Hú Guāngyōng 胡光墉 (1823–1885), courtesy name and sobriquet Hú Xuěyán 胡雪岩, was a Zhèjiāng 浙江 native who became the most powerful merchant-official (官商 guānshāng) financier of the late Qīng dynasty. Born in Jīxī 績溪, Ānhuī, he built his career in Hángzhōu 杭州, establishing a network of pawnshops (diǎndàng 典當), native banks (qiánzhuāng 錢莊), and silk export businesses. He served as the principal financial agent for the Northwestern campaigns of Zuǒ Zōngtáng 左宗棠 and was rewarded with the rank of circuit intendant (dàoyuán 道員) and the extraordinary imperial gift of a yellow jacket (huángguà 黃褂). His legendary Hángzhōu mansion, with its gardens, art collection, and household of concubines, became a symbol of Qīng mercantile wealth. In 1883 he attempted to corner the global raw-silk market but was outmaneuvered by foreign merchants; with the collapse of this venture and the withdrawal of official support, his financial empire disintegrated, and he died in 1885. His life has been the subject of extensive popular fiction both in the Qīng period and in the modern era. CBDB id 84581.