Research On The Rong Brothers And The Boycotting Movement In Modern China

The boycott of foreign goods was a large-scale patriotic movement by the modern Chinese people to resist foreign invasion.In the first half of the 20 th century,such large-scale boycotts were held more than ten times with the participation of all walks of life including students,merchants,workers and peasants.Those boycotts ranged from daily necessities and light industrial products such as cotton textiles to constructions of foreign factories and foreign investment in mining industry in China.Those movements dealt a political blow to imperialism and protected domestic economy from the dumping of foreign goods,and consequently created development opportunities for the national industry and commerce in China.The enterprise of Rong’s family in Wuxi epitomizes national enterprises that sprouted out from movement in modern China.Amid the boycotts,Rong Zongjing and Rong Desheng,known as the Rong Brothers,ascended as the “Flour King” and “Textile King” in China.As international trade grown in the 19 th century,the foreign idea of “survival of the fittest”reached the East,and later China was forced into the capitalist world market.In the wake of this,modern Chinese national bourgeoisie came into being and laid the foundation for the ensuing boycotts of foreign goods.In the early days of the Rong Brothers’ business,the national industry and commerce were struggling to survive and in want of development opportunities.As the renegotiation of Gresham-Yang Treaty failed,ignited Chinese people demonstrated a boycott of foreign goods.To competing for survival,the Rong Brothers seized the opportunity of people’s hatred on foreign goods and government’s support for domestic goods.Therefore,they established themselves in domestic industry and commerce sectors and their national consciousness was awakened in their pursuit of profit.In the middle of their business saga,the domestic and international turmoil,in the face of the big powers coercion and temptation,they were mired in the dilemma between righteousness or profit.During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression,the Rong Brothers refused to cooperate even though they were coerced by Japanese imperialism,and they responded actively to the national call for internal relocation of industry;even though some of its factories were destroyed,they were resolute in contributing to the war and safeguarding production in enemy-occupied territory,and thus they developed a mature national consciousness.As supporters and participants of boycotts,the Rong Brothers had seen their national consciousness gradually awakened during the successive boycott movements.By working closely with competent government departments,making full use of the relevant development policies,learning the advanced technology and management methods from other factories,organizing national associations to develop national brands,and responding to the government’s call to support the war,they expanded the scale of the boycotts,and played an important role in those,showcasing the true patriotism and national spirit of modern Chinese national entrepreneurs.