Study On Hand-rolled Cigarettes In Henan During The Period Of Republic Of China(1912-1949)

In Modern China,as Henan was located in the Central Plains,wars continued,bandits were rampant.Its economic developed slowly.But it became the most developed province of hand-rolled cigarettes in China by the resource advantage.This produced far-reaching effect on Henan’s social and economic and other aspects.Taking Henan’s hand-rolled cigarettes as the center,this paper inspects its plant conditions,developing process,construction of production,market structure and the managements of government and guild of hand-rolled cigarette industry.We discuss on its development and difficulties and effects as the representative of the Chinese handicraft industries,and then elaborate capitalism and modernization factors.Its development is somewhat alike to the development of township industries in China in 1980s.The research on manual cigarette industry has some experiences and lessons on the development of private enterprises at present.The British American Tobacco Company as the representative of the Western cigarette enterprises sold cigarettes in China.This changed the traditional smoking tobacco customs of people.In order to save the cost of production and get high profit,it planted flue-cured tobacco experimentally in Xiangcheng of Henan,succeeded and formed a production and distribution center of flue-cured tobacco in Xuchang.This led to the recession of Henan traditional tobacco industry.But it provided the market,raw materials and technical support for hand-rolled cigarette industry in Henan.In the early Republic of China,the people of Henan began to engage in manual cigarette.Before the Anti-Japanese War,the hand-rolled cigarettes of Henan lived tenaciously under oppression of foreign and national cigarettes,and began to take shape,they were on sale inside and outside the province.During the Anti-Japanese War,Tianjin,Shanghai,Tsingtao and Wuhan and other cities where lots of cigarette produced were occupied.The cigarettes were difficult to transport the inland area.The need on cigarettes in the Guomintang occupied areas and the change of manual cigarette policy of National Government made handmade cigarette industry of Henan developed rapidly.After the victory over Japan,Henan handmade cigarette once suffered strong impact from cigarettes that Shanghai and other cites produced,and the production and sales declined partly,but it still developed in the war and market fluctuations.Production techniques of hand-rolled cigarette industry in Henan came from the West.These techniques which used manpower or animal power were relatively backward,but they were very suitable for Henan which had adequate human resources and abundant raw materials.Families,workshops and factories which were engaged in producing hand-rolled cigarette in Henan manufactured a lot of inexpensive manual cigarettes,and they achieved great economic benefits.Some factories and families grew into modern cigarette factories through the accumulation of capital and the introduction of new technologies.But trademark administration of hand-rolled cigarette industry in Henan disordered.Fake trademark spread all over,which made the manual cigarette industry of Henan develop difficultly.Market of hand-rolled cigarette industry in Henan continued to expand.It formed some sales center within the borders of this province.This was connected with sale mode.Both legal and illegal sale modes combined,professional and part-time sales staff existed side by side,which made sales of hand-rolled cigarette flexible and made market fluent.But in the process of selling hand-rolled cigarette,manufacturers and merchants also encountered the problem such as forbidding sale and slow-selling.Forbidding sale was the local protectionism policy which some local government officials took because of discriminating cigarette consumption or maintaining regional stability,and slow-selling was mainly due to the imbalance of produce and sale.Policies of Nanjing National Government about hand-rolled cigarette industry varied with age and environment changes constantly.From arranging and banning within an indefinite time before Anti-Japan,to releasing during Anti-Japanese War,and then to tightening after the victory over Japan,they made manual cigarette industry of Henan undulate.After cigarette administration established,they controlled the production and sale of hand-rolled cigarette in Henan,strengthened tax collection and management,enhanced supervision about Cigarette production materials,helped handmade cigarette factory and families encountering a dilemma,investigated and dealt with illegal activities of manual cigarette industry.The series of measures not only regulated and maintained the development of hand-rolled cigarette industry of Henan,but also gained huge financial gains.Hand-rolled cigarette trade associations of Henan guarded the normal development of cigarette industry,but they struggle with cigarette administrations and personnel,which made both lead to tensions.While various special forces in society played a double-edged sword role in the development of hand-rolled cigarette industry in Henan.They promoted and protected hand-rolled cigarette industry of Henan,but,more important,they damaged it.Hand-rolled cigarette industry of Henan had profound effects on the national finance and economy,and regional economic development.It not only increased the national revenue,met the social demand,changed production pattern of cigarette industry in China,developed local economy in Henan Province,expanded social employment field.Hand-rolled cigarette industry of Henan was a kind of handicraft industry which was suitable for the economic development in modern China.It went a road of modern industrialization,but on the whole,until the eve of new China,it had not been through the road.On the other hand,hand-rolled cigarette industry in Henan and other provinces interfere with the development of cigarette industry,largely delayed modernization of cigarette industry in China.