A unique class developed under the context of China trade, the compradores truly embraced the spirits of “middlemen”. They stood between the foreigners and Chinese in commercial deals. They talked in pidgin English, which fused elements from Chinese and English. They aspired to live in a Western way of life but maintained Chinese customs and values on the inside. Such qualities made compradores isolated from the rest of Chinese, as Ernest O. Hauser described:
“They were a wonderful invention, those compradores. They went to see the White Man’s customer and talked turkey with him, leisurely, over a cup of green tea. They bought and sold and even made payments in behalf of the White Man—their “compradore orders” were as good as money, or even better. They bridged the terrific gap that yawned between the taipans and the Chinaman. And they formed a distinct little group among themselves, living on the fat margin of the White Man’s going concern, and growing fat themselves.” (Shanghai: City for Sale, p. 117).
The effect of cross-cultural interactions can permeate different aspects of life. The Hong Kong poet, essayist Leung Ping-kwan 梁秉鈞 wrote a bilingual poem entitled “Comprador Soup”. The Chinese title is 金必多湯 (pronounced as gam1 bit1 do1 tong1) – the first three characters are transliteration of comprador; tong1 means ‘soup’. Note that the characters 金必多 are auspicious as they mean ‘gold-must be-much’. This is a cream-based soup with Chinese ingredients such as shark fin.
Comprador Soup
Taking pride in your creamy face?
Underneath the smooth surface
One wonders what lurks in secrecy?
To whom is the shark’s fin offered?
Dragging out old time legends of the ancestors
Delicacies easily taken as common stuff
Between the differences in prices
How’s sweet profit gained?
Yesterday the leftover of salty-fish stalls
Today the delicacies waiting for the highest bid
You match-make affection on the palm of a hand
Anyone can propose to shrimps or bass at will
Who’s not haggling around us?
No one puts a scale in the air
A retractable measuring tape in the pocket
Abacus beads going up and down
Those from four corners of the land seeking their own place
Bless that customers flooding in and goods flying off shelves
Was there a child in you and me on the merry-go-round
Dizzy because of drinking too much or spinning too fast?
Gamble all you have to take on a roller-coaster ride
All fall down
The thick paste of wealth seemingly bottomless
Was but petty profit watered down?
金必多湯
以奶油的臉孔驕人?
滑溜的表面底下
不知有甚麼乾坤
把魚翅向誰獻寶?
搬出老祖宗陳年的傳說
山珍海錯容易當了平常
如何在價格的差異間
賺取美味的利潤?
昨天是鹹魚欄裡的剩貨
今天是待價而沽的珍饈
把感情的買賣玩弄於股掌
誰都可隨意投入小蝦或是石斑
咫尺間人人不都在討價還價?
沒有誰在天空上放一把天平
至少口袋裡的軟尺伸縮自如
算盤的各子不住上上下下
來自五湖四海分別找到自己的位置
蒙誰眷顧客似雲來貨如輪轉
旋轉木馬上可有你我的童心?
暈眩因為喝醉還是轉得太快
賭這一回所有財物如過山快車
突然墜落谷底
盡似無底深淵的富貴濃稠
可是蠅頭小利粉末和了開水?
Apart from their wealth, many compradores were key figures in the modernization of China and Hong Kong. Tong King-sing 唐景星 (1832-1892) was born in Xiangshan, Guangdong. He received English education at the Morrison Education Society School. He was appointed interpreter in the Hong Kong Magistrate’s Court. After leaving the Hong Kong Government, he joined the Chinese Maritime Customs Service. In 1861, he joined Jardine, Matheson & Co. in Shanghai and was promoted to compradore in1863. Between 1873-1884, he was General Manager of China Merchants’ Steam Navigation Company. He worked for the Kaiping coal mines until his death in 1892. In education, Tong was the author of The Chinese and English Instructor (英語集全), a six-volume book containing a dictionary and texts for the teaching of English. The book also included 廣東番話 gwong2 dung1 faan1 waa2, i.e. Canton Pidgin. As typical at that time, characters were used to transcribe English words. Do you understand the following instructions given by a comprador in pidgin?
㕭米其覓士㕭干打 you makee mixee you conta [conta is a Portuguese word]
椏鏬捫尼甘烟㕭砵温西 alla money come in you put one side
捫尼跛拿打文砵拿打西 money pay (a)nother man put (a)nother side
Hauser, Ernest O. 1940. Shanghai: City for Sale. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company.