ABSTRACT
The Chinese migrants formed several social associations in Hong Kong from the 1850s to the 1860s. In addition to other Chinese community leaders, the compradors played leading roles in the formation and the management of these associations. The leading figures of the Chinese community, especially the compradors, were generally keen to work with the colonial government, and this enabled them to be indispensable collaborators to the foreign residents in Hong Kong. The compradors contributed to bridging Chinese social institutions and the administrative structure of the colonial government. The chapter explores how the compradors established their close ties with the British officials in Hong Kong as well as how they obtained 'protection' from the British colonial government in the late nineteenth century. The Qing government hired numerous comprador merchants during the period of the Self-Strengthening Movement, the Qing elites' reformation efforts at the modernisation of the military and industry, from the 1860s to the early 1890s.
