Factory

A factory (previously manufactory) or manufacturing plant is an industrial site, usually consisting of buildings and machinery, or more commonly a complex having several buildings, where workers manufacture goods or operate machines processing one product into another.

Factories arose with the introduction of machinery during the Industrial Revolution when the capital and space requirements became too great for cottage industry or workshops. Early factories that contained small amounts of machinery, such as one or two spinning mules, and fewer than a dozen workers have been called "glorified workshops".

Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production. Large factories tend to be located with access to multiple modes of transportation, with some having rail, highway and water loading and unloading facilities.

Factories may either make discrete products or some type of material continuously produced such as chemicals, pulp and paper, or refined oil products. Factories manufacturing chemicals are often called plants and may have most of their equipment – tanks, pressure vessels, chemical reactors, pumps and piping – outdoors and operated from control rooms. Oil refineries have most of their equipment outdoors.

Thirteen Factories

The Thirteen Factories was an area of Guangzhou (Canton), China, where the first foreign trade was allowed in the 18th century since the hai jin (海禁) ban on maritime activities. It is also referred to as the "Thirteen Hongs" or the "Canton Factories". The factory system came to an end in 1842 with the Treaty of Nanking. The site where the factories stood is now Wenhua Park, and Thirteen Hong Street, onto which the factories backed is now named Shisanhang Road.

Terminology

Factories were "foreigners' quarters", or trading posts, outside the city walls in Guangzhou rather than a place in the contemporary sense where goods are manufactured. The name came from the foreign agent term of "factors", who maintained offices or factories. Chinese citizens often referred to the factories as "Barbarian Houses" (the Chinese word translated as "Barbarian" in English can be interpreted simply as "foreigner" as well)

History

In 1684, the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty allowed foreigners to trade with China in four cities, including Guangzhou. In 1686, Westerners were also allowed to live in the area of the factories in Canton, at the head of the Pearl River. In 1748, there were only eight factories, but the number subsequently increased to thirteen. In 1757, the Qianlong Emperor limited Westerners to the port of Canton, and no other area.