Concerned about Westerners attempting to settle permanently in China, foreigners
in Guangzhou were obliged to adhere to a list of eight rules that defined where
they went, what guests they could bring, even how many servants they could have.
The list of regulations was first handed down in 1760 by the Qianlong emperor,
revised by his son the Jiaqing emperor in 1810, and confirmed again by edict in
1819. These rules were not idle threats. In 1829, one Yanghang served as guarantor
for a boat that clandestinely brought the wife of a powerful British merchant to
the factories. When the governor-general learned of this transgression, the head
merchant was sent to prison and the guild fined so severely that it was sent to the
brink of bankruptcy.