□ Rong Media Reporter Wu Liyun Chen Xiaoyang Text/Picture (except for signature)
Core Tips
The rise and fall of Wang Shun Xingxin Bureau has gone through three generations, for 84 years, and is one of the influential representatives of the overseas Chinese wholesale industry in southern Fujian in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. The founder Wang Shibei has a legendary life, from a poor "water guest", to "guest head", and then to Quanzhou's "father of the postal service", and then became a leader in the overseas Chinese criticism industry. Several people in charge of Wang Shun Xingxin Bureau are also enthusiastic about the public welfare undertakings in their hometowns, leaving a good reputation.
Hard work pays off
The ruins of Wang Shun Xingxin Bureau, which is composed of Qiyuan, Shipbuilding, Xiaxiang Study, etc., are now located in the Wanggong Community of Jiangnan Street, Licheng District, and are the seventh batch of provincial cultural relics protection units in Fujian Province. As a famous riverside hometown of overseas Chinese outside the south gate of old Quanzhou, the palace community has a large number of beautifully carved red brick houses, luxurious Western buildings, and a combination of Chinese and Western guest buildings. One of the most prestigious old buildings is the Wong Shun Xingxin Bureau.
The site of Wang Shun Xingxin Bureau has a bunker-style entrance
The founder of Wang Shun Xingxin Bureau is named Wang Shibei, who was born in a poor family in Wanggong Village, Quanzhou in the twelfth year of Daoguang of the Qing Dynasty (1832). At the age of 19, Wang Shibei went to Xiamen to earn a living, working as a boatman on a boat that walked in Little Luzon (Philippines). At that time, most of the people on the ship were overseas Chinese, who ferried in the vast sea in the hope of getting ahead in order to make a living. There is a Hokkien song "Fanke Song" that expresses the helplessness and bitterness of the early overseas Chinese, and the lyrics say: "Sing Fanke has this song, Fanbang takes advantage of the food to have no pocket (helpless)." I go out for the sake of life, leaving my father and mother and leaving a certain son (wife and son). Five years and eight years back to a pendulum (times), do cattle and horses to be dragged and grinded. Thinking of a certain son with a large drag (a large group), he is diligent and thrifty, and he does not dare to open half a melon (spend money). Although Shibei is a shipwright, he has the same frequency of bitterness as these overseas Chinese who are running around, being in a foreign land, not only the work is extremely hard, but there is not even a person around him who can speak to his heart, and the days of making a living on the bow of this ship are undoubtedly tormenting.
Postmark of the King Shun Xingxin Office of the Little Luzon
However, the hard work of Shibei has also paid off. According to Chen Rurong, director of the Quanzhou Overseas Chinese Historical Society, because Shibei has a good attitude towards new and old passengers in Nanyang, it quickly won the favor of overseas Chinese visitors. At that time, there were no postal and banking institutions in China, and overseas Chinese relied on their fellow villagers or "water guests" who had returned to China for correspondence and money. As a result, many overseas Chinese entrusted Shibei to bring silver letters to their families and pay him a certain amount of remuneration. Over time, Shibei's contacts gradually widened, and at this time, he simply set the rules of entrusting the bank letter, charging a commission of 2% of the money, and officially became a "water guest". After accumulating a certain amount of capital, Shibei decisively bought a ship and became a "guest" by himself, and specially hired "water passengers" to deliver silver letters. In this way, he quickly amassed a large amount of assets.
The earliest overseas Chinese approval bureau in Quanzhou was opened
After the end of the Second Opium War, China was forced to open more treaty ports along the coast, and some coastal ports saw abnormal prosperity in industry and commerce, which also promoted the development of the people's credit industry. In the 22nd year of Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1896), the Qing government officially opened the "Daqing Post Office", which gave birth to China's modern postal service, and also relaxed the threshold of private mail agencies. Wang Shibei was in line with this historic "outlet", and in the 24th year of Guangxu (1898), he applied to the Qing government to establish Wang Shun Xingxin Bureau. The letter bureau is the earliest overseas Chinese approval bureau in Quanzhou, and Wang Shunxing is also known as the "father of postal services" in Quanzhou.
Wang Shun Xingxin Bureau founder Wang Shibei (photo)
At that time, most of the Shinkudo were privately run commercial organizations, and the number of Shinkudo clerks ranged from a few to a few dozen. Wang Shun Xingxin Bureau's business location was originally opened at No. 79, Yiwenzhai Door No. 79, Xinjiewei New Road, Minlila (Manila), and in China, it set up a branch office in Xiaxiang Study, Wanggong Township, Xinmenwai, Quanzhou. Later, with the rapid development of domestic business, the focus of the letter bureau moved to Quanzhou Wanggong Township. Wang Shibei was nearly seventy years old at this time, in order to make the development of the letter bureau better, he first summoned his eldest son Wang Weiqi and nephews Wang Weiqi, Wang Weimu, Wang Weipi and others to assist in handling affairs, and later directly let Weiqi and Weiqi master the "customer head" business. In 1906, Wang Shibei mentioned in the "Book of Lots": "The guest head is in charge of the needle and the strange two, and the gains and losses in the future are not related to the goal and the skin, and they must not use words to make all kinds of things." The two cousins, Wei Needle and Wei Qi, have since become the new generation of power in Wang Shun Xingxin Bureau.
Wang Weiqi (flip photo)
Wang Weizhen (photo)
After the death of Wang Shibei in 1912, Wei Needle and Wei Qi sincerely cooperated, pursued the creed of "Lixin Liben", and actively expanded the business, so that the business of the letter bureau became more and more prosperous, and there were 15 or 6 full-time messengers equipped in Wanggong Township alone, as well as clerks, account offices and other staff. A postman's monthly salary can range from 30 yuan to 40 yuan, which was considered a "beauty difference" with a high income in those days. Every time the bank arrives at the credit office, the staff has to work intensively, sometimes even late into the night. It is said that at that time, there were often silver in the batch of silver, dragon silver, black silver, etc., and it was necessary to carefully distinguish its texture and weight, commonly known as "looking at silver". There is a saying among the old people in Wanggong Township, "If you don't hear the sound of knocking on the silver after passing through Wang Weizhen's house, you will definitely be unlucky", which is to express the prosperity of Wang Shunxingxin Bureau in a ridiculous tone.
In the heyday, in addition to operating overseas Chinese wholesale business, the Wang Shibei family also opened Shunxing Longbuzhuang in Manila, Philippines, Zhonghua Electric Light Factory in Gulangyu, Xiamen, and Tongji Qianzhuang and Taiyuan Automobile Company in Zhongshan Road, Xiamen.
Quite a unique shipbuilding and strange garden
In 1925, Wang Weizhen built a building that looked like a big ship in Xiatang, the royal palace of Quanzhou, which was later called the "ship building"; Immediately afterwards, Wang Weiqi also built a large number of buildings near Xiatang to build a villa in Qiyuan, which was officially constructed in 1928 and completed in 1930.
Qiyuan is a European-style villa
Mr. Chen Rurong is introducing the architectural characteristics of Qiyuan
According to Chen Rurong, the two buildings of the Shipyard and the Wonder Garden have their own characteristics, expressing different pursuits and concepts. Wang Weizhen's shipyard, now located at No. 26 Wang Gong Street, is a two-storey western-style building combining Chinese and Western styles. The front seat of the ship building is in the shape of the bow of the ship, and the back seat is a arcade-style row house, which has the shape of the stern of the ship, and looks down from the air, and the whole looks like a big ship that is about to sail away, so it is called "ship building". The engineering design is unique and profound, and the shape of this boat is said to remember that the Wang family made a fortune on the boat, which is closely related to the memory of the Maritime Silk Road. There is a long row of rooms in the back seat, which is said to have been used by the staff of the Information Bureau to handle banking letters and accommodation. There are carved wooden doors inside and outside the shipbuilding, covered with shuttered windows, porches densely covered with gun holes for shooting, and there are hidden patios in the inner courtyard.
There is a long row of rooms in the back of the ship, which is said to have been used by the staff of the Information Bureau to handle banking letters and lodging in the past.
Wang Weiqi's Wonder Garden, now located at No. 38 Wanggong Street, is a European-style four-story villa. The architectural blueprint of Qiyuan was designed for Qi's second son, Qinghui, and the British. In order to prevent flooding, the foundation of the building is more than 2 meters above the original ground. The whole building is a steel frame structure, with a height of about 16 meters. The front of the villa has 12 Roman columns that go from the first floor to the third floor, with clear lines and carved patterns up and down. From the outside, the building is designed as a front porch and a backstage, and the four corners of the building and the junction of the wall partition wall have square columns connecting and protruding, which looks very solid. The masonry, doors and windows of the building and the glazed tiles on the top floor are all constructed of European-style materials, which looks luxurious and magnificent. In front of the building, there are three levels of smoothed granite trapezoidal steps, and the stairs are the corridors. The living room on the first floor is 4.5 meters high, and the front and rear doors and windows are bright and bright, and the lighting is good. There are two rooms on the left and right sides of the hall, with built-in fireplaces, toilets, and small balconies, and the tall windows are equipped with stained glass and have three layers of leaf fans. The rooms on the second floor are basically the same as those on the first floor. On the third floor, there is also a secret room, hidden in the roof, and the entrance to the secret passage is in the large closet, which is breathtaking. The four-storey rooftop was equipped with a British spiral wind turbine and a water storage and filtration unit, which was extremely advanced at the time. In the fifties and sixties of the twentieth century, Qiyuan was once used as a township office, a canteen of the people's commune, and a warehouse for the production team. It is reported that the two marshals, Zhu De and Chen Yi, also visited the Wonder Garden when they visited the orphans in the army.
An elaborate fireplace in the Wonder Garden
The windows of the Wonder Garden have a three-in-one leaf fan
The shipyard and the strange garden were mansions at that time, and the two buildings reflected the prosperity of Wang Shun Xingxin Bureau at its peak.
Historical sites will be "reborn"
In the twenties and thirties of the twentieth century, when banditry was serious and social turmoil was in full swing, the Wang Shun Xingxin Bureau in Wanggong Township was also frequently robbed. The business premises of the letter bureau were the distribution center of the batch of silver, and it was guarded by the local regimental training (the head of the regimental training was Zhan Tingnan and Chen Hai, famous boxers in Xiazhou Village), which could be described as heavily guarded. However, Shinbu was sacked by bandits three times in 1923, 1927, and 1930. One of the heaviest losses was when more than 100 bandits broke through the gate of the letter bureau in the middle of the night and looted a large amount of silver stored in it, as well as the private jewelry and soft belongings of the Wang family's houses.
However, for Wang Shun Xingxin Bureau, the fatal blow is still to come. In the era of the second generation of rulers, Wang Shun Xingxin Bureau has entered the period of foreign exchange, and because of its good credit, it can still win and make profits steadily. However, in the twenties and thirties of the twentieth century, the Sino-Trust Bureau was led by a new generation of young people who became radical and engaged in speculation and started "trading in currencies" (similar to futures and options trading). In 1930, a severe financial crisis occurred in the United States, and the world economy was in a depression. Wang Shun Xingxin Bureau has suffered huge losses in the trading of water, affecting various shops at home and abroad. Eventually, the Shinto Bureau was declared bankrupt in 1935. Starting from Wang Shibei, Wang Shun Xingxin Bureau, which has been painstakingly operated by three generations, has also completed its 84-year journey of ups and downs.
The briefcase of the Information Bureau in the early years (remake)
The Wang Shibei family has always been enthusiastic about local public welfare undertakings. In 1930, Wang Weizhen carried out the activities of revitalizing education and running a school, changed the palace temple of the village to a primary school, and single-handedly donated funds to establish Taoying Primary School, and later hired squire Li Zao, Chen Zhangji, Chen Zhanggui and others to establish the Taoying School Board of Trustees to provide abundant funds to run the school. In addition, members of the Wang family have actively participated in the restoration of historical sites in Quanzhou, such as the stalagmite bridge and the Jieguan Pavilion, and have also donated funds to pave roads and build rain pavilions in Wanggong Township.
Now when you go to the ruins of Wang Shun Xingxin Bureau, you will find that the two buildings of Qiyuan and Chuanlou live next to each other, which can be said to complement each other, adding an elegant and romantic temperament to the palace community. After nearly 100 years of wind and rain, some of the walls of the two buildings have been mottled, but every crack engraved by time still exudes an unyielding atmosphere. They used to be "flowers" in the background of the great era, but now the lead has faded and is still dark and floating.
At present, Licheng District of Quanzhou is building a palace overseas Chinese historical and cultural district. It is reported that as the city's first "overseas Chinese + cultural tourism" project, the block will repair historical buildings, create archways, ancient theaters, ancient blessing boats and other landscapes, and build the palace overseas Chinese village memory museum, provincial overseas Chinese approval hall and other places. It is believed that at that time, the relics of the historical sites of overseas Chinese in the palace, including Wang Shun Xingxin Bureau, will be "reborn" with a new attitude.
Editor in charge: Huang Donghong