Canton
Canton names 6 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Canton called also YANG-CHING (i
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
called also YANG-CHING (i. e., "city of rams"), a large commercial city and port in the south of China, and capital of the province of Kwang-tung (of which the name Canton is merely merely a corruption), on the N. or left side of the Shu-kiang, or Pearl river, in a rich alluvial plain, 70 miles N. of Macao and 90 N. W. of Hongkong. The Pearl river is the estuary of the same stream that higher up is called Boca Tigre, or Boca Tigris. Farther up still, the stream is known as the Canton river; and this is but the chief channel by which the united waters of the Sikiang and the Pekiang rivers reach the sea through the delta. The city is surrounded by walls partly brick, partly sandstone, 25 to 40 feet high, 20 feet thick, with an esplanade inside, 6 miles in circumference; and it is divided by a partition wall running E. and W. into two unequal parts, the N. or old city, much the larger, and the S. or new city. The entire circuit, including suburbs, is nearly 10 miles. At the S. W. corner of the suburbs S. of the river, are the Hongs or European quarter, divided from the river by a quay, 100 yards wide, called Respondentia Walk. The streets, more than 600, are in general less than 8 feet wide, and very crooked. The houses along the water-side are built on piles, and subject to inundations. There are two pagodas, the "Plain Pagoda," erected more than 10 centuries ago, 160 feet high, and an octagonal nine-storied pagoda, 175 feet high, erected more than 1,300 years ago; and 124 temples or Joss-houses. The Honam temple, one of the largest in Canton, covers with its grounds, 7 acres, and has 175 priests attached. The "Temple of Filial Duty" has 200 priests, supported by 3,500 acres of glebe-lands. The priests and nuns in Canton number more than 2,000, nine-tenths of them Buddhists. The "Temple of Five dred Genii" has 500 statues of various sizes in honor of Buddha and his disciples. Examination Hall, in the old city, is 1,330 feet by 583 feet, covers 16 acres, and has 8,653 cells. There are also in Canton prisons, granaries, a handsome English church, public schools and colleges, a foundling hospital, an English and an American missionary hospital, etc. Nearly half the craft on the river are fixed residences, and the population on land and water is estimated variously at from 1,000,000 to 1,500,000. The climate of Canton may be pronounced healthy. The average temperature are ranges from 42° to 96° F. The admirable situation of Canton, connected by three rivers with the whole province, E., N., and W., and to the W. with the distant interior of China, and commanding a safe and commodious anchorage for the largest vessels, explains how, from an early period, it was a favorite port with foreign merchants. The earliest notices date back to two In 700 A. D. a regular centuries B. C. market was opened and a collector of customs appointed. The Arabs made regular voyages hither as early as the The Portuguese found 9th century. their way to it in 1517, and were followed by the Dutch a hundred years later. These in turn were overtaken and supplanted by the English before the close of the 17th century, and an immense trade was carried on by the agents of the East India Company. Their monopoly ceased on April 22, 1834. The city was captured by the allied French and English forces, December, 1857, and continued to be garrisoned by them till October, 1861. After the treaty of Nankin (signed Aug. 29, 1842), Canton was known as one of the five treaty ports, with Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo, and Shanghai. The chief exports from Canton are tea, silk, sugar, and cassia; the chief imports, cotton, woolen and metal goods, food-stuffs, kerosene, etc. The total trade of the port is very large and is estimated at $75,000,000.
Canton a large city in China
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a large city in China. The population of the city with its suburbs is estimated at 900,000. It is inclosed by brick walls twenty-five feet high and twenty feet thick, having a circuit of over six miles. There are a dozen gates. All close at night-fall, oriental fashion. The streets are straight, clean, and narrow. Goods are carried on bamboo frames, a man walking at each end. Common people walk; the aristocracy are carried in sedan chairs. There are many imposing temples, among others two lofty pagodas. The prevailing religion is Buddhism. The city is situated on the Pearl River about eighty miles from the sea. Wharves extend for several miles. A very great number of houseboats, as many as 20,000 or 30,000, crowd the river. It is thought that 200,000 people have no other home. Families live for generations in these floating dwellings. They catch a few fish, but make their living chiefly by conveying merchandise. Canton merchants are shrewd business men, noted for their honesty. The foreign business, chiefly with the United States and Great Britain , amounts to about $40,000,000 a year. European ships began to visit Canton by way of the Cape of Good Hope in 1517. See China ; Shanghai
Canton city and county-seat of O.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
city and county-seat of O.; on Nimishillen creek Stark co., O. and the Pennsylvania, the Baltimore and Ohio, and the Wheeling and Lake Erie railroads: 60 miles S. of Cleveland. It is in a fine wheat-growing district, with coal, limestone, and pottery clay in the vicinity, and was for many years the residence of President McKinley. Canton is a Business Industries. manufacturing city of considerable importance. The principal industries are the manufacture of agricultural implements, brick and tile, foundry and machine shop products, iron bridges, steel goods, and stoves. There are two National banks, besides several State and savings banks. Public Interests. - Canton has an electric light and street railway system, and well-paved streets. The notable buildings are the postoffice, high school, public library, auditorium, two hospitals, and McKinley National Monument, and sev- Pop. (1910) 50,217; eral churches. (1920) 87,091.
Canton a city of Illinois
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city of Illinois, in Fulton co. It is on the Toledo, Peoria, and Western, and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroads. It is the center of an important agricultural and mining community. There are agricultural implement works, cigar factories, founim dries, marble works, etc. The city has a public library, theaters, parks, and the hospitals. Pop. (1910) 10,453; (1920) 10,928.
Canton a town of Massachusetts
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a town of Massachusetts, in Norfolk co. It includes several villages. It is on the New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad. The town is the seat of the Massachusetts setts Hospital School and has a public library and other public buildings. The industries include manufactures of woolen and rubber goods, electrical supplies, fire hose, etc. Pop. (1910) 4,797; (1920) 5,945.
Canton a small division of territory
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a small division of territory, constituting a distinct state or government, as in Switzerland.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Collier's described Canton in 1921 as a walled city with "streets, more than 600, ... in general less than 8 feet wide," those walls had only a few years left: the ramparts were pulled down in the 1920s and their line turned into ring roads. The city is now written Guangzhou in pinyin, and rather than Aiton's 900,000 of 1910 it is a megacity of roughly 15 million, the manufacturing hub of the Pearl River Delta and home to the twice-yearly Canton Fair, held since 1957. The Ohio Canton of the same page, praised as "for many years the residence of President McKinley," gained the assassinated president's domed memorial tomb in 1907 and, in 1963, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which is now the town's chief claim on outsiders.
Written for this edition, 2026.