Ports of the world - Canton/Wati and Honan

by United States Bureau of Naval Personnel

WATI AND HONAN

WATI, a suburb of Canton, standing on the south bank of the Chukiang River, contains among other industries a shipbuilding plant, where sampans and other native Chinese craft are built for use by the river population of Canton. The city of Honan, really a section of Canton, stands on an island of the same name rising from the Chukiang River near Shameen and Namkwan. Honan has a population of about 100,000 people, most of them natives, employed in small factories, shops, warehouses, in the shipyards—where sampans, small and large steamers are built—and in the river trade.

Wati and Honan are both as old as Canton, because Chinese legends tell of the two islands being settled at about the same time Canton was founded by the Chinese. Canton, itself, is known as the "City of Rams," because of the ancient legend which claims that its founders—five Genii, clad in garments of five colors, rode through the air on five rams, each bearing five varieties of grains, which they presented to the people of Canton upon their arrival in the village or settlement. "Canton" is the English mispronunciation of "Kwangtung"—the province in which the port is located. The real Chinese name for the city is "Kwong Chow," the name dating back to the period of the three states, 220-280 A. D. Before that time Canton was known as "Nam Hoi."

Canton was incorporated into the Empire of China during the dynasty of Chin-Chi-Wong, the Emperor who built the Great Wall and burned the Chinese classics in 218 B. C.