Shanghai Machine Weaving Bureau Of The Creation Process And The Reasons For Failure Investigated

As Sheng Xuanhuai has enjoyed a special status in modern Chinese history, especially in modem Chinese economic history, he deserves a certain profound case study. In recent years, with the assortment and publication of materials on Sheng Xuanhuai, such a case study has become possible. Based on the newly published Shanghai Mechanical Textile Bureau-Part Six of the Selection of Sheng Xuanhuai's Records, and referring to The Letters and Telegrams in Sheng Xuanhuai's Company, The Articles Kept in Yuzai Study and other relevant research publications, this thesis attempts to make a meticulous illustration on the relations between Sheng Xuanhuai and Shanghai Mechanical Textile Bureau (Huasheng Textile general Factory). It may help to further the study on this topic for others.Shanghai Mechanical Textile Bureau pioneered in Chinese modern textile industry, which was a typical civil enterprise set up in Yang-wu yun-tung (The West affairs movement). Its long and hard foundation, but short and unfortunate fate was a typical miniature of numerous enterprises set up in nineteenth century in China. Sheng Xuanhuai was the most outstanding one in modern Chinese economic history in his experience of being the combination of official, gentleman and merchant and his close relations with many major enterprises. Therefore, we can study the bureau and Sheng Xuanhuai together from the aspect of the relations between the managers' personal activities and the development of enterprises. It can help us to learn whatsoever difficulties the early managerial persons of enterprises had undergone when they built up, managed and ran the modern enterprises and what policies they had adopted in face of those problems and how was their influence. From this study, we may take a hint about some problems that should be solved in the development of Chinese economy. Thus, we may provide some useful references for Chinese economy's modernization.This thesis includes three main parts:Part II: the loan issue between Sheng Xuanhuai and Shanghai Mechanical Textile Bureau in 1879. It sets about from the foundation of the bureau, centring around what had happened when Peng Ruzong presided over the founding of the bureau. Owing to the shortage of money, at that time, the bureau mortgaged to Sheng Xuanhuai, hoping that it could promote the advance of the founding work. But the complication of the mortgage itself made the mortgage not only fail to meet the aim of promoting the founding of the bureau, but even accelerate the bankruptcy of Peng Ruzong's founding activity. By analyzing this, we may know Peng Ruzong's shortage of money in that period was exactly, due to which cause: the real shortage of money itself, the imperfection of the early Chinese financial system or the managerial staff's incompetence.Part III: The foundation and destruction by fire of Shanghai Mechanical Textile Bureau. In this part, the thesis starts from the problems arising in the procedures of Peng Ruzong's founding the bureau. By analyzing the technological defects in "the statement of making foreign cloth by ourselves" and the workers' account about the encountered difficulties in ordering machines and preparing the workshops, It tries toelaborate how the technological factors had hindered the early enterprises' establishment in the course of Chinese economy's modernization. Zheng Guanying and Sheng Xuanhuai and other managers of early enterprises had taken what measures in face of those problems and what influence it had had.Part IV: Sheng Xuanhuai and Huasheng Textile general Factory. In this part, it mainly discusses Sheng Xuanhuai's methods in founding and managing the early enterprise and then goes ahead to analyzing the causes why the early enterprises could not develop quickly and finally become the strong force to advance Chinese industrialization's widespread development.In brief, though the three parts focus on different topics, they all centers on the relations between Shanghai Mechanical Textile Burcau(Huasheng Textile general Factory) and Sheng Xuanhuai on be...