The Gentry Merchants In Jiangsu And Zhejiang Provinces And The Railway Agitation (1905-1908)

Railway agitation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces is an important political and economical event in the early 20th century.In the process of building railway by merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, the gentry merchants of Zhejiang province started their action first for opposing America casting greedy eyes on the Zhejiang and Jiangxi railway, and they were prompt to talking over building the railway in Zhejiang province. Following them, the gentry merchants in Jiangsu province also wanted to build the railway by themselves through the fighting in taking back the right to manage Shanghai-Nanjing road. All these reflect the power of the gentry merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces become stronger and stronger. With the establishment of theRailway Company in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, the voice of abolishing the Suzhou-Hangzhou and Ningbo railway informal contract became higher and higher which formed into an independent social power affecting directly the Foreign Affairs Department of the Qing dynasty to negotiate with the British government. Wang Daxie proposed loan from the Great Britain after the Treaty Abolishing Movement turned out unsuccessful, which was protested by the gentry merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. But the Foreign Affairs Department of the Qing dynasty decided finally to loan from the Great Britain under the diplomatic pressure, which intensified the contradiction between the gentry merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and the Foreign Affairs Department of the Qing dynasty. So the gentry merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces started the repelling-loan movement. Then the Foreign Affairs Department of the Qing dynasty required the gentry merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces to send representatives to Beijing negotiating with them. The gentry merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces decided to send representatives to Beijing after several meetings, fulfilling the transformation from the right of benefit to the consciousness of participating the politics affairs, which embodied the advancement of the struggle of the gentry merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.This article reviews the gentry merchants'important part played in building the railway managed by them in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, unequal treaties abolishment and repelling-loan movement, probing into the relationship between the gentry merchants and the Qing Government ,revealing the changes of the gentry merchants'consciousness with the cut-in point of the gestation and development of the power of the gentry merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.