Research On The Change And Transformation Of Rong Baozhai In The Late Qing Dynasty And The Republic Of China

Rongbaozhai Art Gallery(Studio of Glorious Treasures)is an old stationer-y,calligraphy and painting shop.It is located in No.19,Liulichang street west,Xuanwu district,Beijing,with a history of over 300 years.The shop was fou-nded in 1672 in Liulichang,Beijing,selling southern writing paper by a Zhan-g’s family from Zhejiang province,under the name of Song Zhu Zhai.From then on,the shop started its legendary business journey.12 years of Guangxu(1894 A.D.),Song Zhu Zhai was bankrupt because of the economic depression in the late Qing Dynasty and the mismanagement of the owner.However,M-anager Zhuang Huchen made great efforts and turned the situation,a new shop inheriting Song Zhu Zhai was founded in the same year.This was the born of Rongbaozhai Art Gallery.Nowadays,Rongbaozhai Art Gallery has become a stationery,calligraphy and painting shop with worldwide fame.Under the bac-kground of the turmoil of war yeas,Rongbaozhai Art Gallery not only survive-d in the extremity but also stood out in many shops,and became the gold-let-tered signboard in Liulichang.Therefore,this thesis takes the research and ana-lyse of Rongbaozhai Art Gallery in the late Qing Dynasty and the republic of China period,seeking and summarizing the shop’s innovation in operation and management under that period of time,and the measures taken by the shop which could be used for reference in future business model.By research and a-nalysis the road to success of Rongbaozhai Art Gallery at that time,the mean-ing of enlightenment for the present gallery could be reached.The thesis is-divided into four chapters:the first chapter outlined the bus-iness scope and benefit of Rongbaozhai Art Gallery,analyzing the cause of its bankruptcy in the late Qing Dynasty,and therefore the born of Rongbaozhai Art Gallery.Zhuang Huchen,the first manager of Rongbaozhai Art Gallery isthe key figure and explained his tactics in continuation of the old shop’s bus-iness,and establishment of new scope of business which made the solid foun-dation of the boom of Rongbaozhai Art Gallery in Chapter 2.The operation s-trategy of Wang Renshan,who is the successor of Zhuang Huchen,in conside-ration with the historical background of Republic of China is discussed in Ch-apter 3.At this period of time,Rongbaozhai Art Gallery’s operating benefit re-ached its time high record owing to four kinds of management measures adop-ted by Wang Renshan successively.This chapter is the focus of the whole the-sis.The above mentioned four kinds of management measures shall be discuss-ed respectively,and collection of Rongbaozhai Art Gallery shall be introduced.Rongbaozhai Art Gallery and one of the most successful galleries in the Unite-d States—Gagosian Gallery,shall be compared,exploring the similarities and differences between the modes of operation.In Chapter 4,as the War of Res-istance Against Japan and the War of Liberation came one after another,the s-urvival of Rongbaozhai Art Gallery was very difficult.Finally,through the ac-tive efforts of many parties,Rongbaozhai Art Gallery finalized joint state priv-ate ownership during the early years of the People’s Republic of China,theref-ore,ushered a new leaf of history.