... families. And beyond that was the Chinese mercantile quarter surrounding the inner core and edging off into the countryside. 19th century Hue was similar but rigidly divided like all Vietnamese cities. Some old towns were transformed by this process, many were simply bypassed, receding in political and cultural importance like Hue and its court, which lost place in the 1880s due to the colonially dominated and economically burgeoning areas of Saigon-Cholon and Hanoi-Haiphong. The population of Rangoon swelled to nearly a quarter of a million in thirty years and Mandalay started to shrink. Most of the new towns were focuses for new or intensified economic energies and new or changing social groups. Virtually all these towns produced for export, not for local consumption. To faciliate trade, great seaports arose, funneling tin, rubber, rice, and other primart products into world markets. Finally in listing all the kinds of economic activity that gave rise to ...

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