Archives Collation And Research Of Ji'an County Chamber Of Commerce Before And After Anti-japanese War

The file of Ji'an County's chamber of commerce is rich in content and of great historical value for deepening understanding of the history of the chamber of commerce,and the history of war and regional society.On the basis of filing the archives of Ji'an County's chamber of commerce,this paper intends to investigate the development and evolution of Ji'an County's chamber of commerce before and after the Anti-Japanese War,and to explore its reorganization and internal construction before the war,its re-election disputes and function shifting during the war and the reconstruction of the order of it and local society in post-war time.This thesis attempts to reveal the historical and regional characteristics of the chamber and the political and economic changes of the society implied by those characteristics,while trying to make a further analysis to the relationship between the chamber of commerce and the local government from a short-term perspective.The KMT conducted reorganization of the chambers of commerce across the country after it unified China.However,due to the KMT-CPC civil war,reorganization of chamber in the Ji'an County had been delayed.At the end of June,1935,following the Red Army's withdraw,the Party Committee of the Ji'an County established an Chamber of Commerce Organizing Committee in Ji'an county,which was known as the CCOC and indicated a four-month period of transition for the chamber of commerce in Ji'an county.During the period,there were many disagreements between the CCOC and merchants over the former chamber's accounts that yet needed to be cleared,and those disagreements led to merchants' discontent.However,the CCOC was soon replaced by a new chamber of commerce,which indicated that the chamber of commerce in Ji'an county had entered a “Xiao Zongchuan age”.The chamber of commerce in Ji'an county witnessed profound development under the leadership of Xiao Zongchuan.It was structurally improved,and it established some subsidiary bodies like commerce night school,general fire fighting society,and self-defense forces for the interests of merchants.Xiao Zongchuan seized more and more control over the chamber during that process and it led to an embarrassing situation for the new president of the chamber when Xiao dismissed himself after a two-term tenure.In war period,because of its special geographical position,Ji'an developed rapidly as a central city of the Jiangxi Province.A great number of population,shops,and factories moved south to Ji'an in war time,which brought temporary prosperity tothe city's economy.But the prosperity rapidly declined due to failure of the “Zhe Gan Battle”.Under the change of war situation,intense controversies occurred between local and foreign merchants over the chamber's re-election.Meanwhile,Ji'an's chamber of commerce had underwent some change in its main functions.Apart from maintaining business order and regulating business activities,it had also shouldered an important responsibility of the time,i.e.providing assistance of varied forms to support the Anti-Japanese War.After the victory of the war,the chamber of commerce in Ji'an county entered a transition period.The CCOC,as a variant of the chamber in a special period,contributed a lot to the re-establishment of social order in Ji'an county.It initiated business registration,reorganized societies within same industries,prepared for re-election of the chamber,putting business order back on track and guiding all industries to recovery;it also rectified free ferry and fire protection services,setting people's minds at rest,while providing convenience to mass living and promoting business.At that time,the CCOC made multiple efforts to negotiate with the government of the Ji'an County over issues like tax,senator places,and allocation of surplus grain,which led to complex and dynamic relations between both parties.The chamber of commerce of Ji'an county was restructured again in 1946.From 1947 to1949,however,it seemed strong in will but weak in strength when facing turbulent political situation,business disorder,and military disturbance to market.Its failure in work reduced its authority upon all kinds of societies,which,in turn,weakened its foundation of existence.Finally,it went to an end after the liberation of the Ji'an county.The fate of the chamber of commerce of the Ji'an county provides a perspective from which we can get to know about the close relations between the chambers of commerce and local governments in the period of Nanjing National Government.