The formation and development of the Ningbo Gang

After the Opium War, with the invasion of foreign capitalism, businessmen flocked to economically developed cities to do business and formed business gangs. The more famous business gangs at that time included the "Guang Gang" and the "Hui Gang". ", "Fujian Gang", etc., but some business gangs gradually declined and disappeared, while the "Ningbo Gang" has endured for a long time and continues to develop and grow, especially the "Ningbo Gang" entrepreneurs in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and other places. It is world famous. Jiangnan Jingshi's poem "Ningbo Gang": "Many handsome people were born in East Zhejiang, and they traveled all over the world. The gangs competed in the economy, and achieved prosperity from generation to generation. Donate to reward Mr. Sun, and praise and recall Deng Gong. Take a look at Chen Zhan first, and you will be able to do what you want. "Tong!" ("Zai Jing Tang Ji·Jiangnan Jingshi Poetry Manuscript")

The formation of Ningbo merchant gangs was from the late Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty. The main sign of its formation is the establishment of the Yinxian Guild Hall in Beijing by Ningbo businessmen. (The Merchant Guild is an organization of merchants from the same hometown. Its main function is to communicate with each other, promote mutual assistance, solve problems, and enhance the competitiveness of foreign merchants through gatherings with fellow villagers, worshiping gods, and various public welfare activities.) The Yinxian Guild Hall was founded during the period from Wanli to Tianqi in the Ming Dynasty. The founder was a pharmaceutical businessman from Yinxian County in Beijing. Slightly later than the Yin County Guild Hall was the Zheci Guild Hall, which was founded in the early Qing Dynasty, namely the "Cixi County Garment Industry Merchants Guild of Zhejiang Province".

So the late Ming and early Qing dynasties were the initial stages of formation of the Ningbo merchant gang. Its main area of ??activity was in Beijing, and its main business industries were the medicinal materials industry and the garment industry.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, China had formed ten major business gangs. They are: Shanxi Commercial Gang (Jin Gang), Huizhou Commercial Gang (Hui Gang), Shaanxi Commercial Gang, Dongting Commercial Gang, Jiangyou Commercial Gang (Jiangxi) Shandong Commercial Gang, Guangdong Commercial Gang (Guangdong Gang), Fujian Commercial Gang ( Fujian Gang), Ningbo Commercial Gang, Longyou Commercial Gang (Zhejiang).

The first important development period after the formation of the Ningbo Gang was the Qianjia period of the Qing Dynasty. During this period, Ningbo helped maritime merchants develop rapidly. The Ningbo Gang operates not only in the Yangtze River and the Northern and Southern Oceans, but also extends overseas, operating legal and large-scale trade with Japan. Due to the great development of the Ningbo gang during this period, an ordinary business gang in China's coastal areas suddenly became a famous business gang in the country. By the time the Opium War broke out in 1840, China had evolved from the top ten merchant gangs to a new pattern in which the Shanxi Gang, the Guangdong Gang, the Fujian Gang and the Ningbo Gang competed for supremacy.

The second important development period after the formation of the Ningbo Gang was the decades after the Opium War.

After the Opium War, the Ningbo Gang relied on its special favorable conditions to quickly intervene in the emerging field of foreign trade, and formed a new business group of the Ningbo Gang represented by comprador merchants and import and export merchants. What is a comprador? A comprador is a Chinese manager in a foreign-funded firm and an intermediary in trade between China and the West. We say that compradors and import and export merchants are new types of merchants because the exchange they engage in is no longer the traditional exchange with small farmers as the two ends of the exchange, but international trade in which Chinese agricultural products and Western industrial products are exchanged. This exchange has impacted China's deep-rooted natural economic pattern with unprecedented intensity, clearing the way for the development of the commodity economy.

In modern times, Ningbo comprador merchants first developed in Shanghai. The first comprador from Ningbo in Shanghai was Mu Bingyuan from Dinghai. After the 1880s, Shanghai's Ningbo Gang of Compradors had surpassed the Guangdong Gang and ranked first among the comprador groups until the comprador system was abolished. Through the development of this period, the Ningbo Gang established its dominance in Shanghai, the most important economic center in modern times.

The third important development period after the formation of the Ningbo Gang was the 1880s, especially after the 1890s. Its main feature is that Ningbo Bang businessmen, who are mainly new businessmen, invest business profits in emerging fields such as shipping, finance, industry, etc., forming strong Ningbo Bang financial capital and industrial capital. During this period, the Ningbo Gang was based in Shanghai, the bridgehead of my country's opening up to the outside world at that time, and created about 100 firsts in the country, and a number of "kings" emerged, describing a century of glory in China's industrial and commercial history. Here are just ten examples:

1. In 1854, Fei Lunzhi of Cixi, Li Yeting of Zhenhai, and Sheng Zhiguan collected 70,000 taels of silver and purchased China's first ship from the United Kingdom, named " Baoshun" and equipped with weapons to escort merchant ships.

2. In 1862, Ye Chengzhong from Zhenhai opened the Hardware Store in Shanghai. This was the first hardware store opened by a Chinese in Shanghai. It later developed to 38 branches and joint stores across the country. 108 companies, known as the "Hardware King".

3. In 1896, Bao Xianchang of Yin County, his brother Xian En, brother-in-law Xia Ruifang and others founded the Commercial Press. Later, it developed into a large-scale publishing enterprise with the largest scale and outstanding contributions in my country's modern history.

4. In 1897, Yan Xinhou from Cixi, Ye Chengzhong from Zhenhai, and Zhu Baosan from Dinghai founded the first Chinese bank in Shanghai, China Commercial Bank.

5. In 1910, Wang Caiyun of Fenghua founded Rongchangxiang Woolen Suit Co., Ltd. on Nanjing Road, Shanghai. As the originator of Shanghai's suit industry, Sun Yat-sen once customized suits in this store. Later, Mr. Zhongshan designed and tried on his first set of Chinese tunic suits, which was born in Rongchangxiang.

6. In 1912, Zhenhai Fang Yexian founded the Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. in Shanghai and set up my country's first daily chemical factory to produce tooth powder, toothpaste, mosquito coils, soap, etc., and Fang was called China's daily chemical factory. Founder of chemical industry.

7. In 1915, Sanbei Aviation Group was founded by Yu Qiaqing of Zhenhai (now Cixi). It was the largest commercial shipping group in my country at that time, with a total tonnage of more than 91,000 tons, accounting for approximately one-seventh of the total tonnage of the national shipping industry in the country.

8. On August 13, 1922, Dong Xingsheng of Zhenhaizhuang City created the first bus line in Shanghai - the line from Jing'an Temple to Caojiadu.

9. In 1923, Zhou Xiangsheng of Dinghai founded Xiangsheng Taxi Company in Shanghai. By 1937, the company had 22 branches and 230 taxis, ranking first in Shanghai's taxi industry.

10. Liu Hongsheng of Dinghai started his career in the coal industry and was known as the Coal King. The Great China Match Company he founded in 1930 was the largest match factory in China at the time, accounting for a quarter of the country's annual match production. Known as the Match King, he later established dozens of companies across the country and was also called the Enterprise King.

In the process of founding and operating modern enterprises, a large number of entrepreneurs and financiers with wide influence emerged in Ningbo's industrial and commercial circles, forming a group of Ningbo's modern entrepreneurs. Relying on its strong economic strength, extensive social relations, and strong awareness of the times, the Ningbo Gang has become the largest business gang in China through great development during this period.

The fourth important development period after the formation of the Ningbo Gang was the decades after the 1940s and 1950s. During this period, a group of Ningbo industrial and commercial people moved overseas, but most of the Ningbo industrial and commercial people continued to develop around Hong Kong, an international free trade port. Their descendants, together with the Ningbo people who immigrated overseas after the 1980s, Known as the modern overseas Ningbo Gang, their achievements overseas have attracted worldwide attention.

Bao Yugang from Zhenhaizhuang City came to Hong Kong from Shanghai to settle in early 1949. He first engaged in import and export trade. In 1955, he started with an old cargo ship and began to engage in maritime shipping. After more than 20 years of hard work, Global Shipping Group was established. By the end of the 1970s, it owned more than 200 large and giant ships with a total tonnage of more than 20 million tons, exceeding the total tonnage of the fleets owned by the United States or the Soviet Union at that time, ranking first in the world's shipping industry head. He was elected as chairman of the International Independent Shipowners Association and became the world's shipping king. After entering the 1980s, it successively acquired the shares of Wharf and Wheelock & Company from British-owned groups, and invested in two airlines, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair. Its business scope covers shipping, real estate, hotels, communications, aviation, warehousing, terminals, and trade. wait.

Shao Yifu from Zhenhaizhuang City. In 1925, he and his elder brother opened Tianyi Film Company in Shanghai. In 1926, he and his third brother Shao Renmei went to Singapore to develop the film market, and later established "Shaw Brothers". In 1958, he and Shao Renmei established Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. Over the past decades, the Shaw Brothers have produced more than 1,000 films, and 32 of them have won various international awards. Many films are full of anti-imperialist and anti-feudal patriotic plots and have been well received and praised by people from all walks of life.

He owns 200 cinemas in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea, India and other places, with up to 1 million visitors every day. In the 1970s, the Shaw Brothers got involved in the rapidly developing television industry. Known as the king of film and television. He was promoted as one of the top ten richest people and one of the top ten most successful entrepreneurs in Hong Kong.

Bao Congxing from Zhenhaizhuang City went to Hong Kong in 1946 and successively engaged in the electronics and textile industries. After 1960, he founded a textile factory in Ghana, Africa, and later developed into a large-scale textile enterprise group, ranking first in the African textile industry. When Premier Zhou Enlai visited Africa in 1965, he met with Bao Congxing alone.

Zhenhai’s Zhang Minyu is Taiwan’s cement king; Zhenhai’s Fu Zaiyuan is known as Tokyo’s grain king; Zhenhai’s Zhang Jimin is known as the “New California Real Estate King” in the United States; Zhenhai’s Ying Xingjiu was in the United States in 1973 He bought the top floor of the 107-story skyscraper of the World Trade Center in New York and opened a gift shop (later destroyed in the 9.11 incident). In 1979, he was elected as the chairman of the National Overseas Chinese Association.

There are also Ningbo gang members from Yin County who have also created remarkable achievements overseas. Wang Kuancheng is a famous entrepreneur in Hong Kong and the former president of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce; Chen Tinghua is the king of Hong Kong cotton spinning; Cao Guangbiao is the king of Hong Kong wool textile industry; Li Huili is the king of Hong Kong watches; Qiu Degen is the king of Hong Kong entertainment; Wang Chuanlin is the king of Taiwan cotton spinning; Fan Suijiu opened in Denmark "Dalong Food Factory" is engaged in the processing and sales of spring rolls, and is later known as the Spring Roll King.

With the rapid development of my country's reform, opening up, modernization construction, and the return of Hong Kong and Macao, overseas, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are actively investing in various fields of the mainland's social economy, and Ningbo Gang has entered a new period of development. . Under this situation, the overseas Ningbo gang and the emerging mainland Ningbo people are actually merging into a new type of modern and contemporary Ningbo gang. This rising modern and contemporary Ningbo Gang has produced several new organizations. For example, many cities such as Beijing, Tianjin, Nanjing, and Shanghai have established the Ningbo Economic Construction Promotion Association with Ningbo citizens as the main body. In particular, the Shanghai Economic Construction Promotion Association and the Ningbo Folks Association, two brands and one team, publish the journal "Maritime Ningbo People". Our Zhenhai Zhongxing School Alumni Association Shanghai Liaison Office is still a member of their group. These associations can not only adapt to the new social reality, but also have a distinctive hometown flavor. They have played a considerable role in communicating information, strengthening exchanges, enhancing understanding, solving difficulties, and promoting the coordinated development of Ningbo's economy and society.