as an intermediary. He was the head of the Chinese staff of a foreign company (Chinese yang-hang ) and recruited, supervised and paid the Chinese workers. He won Chinese customers for his company, conducted business negotiations with them and assessed their creditworthiness. The comprador was thus the china specific response intercultural on the basic problem trade, bridging barriers such as different language and writing as well as different business practices.
In the 20th century , the comprador was increasingly replaced by technically or commercially trained Chinese employees. However, many compradors were able to use their activity to become successful business people themselves.
etymology
The word is derived from the Portuguese word comprador (= buyer) and spreads from the Portuguese colony of Macau as a name for the Chinese middlemen in the neighboring province of Guangdong .
Well-known compradores
- Chang Kia-ngau (Chinese: 张嘉 璈, Pinyin: Zhāng Jiā'áo; 1889–1979)
- Tong King-sing (Chinese: 唐景 星, Pinyin: Táng Jǐngxīng; 1832-1892)
Comprador bourgeoisie
In the context of Marxist theory, the term comprador bourgeoisie was coined, which was also used in Latin American dependency theory . According to Nicos Poulantzas , the comprador bourgeoisie functions “as a financial and commercial link for the operations of imperialist foreign capital, ” to which it is directly subject.
literature
- Osterhammel, Jürgen: China and the world society. From the 18th century to our time , Munich 1989, ISBN 3-406-34099-7
- Benecke, Günther: The comprador. A contribution to the history of the development of domestic trade intermediation in China , in: Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv 18, 1922, pp. 377–413, 525–556.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Nicos Poulantzas: The crisis of the dictatorships . Frankfurt / M. 1977, p. 12.