During the period from Daoguang to Guangxu in the late Qing Dynasty, Guangzhou merchants grew from humble apprentices in the Thirteenth Industry to owners of multinational companies that connected domestic trade routes and overseas markets during the wave of "seclusion and relaxation" and "collision of Chinese and Western trade." In the process of adapting to foreign business rules and balancing the game between government and business, they understood that "businessmen are not only profit-seekers, but also icebreakers in the transition between the old and the new era" and completed the growth and transformation from "depending on foreign businessmen" to "operating independently".
