Guild

This name is given by foreigners to three Chinese institutions: — (i) the Kung-so IMG:p231_10.png:Chinese characters ff\ (public hall) or trade union, representing the 'craft' or mistery' of the West, (ii) the Hui-kuan IMG:p231_11.png:Chinese characters If, the club of fellow-provincials in an alien province; (iii) the Hanse or "Guild Merchant," which is a very rare institution in China. i. The trade guilds have been formed independently of the government, and hence historians have ignored them. It is difficult to procure any documents relating to their origin. The Ningpo Bankers' Guild claims that it was founded in the Han dynasty or even traces its origin to the Chou dynasty. • Owing to dynastic disturbances and rebellions, many trade guilds can only trace their history back for a century or so. Membership. — All craftsmen of one kind in a city become members of the guild of their craft to escape the ostracism which would otherwise be their lot. Sometimes a cei'tain trade in a city is entirely 232 in the hands of aliens: e.g., in Wenchow the crafts of needle-making, fish-hook making and gold-beating are entirely in the hands of aliens, and they are forbidden to teach Wenchow men. Administration. — The officers of a Guild generally consist of a manager and a Committee elected annually, each serving in rotation as manager. Each member serves in turn on the committee. There is also a salaried secretary, a literary man who communicates with the officials when nece ary, and appears in court as the legal representative of the guild. He also collects subscriptions from the members for charities and public works. The Committee convenes meetings to regulate prices, to fix standard weights and measures, to regulate sales by credit, rates of storage, insurance, packing, etc. Each Guild has its own rules and may alter them as often as exigency demands. Be venue. — The income of Guilds is acquired chiefly from taxes on the amount of the members' sales, by entrance fees and by fines. The members' books are examined periodically and those with false accounts are heavily fined, or are expelled. Jurisdiction. — Disputes between members are settled by arbitration at a meeting of the Guild. The Guild also helps in the expenses of a law-suit of a member, if it be thought a worthy one. Rewards are given for the discovery of thieves or.•stolen property, and any member found concealing a robbery or I'eceiving stolen goods is heavily fined, and if he refuses to pay the fine, is expelled. All intercourse with an expelled member is forbidden, and any member having dealings with him is heavily fined. The Shanghai Tea Guild has or had a rule that no members should have dealings with a firm in litigation with a foreign firm until the case is adjudicated. For breaches of regulations, members are fined, the fines ranging from temple candles, a feast or a play, to considerable sums of money; or are punished by expulsion and boycott. Personal violence is sometimes inflicted on rebellious members, occasionally resulting in death. The members are expected to render a istance at fires and the Guild often has a fire-engine of its own. It subscribes to the funeral expenses of its poorer members, sometimes presenting the coffin. Guild-hall. — The more important Guilds have a building where the members transact busine and have feasts and theatricals. Usually there is a shrine to some patron deity to which the members do obeisance at the annual meeting. Journeymen occasionally form a temporary a ociation to combine against their masters on account of some grievance, and sometimes strike for increase of wages. Apprentices serve from three to five years, and at the end of their term contribute a sum towards expenses, or pay for a play. Many Guilds limit the number of apprentices, and regulate the hours of work. ii. The Hui-kwan is of older origin than the trade-guild, and probably existed as far back as the T'ang dynasty. A Kiangsu club is referred to in the Ming dynasty. Membership is open to all, whether officials, busine men or others, who come from the home province. A salaried manager and honorary committee are elected annually, and there is a salaried secretary. Revenue. — IMG:p232_1.png:Chinese characters pay to the club a percentage of their profits or earnings, and co-provincial officials subscribe fixed sums, the highest probably being Tls. 600 paid by a Viceroy to the Hupei Guild in Foochow. 2'he Guild huilding, like that of the trade guild, has a special deity presiding over it. It serves as quarters for co-provincial officials pa ing though the city. The Guild has a special mortuary where coffins of members are stored before being sent back to the native province, and it provides a cemetery for the members. The various provincial Guilds in Peking a ist poor scholars of their provinces who come up for examinations. The Guild controls the trade between the home and the alien province, promotes the general interests of its members and protects them from the jealousy of native firms. Any dispute between its members is settled by the Guild, but where a member has a law-suit against a man not of his province, the Guild prosecutes on his behalf if the step is sanctioned by all the other members and helps to defray expenses. iii. The 'Guild merchant' or IMG:p232_2.png:Chinese characters of all the merchants of a locality to regulate trade is a rare institution in China. Morse names the only three well-marked instances, the Great Guild of Newchwang, the Swatow Guild, and the former Canton Co-hong, [q.v.]. Morse: The Gilds of China; K.: Chinese Guilds, N.C.B.R.A.S. Journal, vol. xii; Mac- GowAN: Chinese Guilds, ibid., vol. xxi. IMG:p232_3.png:Chinese characters GULLS. See Laridae.