The Timber Trade And Forestry Practice In Lanzhou Regional Market In The Republic Of China Era,1937-1939

In 1930s,Japanese accelerated the invasion speed,and China’s national crisis had deepened.Developing the northwest of China became an important choice for the government to save the country.Under this background,the northwest of China had begun to accelerate to modernization,and all kinds of businesses were developing vigorously.The industrial development,the population growth,traffic construction and the demand for basic materials in the Lanzhou regional market had promoted the rise of timber trade in this market.In fact,Lanzhou was established as the timber trading center,with the Tao River Basin,the Daxia River Basin,and the eastern Qinghai as the raw material supply center.Tao River,Daxia river,Huangshui River,Datong River,Longwu River became the transport channels for timber trading network.The "Shaanxi Gang" once monopolized the timber trade in Lanzhou regional market.But after 1937,the "Shaanxi Gang" gradually declined in the timber trade of the regional market,and the timber merchants of the Hui ethnic group replaced them.There were two ways to get the huge business success in the timber trade for those timber merchants of the Hui ethnic group.The first kind was represented by the Xibei and the religious force Xidaotang.The quickly accumulated a great amount of wealth in the way of using the power of religion,and transformed into an economic group.Then they completed the transformation from a religious and economic force to the local political force with the aid of the timber trade.The second kind was represented by the Dongfang and Ma Bufang who was the most powerful warlord in Qinghai.With the help of military and political power,the warlords in southern Gansu and Qinghai controlled the raw materials and transportation of the timber trade,and sometimes they even used administrative means to beat the commercial rivals and finally achieved a huge commercial success.The booming timber trade in the region had aroused the concern of the government.Under the policy of "Controlled Economy" of the kuo Min Tang government,the Lanzhou Timber Merchants Guild was established.Under the background of "timber control",the improvement of timber tax continuously,the government’s loan to wood and the arrears of money,and the invasion of some military and political personnel directly to the property of the timber merchants had made the operation of ordinary timber businesses became worse and worse,and the timber trade in the regional market of Lanzhou gradually tended to be weak.The rise of timber trade had exacerbated the problem of forest deforestation as well.Therefore,the government implemented relevant forestry policies in Gansu.First,to carry out the work of protecting forests.The work failed because of the absence of governments.Second,afforestation movement.Afforestation along the Yellow River and forestation against the desert mainly failed.But the afforestation in Lanzhou had achieved a great success because Chiang Kai-shek once paid attention to it.In order to move closer to the highest power,the districts and counties were actively carrying out rural afforestation in the region.Thirdly,they carried out modern forestry education and forestry science practice.In a word,the rise and fall of timber trade in the Lanzhou regional market from 1930s to 1940s and environmental measures of the government in Gansu reflect the potential destructive power of "power" itself to commerce and the environment.The loss and abuse of power were the fundamental reasons for the worsening of the Gansu forest and the stagnation of the timber trade.