An Investigation Into The Charity Work And Public Service Of The Cai Clan At Panhuo Bridge In The Eastern Yinzhou District Of Ningbo In Modern China

The Cai clan,who lived at Panhuo bridge,eastern Yinzhou district of Ningbo,used to live by farming.Among the members of the Cai clan,Cai Jun could be considered as the representative of the first generation who engaged in business in Shanghai since the modern times.Led by them,the descendants also successively went to Shanghai for business.By the early 1920 s,over a hundred people of the Cai clan had settled down in Shanghai.They involved themselves in the investment and construction of the traditional industries,which specifically referred to Shanghai Mechanical Textile Bureau,Caitong Detang(a Chinese medicine pharmacy),Cai Renmao glass and tinplate shop,Weicheng Textile Bureau of Ningbo and Dunxu bank,they gained impressive achievements in the emerging industries,including cotton textile industry,pharmaceutical industry,glass industry,financial industry and so forth.With the development in economic strength,a successful transition was made in the Cai clan,from farming to business.Sharing a similarity with the development paths of many Ningbo gangs,the Cai clan also brought benefits to the hometown after gaining wealth from the business activities.The philanthropic acts of the Cai clan could be mainly reflected in the aspects of water conservancy construction,social assistance as well as the cultural and educational undertakings.When considering the great number of the whole clan,a Shude Tang,which covers an area of 2012 acres,was built by Cai Jun to maintain the lives of those people who have no relatives and cannot support themselves.With the aim of ensuring that all the poor children in the village have access to education,Cai Jun built schools named Dunben and Xingyin respectively.The good deeds of Cai Jun,to some extent,laid the foundation for the Cai clan to become the prestigious clan in Ningbo.His descendants also inherited his virtues and continued the charity work.When it comes to the philanthropy work in terms of public welfare,it involved the issues including the reconstruction of the Ling bridge,the management of the Tuoshan weir,the participation of the relief activities,the establishment of the Tongzong Association in Shanghai,the donation to study tours and so forth.Besides the aspect of the public welfare,the Cai clan also focused its philanthropy on educational projects.As mentioned above,the Dunben school,which was built by Cai Jun,was aimed to provide poor children with the opportunities to be educated at no expense.Through the fund-raising,the descendants of Cai Jun expanded the Dunben primary school and the Xingyin primariy school.Both schools’ facilities were also improved.In addition to that,they also built Xingyin kindergarten and set up Xiaoshi middle school as well as Dagong vocational school.What they did effectively promotes the development of the local education.When it comes to the question why the Cai clan were passionate about the charity work,it is supposed to take the social and historical backgrounds as well as the clan factors into consideration.While the people of the Cai clan were influenced by Ningbo’s particular geographical environment,the trend as well as the change of the times,they were also affected by the tradition of doing good deeds and their personal beliefs.The charity work conducted by the people of the Cai clan not only helped them to win the social status and reputation,but also brought great significance to the local society.To be more specific,it lessened the stress of the government and helped to stabilise the social order.The investigation into the charity work of the Cai clan is quite meaningful even today,especially towards the construction of the harmonious society and the development of the charitable activities.