Chinese Capitalists in Japan’s New Order : The Occupied Lower Yangzi, 1937-1945

In this probing and original study, Parks M. Coble examines the devastating impact of Japan's invasion and occupation of the lower Yangzi on China's emerging modern business community. Arguing that the war gravely weakened Chinese capitalists, Coble demonstrates that in occupied areas the activities of businessmen were closer to collaboration than to heroic resistance. He shows how the war left an important imprint on the structure and culture of Chinese business enterprise by encouraging those traits that had allowed it to survive in uncertain and dangerous times. Although historical memory emphasizes the entrepreneurs who followed the Nationalists armies to the interior, most Chinese businessmen remained in the lower Yangzi area. If they wished to retain any ownership of their enterprises, they were forced to collaborate with the Japanese and the Wang Jingwei regime in Nanjing. Characteristics of business in the decades prior to the war, including a preference for family firms and reluctance to become public corporations, distrust of government, opaqueness of business practices, and reliance of personal connections (guanxi) were critical to the survival of enterprises during the war and were reinforced by the war experience. Through consideration of the broader implications of the many responses to this complex era, Chinese Capitalists in Japan's New Order makes a substantial contribution to larger discussions of the dynamics of World War II and of Chinese business culture. This book examines the devastating impact of Japan's invasion and occupation of the lower Yangzi on China's emerging modern-business community. Arguing that the war gravely weakened Chinese capitalists, the author demonstrates that in occupied areas the activities of businessmen were closer to collaboration than to heroic resistance. He shows how the war left an important imprint on the structure and culture of Chinese business enterprise by encouraging those traits that had allowed it to survive in uncertain and dangerous times. Although historical memory emphasizes the entrepreneurs who followed the Nationalist armies to the interior, most Chinese businessmen remained in the lower Yangzi area. If they wished to retain any ownership of their enterprises, they were forced to collaborate with the Japanese and the Wang Jingwei regime in Nanjing. Characteristics of business in the decades prior to the war, including a preference for family firms and reluctance to become public corporations, distrust of government, opaqueness of business practices, and reliance on personal connections (guanxi) were critical to the survival of enterprises during the war and were reinforced by the war experience. Through consideration of the broader implications of the many responses to this complex era, the book contributes to larger discussions of the dynamics of World War II and of Chinese business culture Acknowledgments......Page 12 Introduction......Page 20 1. Surviving the Fall of Shanghai......Page 30 2. Japan’s New Order......Page 52 3. Establishing Control: The North China and Central China Development Companies......Page 68 4. Puppet Governments and Chinese Capitalists......Page 86 5. Individual Firms and the War Experience......Page 120 6. The Rong Family Industrial Enterprises and the War......Page 133 7. Textile and Consumer Industries in the War Era: Beyond the Rong Model......Page 159 8. Chemical and Match Industrialists......Page 186 9. China’s Rubber Industry......Page 214 Conclusion......Page 224 Notes......Page 234 Bibliography......Page 272 Glossary......Page 294 Index......Page 304 "In this original study, Parks M. Coble examines the devastating impact of Japan's invasion and occupation of the lower Yangzi on China's emerging modern business community. Arguing that the war gravely weakened Chinese capitalists, Coble demonstrates that in occupied areas the activities of businessmen were closer to collaboration than to heroic resistance. He shows how the war left an important imprint on the structure and culture of Chinese business enterprise by encouraging those traits that had allowed it to survive in uncertain and dangerous times."--BOOK JACKET. Examining the impact of Japan's invasion and occupation of the lower Yangzi on China's emerging modern business community, this text argues that the war gravely weakened Chinese capitalists showing that in occupied areas the activities of businessmen were closer to collaboration than resistance In the month immediately following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of July 7, 1937, the fighting between China and Japan was confined to north China, and hope for a settlement seemed viable.