Zhu Ying: Revealing the mystery of the Merchant Group of Nations

I remember participating in the communication review of the National Social Science Foundation project in the first half of 2016, and one of the applications entitled "Research on the Merchant Group of Nations (1853-1942)" attracted my attention. Although I don't know who the declarant is, I feel that not only the topic is very good, but also the argument is good, so I recommend it. Later, it was learned from the website of the National Social Science Planning Office that the re-evaluation of the topic was approved and selected as a general project of the National Social Science Foundation, and the applicant was Xu Tao, a young and middle-aged scholar at the Institute of History of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. Shortly thereafter, the editorial board of the Monthly Journal of History asked me to submit a review opinion on a paper entitled "The Group of Chinese Members of the Modern Shanghai Merchant Group of All Nations", and after reading it, I felt that it was good and recommended it for publication. The paper was published, and it was learned that the article was a phased result of the study of this topic by the International Chamber of Commerce. However, because he did not know Xu Tao at first, he was not impressed. At the end of 2016, an academic seminar in Guangzhou was able to meet, privately visited Chen Yinke's former residence at Sun Yat-sen University, and encouraged him to apply for the National Social Science Fund project under the title of the International Chamber of Commerce.

Time is like an arrow, and in the blink of an eye, five years have passed. Xu Tao sent a WeChat message to inform me that the research on the subject had been completed, and the manuscript "The Merchant Group of Nations: A History of Shanghai from a Global Perspective" would be published within the year, and sent an electronic version for me to take a sneak peek and hope that I would write a preface to the book. I was very happy to hear this news, and I was glad to see that a monograph on the study of modern business groups had finally come out, and I was naturally willing to write a preface to recommend it.

First, a masterpiece to fill the gap in research

About 40 years ago, the research of modern chambers of commerce and business groups began in China at the same time, but the subsequent development was significantly different. From the initial branch of the history of the Xinhai Revolution, it quickly developed into a new field of modern Chinese history research, not only numerous papers, but also monographs, until the four-volume "General History of the Chamber of Commerce of Modern China" was published. The development of business group research is relatively slow, and so far only a small number of papers have been published, which is very disproportionate to the role and influence of business groups. 20 years ago, I wrote a "Review of the Study of Modern Chinese Business Groups", which pointed out that there were several deficiencies in the study of business groups at that time, including obvious defects in the scope of research objects and research periods, the research horizon was not broad enough, the research methods needed to be further improved, and there were also defects in the excavation and utilization of data. To this day, these shortcomings have not improved significantly, which is regrettable. The above is mainly aimed at the study of business groups in the Chinese border area, and as for the international business groups organized by Westerners in the concession, there is even less research.

Relatively speaking, the study of the International Merchant Group is more difficult, and the author of this book should have a personal feeling for this. The reason for this is that the history of the International Merchant Group is long and involves a wide range, which requires researchers to have profound academic accumulation and extensive knowledge reserves; second, it is difficult to collect and apply historical materials. The literature of the organization of the International Chamber of Commerce is mainly concentrated in London, England and Shanghai, China, but the personal relics of the key members are scattered all over the world, which is difficult for researchers to search for; and the language used in various documents is various, and the translation of historical materials is difficult. Therefore, under the circumstance that the research monographs of the Chinese merchant group are still in short supply, it is really valuable that the works of the study of the international business group can be published first. For a long time, the International Merchant Group has been shrouded in layers of historical fog, and it is difficult for people to understand its truth, "becoming a group of 'Shanghailanders' that we are least familiar with." This book, "The Merchant Group of Nations: A History of Shanghai from a Global Perspective", will clear the layers of historical fog for us, reveal the mysteries of the Business Group of Nations, and fill the gap in related research to a large extent, which is where the academic value of this book lies.

Nowadays, the academic community tends to be rigorous, so it is prudent to use the theory of filling the research gap, but it is well deserved to say that the publication of this book fills the gap in the academic monograph on the history of the Shang Dynasty. Especially compared with the business groups established by Chinese businessmen, the research of the International Merchant Group is more difficult, so it is more worthy of recognition. In addition, on the whole, the depth and breadth of the study of the history of chambers of commerce are far beyond the study of the history of business groups, but the research on the foreign chambers of commerce organized by Western businessmen in China has so far been weak, not only has no monographs been published, but also papers are extremely rare. Although the study of the merchant group lags behind the study of the Chamber of Commerce, the International Merchant Group organized by the Westerners is about to publish a monograph, which surpasses the Chamber of Commerce in this regard. I sincerely hope that the publication of this book will not only promote the in-depth development of the study of the history of the business group, but also promote the progress of research in the Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

Second, the characteristics of the International Merchant Group

The merchant group refers specifically to a paramilitary organization established in modern China with merchants as the main body. Traditional Chinese society has group training, but there is no business group. Therefore, the merchant group is also an imported thing in modern times, which originated from the Shanghai public concession created by the British. It was born in April 1853 as the Shanghai Local Volunteer Corps, and ended in September 1942, with a history of nearly 90 years. This book points out that compared with the British local merchant groups or other British colonial merchant groups, the International Merchants Are extremely "Shanghai Character"; compared with other Chinese business groups, the International Merchants Group is also unique. Specifically, the International Merchant Group has the following four characteristics:

First, the international color is heavy. The high degree of internationalization of the International Merchant Group stems from the high degree of internationalization of the modern Shanghai city, especially the increasing number of international immigrants. Including Chinese, the interests and needs of the people living in Shanghai, especially those living in the public concessions, are reflected to varying degrees in the establishment of the International Merchant Group, whose members include immigrants from many countries living in Shanghai, and whose fate rises and falls are closely related to the world situation, which is rarely seen in other business groups.

Second, the scope of influence is wide. The International Merchant Group originated in Britain, and its drill methods, institutional models, and organizational regulations were all borrowed by the up-and-coming Chinese business group organizations. Not only that, in the history of the International Merchant Group, it has repeatedly defended the outside world and pressed the bullet on the inside, which not only directly determines the development trend of modern Shanghai, but also has a major impact on the historical process of modern China.

Third, military strength is strong. After 1900, the members of the Shanghai International Merchant Group have maintained more than 1,000 people, advanced equipment, and later there are resident defenders (White Russian Regiment), gradually having the attributes of a regular army, strong strength, and independent of Asia. The scale of the international business group far exceeded that of the overseas Chinese business groups in Singapore, Hong Kong, Tianjin, Hankou and other places in the same period, and the social impact was not comparable to other business groups.

Fourth, it has existed for a long time. The Chinese business groups in Shanghai were short-lived, while the International Merchants almost ran through the rise and fall of the modern Shanghai city, and even in the world there were few competitors. The Shanghai Public Concession was not entirely colonial in nature, and there was no permanent stationing and protection of any national army, so the Merchant Corps of Nations became an important part of the urban security system.

The above four points described in this book better summarize the characteristics of the Shanghai International Business Group. One of the most significant and uncontroversial features should be the extremely prominent international color, which is mainly the result of the special pattern of the Shanghai public concession. As discussed in this book, the Shanghai Public Concession is called "a miniature international alliance", and there are many overseas Chinese in various countries, which is reflected in the establishment of exclusive companies of various countries in the International Merchant Group, such as the German team, the Portuguese team, the Austria-Hungary team, the Japanese team, the American team, the Philippine team, the Italian team, the Shanghai Scotland team, the White Russian team, the Jewish team, and even the Chinese team. Those with fewer and weaker expatriates, or several countries formed a joint team, or chose to join the British-led company of merchants, such as Czechoslovakians, Danes, Swiss, Dutch, Norwegians, Swedes, Poles, Lithuanians, Syrians, Iranians, Egyptians, Chileans, Australians, etc. The International Merchant Corps has successively formed more than 50 combat units, many of which are companies of national attributes, and there are a large number of immigrants from various countries and regions who have entered the regiment to serve, so they are named "All Nations" and are worthy of the name.

As for the other three points, they may all be relative characteristics, and it is necessary to limit the scope or degree. For example, when it comes to the scope of influence, it seems that the influence of the International Merchant Group "not only directly determines the development trend of modern Shanghai, but also has a major impact on the historical process of modern China", which seems to overestimate the influence of the International Merchant Group. Another example is to say that the International Merchant Group has existed for a long time and "become an important part of the urban security system", which should generally refer specifically to an important part of the security system within the public concession, rather than for the whole of Shanghai.

3. The Chinese Team of the International Merchant Group

Although the Shanghai International Merchants Association was a quasi-armed organization founded by foreign businessmen, a Chinese team was set up at the end of the Qing Dynasty, which became a scenic line among the international merchant groups.

The third chapter of this book devotes a section to the Discussion of the Chinese Team of the Merchant Corps of Nations. The Chinese team that joined the International Merchants Group was the Shanghai Chinese Merchants Gymnastics Association founded in May 1906 under the leadership of Yu Qiaqing, which was also the predecessor organization of the Merchant Group established by the Chinese people to emulate the Westerners. Before and after this, successive establishments included the Sports Department of the Shanghai Society, the Shangyu Society, the Shangxue Tutorial Association, the Nanshi Commercial Gymnastics Club and the Huxi Shishang Gymnastics Club, which was known as the "Five Sports Clubs" at that time. In the past, many people, including the author, regarded the "Five Sports Association" as the earliest new-style merchant sports organization in modern China, that is, the predecessor of the modern Chinese business group. This book corrects this statement, pointing out that "although the 'Five Sports Club' and the Chinese Merchant Gymnastics Club were founded quite close, it is obviously wrong to use the 'Five Sports Club' as 'the earliest new-style merchant sports organization in modern China' in the study of predecessors." In fact, after the establishment of the Chinese Business Gymnastics Association, many Chinese businessmen in Shanghai competed to emulate its organization, set up a gymnastics club or sports department, and then set up a business group.

After the establishment of the Chinese Merchants Gymnastics Association, Yu Qiaqing sent a letter to the general director of the Ministry of Public Concession On behalf of the Association in October of that year, applying to join the International Business Group. Although the board of directors of the Ministry of Works and Bureau agreed to the association to join the International Merchant Group, but at the same time imposed many restrictions, distrust and even discriminated against the Chinese members, after a long period of negotiations, in March 1907, the Chinese Merchants Gymnastics Association joined the International Merchant Group. The establishment of the Chinese team has brought about unprecedented changes in the international business group, and the relations between China and the Ocean have also shown a new trend to a certain extent, establishing a situation of coexistence between China and the Ocean. In particular, Huang Xunbo, deputy shed captain of the first row of the Zhonghua team, "bravely fought with gangsters for the public safety of the public concession, and spared his own life", which was unanimously praised by Chinese and foreign people. Huang's funeral ceremony was held, the Ministry of Works allowed the coffin to be delivered by cannon truck according to the death example, and the members of the Wanguo merchant team "sent with honor and honor", which effectively expanded the influence and reputation of the Chinese team. Subsequently, in the shooting competition held by the International Merchant Group, the 10 participants sent by the Chinese team created a good result of 135 points, creating the highest record in the shooting competition in the history of the International Merchant Group, which once again proved that the Chinese team performed well and was praised by Chinese and foreign people. As a result, some of the restrictive regulations of the International Merchant Group on the Chinese team were gradually abolished. By the end of the 1920s, the Chinese team "had to be treated the same as the teams of other countries" and was increasingly praised by foreigners.

In 1932, the "1.28" incident occurred, and the Japanese invading army launched an attack on Zhabei in Shanghai, and the Chinese army rose up to fight back. In addition to serving as a defense team, the Chinese team of the International Merchant Corps also recruited enthusiastic people from all walks of life to organize a team of interpreters to garrison the defense lines of various friendly countries and specialize in translation services, so as to eliminate the estrangement between Chinese and foreign military and civilians. In October, with the approval of the Ministry of Works and Bureau, the translation team was officially established as one of the teams of the International Merchant Group, and the captain was concurrently served by the captain of the Chinese team. As a result, there were two teams of Chinese members in the International Merchant Group: the Chinese Team and the Translation Team.

The detailed investigation of the history of the Chinese team and the translation team in this book not only reveals the mystery of the Chinese member group within the International Merchant Group, but also its experience of striving for equal treatment, which is to a large extent similar to the political demands of the Chinese political participation movement in the Shanghai Concession, and to some extent can be said to be an expression of patriotism and national position. However, after the Chinese Merchants Gymnastics Association joined the Shanghai Public Concession International Merchants Group to become the Chinese Team, it differed from other business groups established in the Huajie area of Shanghai in terms of political orientation and development trajectory, which can be regarded as the first distinction between the political concerns and choices of Shanghai businessmen. The Shanghai Chinese merchant group took a more active stance toward the political movement, leading to the dissolution of Yuan Shikai after the "Second Revolution" and the leader being wanted and forced into exile. The Chinese team that joined the International Merchant Group and later the translation team "only wanted to defend themselves and did not care about politics" and embarked on the development path of "Ji annexed powers", reflecting strong semi-colonial characteristics. However, under the special historical conditions at that time, the Chinese team of the International Merchant Group sometimes played a role in protecting the enterprises of Chinese merchants in the concession.

Fourth, the complex influence of the International Merchant Group

There is no doubt that the International Merchant Group, which was born in the Shanghai Public Concession, is the same as the Concession, a product of the invasion of China by the Western powers, and its main role is mainly to protect the interests and order of outsiders in the Public Concession. Not only that, but the book also points out: "The Merchant Group of Nations was originally a military organization with foreign business autonomy and local Chinese as hypothetical enemies. In other words, the International Merchant Group is mainly a paramilitary organization that prevents Chinese and protects foreigners, and its role and influence are naturally mainly reflected in this.

However, with the development and evolution of various situations, especially the rise of emerging Chinese business groups in the early 20th century, their concept of social integration has been increasingly strengthened, and the creation of Chinese business groups by the International Business Group has objectively played a demonstration effect. It can be said that the chinese businessmen's organization of the business group is mainly to emulate the actions of the International Business Group. Not only did Yu Qiaqing first establish the Chinese Merchant Gymnastics Association, but so did the "Five Sports Club" established by Shanghai businessmen and many business groups, and even the business groups established by businessmen in Suzhou, Wuxi, Wujin and other places were also modeled by the Shanghai International Business Group. For example, in the summer and autumn of 1906, more than 10 people, including The Suzhou gentleman Ni Kaiding, jointly submitted a letter to the General Chamber of Commerce, asking for permission from the Ministry of Commerce to approve the establishment of the Suzhou Merchants Sports Association, which was specifically elaborated: "Merchants from all countries in Taixi have military qualifications, such as the Western Merchants of the Shanghai Concession, who have a business group, who will perform on schedule if there is nothing to do, and watch over each other when there is something to do. Nearby, there are Chinese business gymnastics clubs in Shanghai North City and commercial gymnastics clubs in South City, all of which are eager to catch up and try to remedy it. Suzhou water and land transportation, the city of Khotan overflowing, where the business community wealth, Xi Xi billion trillion, salty sent here. It is urgent to shake up the spirit, consolidate the group, and avoid the accumulation of habits of fear, so as to eliminate hidden dangers in the invisible. Now, after the public assembly of the ranks, it is planned to set up a Suzhou merchant sports club in a moderate place in the province, with fitness and health as the starting matter, and the protection of public welfare, order and public security as the purpose. It is effective and serves as a precursor for future business groups. In October of the same year, the Suzhou Merchants Sports Association, the predecessor of the Suzhou Business Group, was officially approved for establishment.

It was mentioned earlier that after the "1.28" incident and the Songhu War, the International Merchant Group played an important role in the defense of the public concession. The signing of the Sino-Japanese Armistice in Shanghai and the Agreement on the Withdrawal of Japanese Troops brought only a few years of peace, and on August 13, 1937, the second Songhu War broke out. On the previous day, when the war was about to break out, the International Merchant Corps was ordered by the Ministry of Works to all the defense zones to be stationed, and "all the inhabitants of the border, regardless of their nationality, may settle down and operate their lawful occupations." Due to the heavy tasks, the International Merchant Corps continued to expand its personnel, and nearly a month after the Battle of Songhu, the scale of troops that could be mobilized far exceeded the pre-war period, reaching nearly 2,500 people. Thanks to the strong defense of the International Merchant Corps, the concession became a relatively safe place during the war, accommodating hundreds of thousands of war refugees. After the "August 13" war, six Chinese business groups in the public concession jointly wrote a letter to the Ministry of Works and Bureaus, praising the international business group for "being able to maintain law and order in the public concession under extremely difficult circumstances, which shows that it is clear in its duties, does not shrink a little, and does its extremely arduous duty."

Not only that, but the International Business Group sometimes protects the enterprises of Chinese companies. For example, during the "Second Revolution", the major merchants and general chambers of commerce in Shanghai were extremely afraid, worried that the war would cause losses to industrialists and businessmen, and urgently hoped to be protected. In desperation, the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to foreign consuls in Shanghai asking for protection, clarifying that "businessmen and people will, shopping malls can not be combat sites, and business and public security are beneficial." At the same time, Dong Xia, the general business council, led 15 Chinese merchant silk factories in Zhabei to inform the Ministry of Works and Bureaus, asking them to send a group of merchants from all over the world to protect them. The Ministry of Works bureau initially sent the American team of the International Merchant Group to Zhabei to protect it, but rumors spread that Xia Zhifang's move provided convenience for the public concession to annex Zhabei, and in order to dispel the rumors, the Public Ministry Bureau immediately withdrew the American team and replaced it with the Chinese team, and publicly stated that if the local order was blocked for three days, the Chinese team of the International Merchant Group also withdrew it spontaneously, and the so-called rumors of annexation of Zhabei were really misunderstood.

Of course, the International Merchants' Group mainly acted on the orders of the Ministry of Works and Bureaus of the Public Concession, aiming to safeguard the interests of outsiders, not out of the motive of protecting the Chinese, but at most only objectively played a relevant role, which is obviously different from the role and influence of the Chinese merchant group. In August 1938, on the orders of the Ministry of Works, the International Merchant Group also participated in the suppression of the "Four Elements and Lone Army" flag raising incident, resulting in many injuries and 3 deaths of soldiers in the Lone Army Camp, which aroused strong anger among the Chinese people. The "Declaration" published an editorial entitled "The Heroic Soldiers of the 'Four Elements' Raised the Flag and Were Humiliated," condemning the behavior of the Ministry of Works and bureaus and the Merchants of All Nations, and expressing deep sympathy and respect for the "Lone Army of the Four Elements."

V. Research Horizons and Historical Materials Mining

In recent years, the continuous expansion of research angles and horizons is a major feature of the development of historical research. One of the most talked about is the global history research perspective. The perspective of global history is not only the theory and method of world history research, but also attracts more and more attention in the field of Chinese history research. However, so far, there are few important results that have truly applied a global perspective to thematic empirical research. This book can be said to have made useful discussions and attempts in this regard, but whether it is successful or not still needs to be judged by the academic community.

Judging from the characteristics of the research object, the International Merchant Group should be an excellent example of conducting research from a global historical perspective. Because the International Merchant Group itself has a strong global color, composed of team members from many countries, it was born in the very unique Shanghai Public Concession. In the concessions of modern China, the Shanghai Public Concession is not only different from the adjacent French Concession, but also different from the foreign concessions established by the powers of other Countries at China's treaty ports, not a colony of a certain country, with international colors, managed by the Ministry of Works and Bureaus composed of multinational overseas Chinese oligarchs, and can also be called a global field. Similar public concessions are unique in modern China, and only in such a special environment can a unique international business group be bred.

This book attaches great importance to the global perspective, and there is a special subsection that discusses it. The author emphasizes that based on the above characteristics of the public concession and the international business group, "the literature basis and investigation vision of the research carried out in this book cannot be confined to one place and one country, and naturally need a global vision." Specifically, the global vision of this book is mainly reflected in the two aspects of "global vision of literature collection" and "global vision of historical writing". Because the historical materials of the International Merchants Group are scattered in the archives of the Ministry of Works of the Public Concession in the Shanghai Municipal Archives, the rest are scattered in Britain, the United States and even around the world, and from the language and writing, there are Chinese, English, Russian and so on. Therefore, the collection of documents of the International Merchant Group must have a global perspective. In fact, trying to collect historical materials from all sides is the premise of historical research, even if it does not emphasize the global perspective, it should be done, but the collection of historical materials of the International Merchant Group is more difficult than that of general research topics, which is one of the reasons for the long-term lack of research of the International Merchant Group.

The author believes that the "global vision of literature collection" proposed in this book may not have outstanding practical significance, but it is even more precious to unearth many important historical materials of the International Merchant Group. For example, the most important first-hand historical material of the International Merchant Group, Eighty-Five Years of the Shanghai Volunteer Corps, compiled in 1938 on the occasion of the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the International Chamber of Commerce, has a total of 287 pages and more than 800 illustrations, describing the historical evolution of the International Merchant Group from its formation to 1938. Its writing style is similar to the principles of the compilation of the Chinese Zhishu, in addition to the brief history of the Merchant League of Nations, there are subsections of each company to which it belongs, and there are appendix chapters such as the commander's table and the knife society uprising. There is also a Russian document called Шанхайский русский полк, 1927-1945 (Shanghai White Russian Regiment, 1927-1945), totaling 18 chapters and 367 pages, of which 332 pages of the main text and 33 pages of pictures, completely present the history of the Chinese and White Russian armed forces in the Chamber of Commerce of All Nations from its founding in 1927 to its disband in 1945. Chinese documents include two commemorative volumes, "Twenty Years of the Chinese Team of the Shanghai International Merchant Group" and "Thirty Years of the Chinese Team of the Shanghai International Merchant Group" compiled by the Chinese Team Association of the Shanghai International Merchants In 1925 and 1935, which are the first-hand historical materials for in-depth understanding of the historical activities of the Chinese members of the regiment. Through the excavation of these precious historical materials in Chinese and foreign languages, it not only provides a relatively solid documentary foundation for the writing of this book, but also provides convenience for the historians to further carry out relevant research, so it can be called a major contribution.

Regarding the "global vision of historical writing", it is reflected to varying degrees in each chapter of this book, and it should be said that it has been well implemented. However, in the author's opinion, although this book emphasizes the global vision, it is actually a combination of global vision and regional vision. The book also clarifies that this research aims to re-examine the history of Shanghai from a global perspective, take the organizational changes of the international business groups as the starting point, combine the historical changes of the public concession, review its growth process and social function, analyze its changing form and historical function, empirically observe the social turmoil in modern China and the change of power of the world's powers in a region, and show the historical complexity and multiple aspects of the modern transformation of Chinese cities. From the above explanations and the title of the book" "The Merchant Group of Nations: A History of Shanghai from a Global Perspective", it is not difficult to see that its academic pursuit seems to lie in "a history of Shanghai from a global perspective". For young and middle-aged scholars, it is very important to have such academic pursuits. Last year's humble book "Tortuous Struggle: Social Activities and Survival Strategies of the Modern Shanghai Chamber of Commerce" was published, and at the end of the "Introduction", it was also pointed out: "The deepening of the study of Shanghai history needs to 'go out of Shanghai', and the expansion of the historical research of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce should also 'jump out of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce' and further study the history of Shanghai and the history of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce with a broader macroscopic perspective and comparative perspective." This is actually an emphasis on the combination of global vision and regional vision, of course, it is also more difficult.

It should be pointed out that this book hopes to depict a history of Shanghai from a global perspective through the specific research object of the International Merchant Group, which may have given too high symbolic value and significance to the International Commercial Group, which inevitably brings itself a research goal that cannot be truly completed. After reading through this work, we can find its academic innovation views and their value in many aspects, but we can hardly have a deep impression on the estimation of Shanghai history from a global perspective. Nevertheless, his adventurous academic pursuit is worth encouraging.

Finally, I can't help but think of mr. Zhang Kaiyuan, a business master more than 40 years ago, who took the lead in vigorously advocating the far-sightedness of the research of the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Group. On May 28 this year, Master Zhang traveled west at the age of 95 and left us forever, but the study of the history of the Chamber of Commerce advocated by him has long been fruitful, and although the development of the history of the business group is relatively lagging behind, there will now be a monograph with considerable academic weight published, I believe that the practitioners under the Nine Springs will be pleased.

"History is the past that ends, and historiography is a never-ending voyage." To borrow the inscription that Mr. Zhang Kaiyuan often encourages us, he encourages us with the author of this book.

July 7, 2021 at Guizi Mountain, Wuchang

This article was originally the preface to "The Merchant Group of Nations: A History of Shanghai from a Global Perspective" (Shanghai Dictionary Publishing House, 2021).