Research On Economic Development Of Modern Baoding City (1840—1937)

The evolution of the modern Chinese urban pattern system is determined by different development paths in different cities.Under the background of western invasion,modern China was passively involved in the world market system,and the original social order was also severely impacted.Economic factors have gradually replaced political and military factors,and have become the fundamental driving force for modern urban transformation,and a pattern system of political city decline and economic city rise has formed.As the provincial capital of Zhili,Baoding is an inland city located in the heart of a capital city.Before modern times,Baoding was a regional political and military center.Since modern times,its development has been relatively backward.Baoding started the process of modern transformation relying on the administrative force.The development of the urban economy is not the product of internal needs,but the result of political power.Its transformation is a top-down compulsory institutional change,and it belongs to an administrative-oriented development path,which is of typical significance in China's modern urban transformation.Before modern times,Baoding was prosperous by the military and prominent by politics.Its growth path conforms to the general law of China's traditional urban development,that is,political and military priority development.The promotion of political and military status has also strengthened the economic functions of the city.The size of the urban population has expanded,and agriculture,handicrafts,and commerce have developed in different degrees.As a result,it developed from a military town on the border in the Northern Song Dynasty to the capital of Zhili in the Qing Dynasty.The economic functions of Baoding mainly provide services for political and military functions.It belongs to a power-controlled economy,which has insufficient commercial and economic growth impetus,limited foreign trade capability and deformed economic structure.Since modern times,Baoding has opened the way to modern transformation under the strong promotion of the government.The macro policies of the state and the personal authority of officials and warlords are the main forces driving urban change.The economy of Baoding continues its tradition of relying on military politics.Baoding has shown the characteristics of co-existing "absolute development" and "relative decline" in social changes.The city has the characteristics of early modernization in the fields of industry,finance,transportation and communication,and commerce.Compared with emerging economic cities,Baoding has insufficient economic growth impetus and relatively slow development.In modern times,the Baoding regional market grew rapidly under the combined effect of traditional political forces and modern economic factors.By analyzing the structure of merchants,the structure of import and export of commodities,and the network structure of the market system,it can be found that it has not grown into an economic city,and it is still a traditional political and military city with consumer function as the primary.The Baoding market has shown a "rising first and then depressing" evolution process in modern times.The commercial hinterland has not only expanded unprecedentedly due to Tianjin's rising economic status and the construction of new modes of transport,but also weakened because of the loss of transportation hubs.The status of Baoding city is determined by its political function,and its economic function depends on its political function.The regional status of the city is closely connected with its administrative status.Since modern times,economic factors have become the main driving force for urban development.Although Baoding's market position has improved,its lack of economic function weakens the political function of the city,and its regional center position has been replaced by Tianjin.Chamber of Commerce is an important manifestation of modern business transformation in Baoding,and is the outcome of combining official and public demands.State administrative promotion is its main driving force.In different historical periods,the interactive mechanisms of the authority and Chamber of Commerce differ greatly according to the state authority and the degree of centralization.During a period of relatively weak national authority,the authority maintained its ruling order with the help of non-governmental forces such as Chamber of Commerce.The two parties have a mutually beneficial "contracting" relationship.Chamber of Commerce has extensively participated in a series of political,economic,and social activities and has played a role of counterbalancing the authority in a certain degree.When the state has a high degree of centralization,the authority would try to suppress social forces,and Chamber of Commerce would descend to an official vassal institution and accomplish nothing.The Baoding Chamber of Commerce is a local commercial organization with high administrative control.Its growth path is inseparable from the functional attributes of the city.The establishment and reorganization of Chamber of Commerce organization and the development of various major social activities have maintained close ties and high dependency with the authority.In the interaction between Baoding Chamber of Commerce and other chambers of commerce,there are more social attributes and fewer economic attributes,demonstrating the characteristics of lofty political status and insufficient economic capabilities of the city.Regarding Baoding's growth path,it is necessary to seize the dialectical relationship between "power and economic development" reasonably.Administrative power is the fundamental driving force for the urban transformation and economic development of Baoding.The state has avoided the declining fate of Baoding through compulsory reforms.However,excessive official power can also damage the legitimate power of the people and inhibit the vitality of regional economic growth.