On Opening Zhoucun Port And The Commercial Development Of Modern Zhoucun

The incident of self-open port was a pioneering work in the history of modern China's opening. It shows the Chinese people were unwilling to be devastated freely by western imperialists, they began to deal with the invasion of western economy actively, and searched for the way to strengthen the country and the people. But the Qing Dynasty became corrupt and degenerate, lost its sovereign rights, and the power to control and adjust its foreign trade had been weakened, so China couldn't prevent the western imperialists from economic invasion or robbing natural resources. Under such circumstances, self-open ports couldn't get away from the limitations of its era, change the fate of losing sovereign rights and being invaded economically by the west, and strengthen China and its people.Zhoucun, which was an old inland town, has its commercial culture for thousands of years. In 1904, Zhoucun port was opened by Qing Dynasty, together with Jinan and Weixian. The event of opening Zhoucun port was not isolated or accidental, but a necessity under the complex circumstances. Depending on its outstanding geographical advantage and convenient transportation, as well as the acts of donating to pay taxes and setting up the tablet of non-taxes, Zhoucun had developed from an early country fair trade area into a trade center in northern and central Shandong, and also the center of silk production, procession and trade in northern China. Apart from these above reasons, the completion of Jiaoji railway and German's further invasion in Shandong peninsula led into the opening of Zhoucun port.In May, 1904, a month before the completion of Jiaoji railway, the Qing Dynasty ratified the memorial to the throne by Yuan shikai and Zhoufu, and opened Zhoucun port, Jinan port and Weixian port at the same time. Opening three inland ports simultaneously was a pioneering work. The three opened inland ports coordinated with old ports, which was a strategy in local economy program. Meanwhile, the opening of Zhoucun port caused Chinese people to think about how to refuse the invasion of the west and strengthen their country and people, and also caused a new tide of self-opening ports after Japan-russian War. After Zhoucun port being self-opened, Zhoucun's commerce developed rapidly and continued leading Shandong inland economy for many years. Being one of the several self-opened inland ports of success, Zhoucun should be given much emphasis in the history of modern China, especially of modern Shandong.After being opened, Zhoucun's commerce started its way of modernization. When foreign traders came and invested in Zhoucun in a large number, new commerce and industries appeared, traditional commerce developed rapidly, the function of woods collection and distribution became more prominent, and Zhoucun commerce came to the peak. In the late 1920s, because of the influence of subjective and objective factors, Zhoucun's commerce began to weaken after quite-a-long-time prosperity. This article totally analyzes the reasons. Firstly, the advantage of economic geography was weakened and transferred, many new commercial center such as Jinan came into being. Secondly, the Qing Dynasty became corrupt and degenerate; Wars and turmoil occurred now and then, here and there. Thirdly, the city's commerce and industry developed differently. The city's modern industry base was very weak, and its production was very single. Fourthly, the local traders stuck to old ways and old business concepts. Fifthly, The western politics and economy influenced Zhoucun's commerce deeply. Besides, Zhoucun didn't get high administrative rank; The market capital was not steady; social guaranty system was not complete; and so on.