Work Bureau And Modern Shanghai Electric Power Lighting Industry Research, 1882-1929

The half-century from1880to1930constituted the formative years of the history of the electric supply systems. It was also the rising and formative era of electric lighting industry in modern Shanghai which basically developed with the same pace of the electric industry progress in the western world. This dissertation focuses on studying the equipments, electric techniques, investments, administration, business expenditure and revenue of the electric enterprises, as well as the system of generation, transmission, distribution of the electric power and the lighting network to reflect the main conditions during this period.The dissertation’s chief argumentation concentrates on the leading role of the municipal council of the International Settlement in the rising and developing process of this industry. It was the critical power of the very beginning and the largest scale of this industry in modern Shanghai, as well as the major reason why the industry started earlier and larger in settlement than Chinese Community in modern Shanghai. It also promoted the development of the electric lighting industry around Shanghai areas in modern period. Therefore, the dissertation’s chapters would expound the expression and the position of council’s leading role as "judge","law-executor","operator","manager", and "fugleman" in the industry’s development.With a total of6chapters, excluding the first chapter as the introduction, from the second chapter, the dissertation begins to expound the performance, the reason and the influence of the council’s leading role in the beginning of the industry’s historical course from the technology introduction, Shanghai Electric Co. construction to the council’s purchase. This chapter explains the assistance and resistance to the beginning of the electric lighting industry and reveals the conditions and characteristics of the industry’s rising process.The third and fourth chapters expound the council’s character as the "operator" in the industry development which promoted the industry to go on the scale road during36years. Thereinto, the third chapter focuses on describing the establishment of the Electrical Department of Municipal Council and the industry’s equipments, technology and the scale of generation, transmission, distribution as well as the public and private lighting network to reflect as the main business of the department, the industry’s developing tendency during the Feilun power station period. While the fourth chapter expounds the industry finally to go on the scale road’s process and it’s character as the subordinate business of the department during the riverside power station period.The fifth chapter expounds the administrative system of the electrical department and its identity which represented the foreign residents’ benefits, enterprise’s profits and colonial interests. This part focuses on the matter of "sale of electricity department" issue to explain why the independent issue brought out and its impediments. Giving consideration to the council’s industry policy, financial statement and engineering constructions, this part claims to reflect the characteristics of the management system, the motive and effects of the electric lighting industry constructions which operated by the Electrical Department of Municipal Council.The sixth chapter takes the electric lighting industry construction in International Settlement as an exemplification of the Chinese Community in Shanghai to describe the historical process of the industry undertaken in south and north Chinese Community and compare their characters between the two areas, in order to reveal the importance and critical influence of the government’s policy and administration to the industry’s development.The dissertation finally takes the electric lighting industry developed in modern Shanghai as an individual case to reflect the modernization process in Shanghai, which includes the modern municipal construction and administration, industry operation and management carried out by the municipal council from the western countries, especially from the Britain and the USA, as well as the modernization tendency which evolved from settlement to Chinese Community.