Hoppo or Administrator of the Canton Customs (), was the Qing dynasty official at Guangzhou (Canton) given responsibility by the emperor for controlling shipping, collecting tariffs, and maintaining order among traders in and around the Pearl River Delta from 1685 to 1904.
Initially, the Hoppo was always a Manchu and a bondservant of the imperial family, appointed personally by the emperor, not a scholar-official chosen through the exams, but after the mid-18th century this expectation was relaxed. Since he depended on the good will of emperor and the Imperial Household Department, the Hoppo could be trusted to send revenues directly to the court rather than through the normal bureaucratic channels. In the mid-18th century the Qianlong emperor approved the Canton system, which restricted the burgeoning overseas trade with Europeans to Canton and granted a monopoly on that trade to Chinese merchants, who formed the Thirteen Hongs. European governments likewise granted monopolies to their trading companies, such as the British East India Company. Regulating the lucrative trade between the monopolies on either side gave the Hoppo great leeway in setting and collecting tariffs and fees, which were substantial, and the additional surcharges, bribes, and customary fees enabled him to send even more substantial sums to Beijing.
As the opium traffic grew in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the Hoppo was caught between conflicting demands. On the one hand, the British Parliament ended the East India Company's monopoly in 1834 and traders now demanded free trade and low, fixed tariffs; on the other hand, the Manchu court expected the Hoppo to control the foreign traders, stop Chinese smuggling, eliminate the opium trade, but continue to supply substantial revenue. Foreign objections to monopoly and his irregular impositions were among the causes of the Opium War (1839-1842). The Treaty of Nanking (1842) ended the Canton System but the office of Hoppo was not abolished until 1904 as part of the reforms at the end of the dynasty.
The word "Hoppo" is Chinese Pidgin English. Some have speculated that it derived from Hu Bu ("Board of Revenue", ). But the Hoppo had no connection to the Board, leaving the origin of the word uncertain.
The early history and functions of the office, 1685–1759
The position of Administrator of the Canton Customs (Hoppo) was established in 1685, when the Manchus had largely conquered the south. In the early years of the dynasty they feared that rebels and remnants of the Ming dynasty would attack from the sea, but now it felt safe to end restrictions on sea trade and allow ports along the southern coast to re-open. There were Hoppos at other ports, including Macao and Fujian. Initially, the emperor appointed Manchu bond-servants to the office, who would be dependent on the imperial clan and could be trusted to serve their interests. The opportunity to gather revenue was not limited to the regular tax quota set in the official regulations, a figure determined by the number of foreign ships that came to Canton, but included the unofficial quota and further extractions, each of which was roughly equal to the regular quota. The regular quota was sent to the provincial treasury, but the extra tax quota and exactions were sent directly to the Imperial Household Department, which was controlled by the imperial clan.