Transformation And Reconstruction:Research To Formation And Evolution Of Shanghai Industrial District (1843-1941)

The author agrees the view of a predecessor of Jiangnan economic history that a breakthrough of regional history depends on interaction between Shanghai and Jiangnan, and also thinks that the breakthrough of this field not only needs vision, but also needs a theoretical framework to study economic growth and economic space of the region. We hold the opinion that there was a new special industry space——Shanghai industrial districts(上海产业区)——including the region of trading port(商埠区),the region of cotton production(产棉区)and the region of silk production(产丝区)The spatial dimension of Shanghai industrial district only included the region of trading port and the region of silk production before 1895, extended to the region of cotton production, and stopped expanding in the middle of 1920’s. In short, the core-zone of the region had already enlarged to Tonghai plain and Ningshao plain beyond traditional Jiangnan region.We analyze industrial transformation and areal division of the cities in the region of trading port, the region of cotton production and the region of silk production in modern time. The details are as follows.Shanghai had become a growth pole of the industrial district, through agglomeration and diffusion effect, not only procured economic growth of itself, but also dominated industrial transformation of the periphery cities since 1843. The industrial transformation of Shanghai industrial district in modern time happened in the flour processing industry, the cigarette industry, the rice milling industry, the shipbuilding industry, the machine manufacturing industry, the cotton textile industry, the silk reeling and weaving industry. Machine production was quickly universal in most of industries except the cotton textile industry and silk reeling and weaving industry. The latter industries were crucial to the region. Process of transformation of the latter wasn’t accomplished in one move. Productivity of spinning and reeling machine was much higher than that of the manual production, so the large-scale machine production was universal in the late Qing Dynasty and the early of the Republic of China. Transformation process of the cotton textile industry and silk weaving industry was slower. In the early of the Republic of China, The leading hand machine(龙头手拉机)was introduced by some silk weaving firms, and widely accepted. During World War I, the power loom(电力织机)was introduced by some manufacturers of Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, became prevailing in the middle of 1920s. The quantity of the power loom was over the one of the leading hand machine on the eve of the anti-Japan war(抗战前夕)The transformation of the cotton weaving industry was the slowest. The industry firstly introduced the hand machine(手拉机)in the late Qing Dynasty and the early of the Republic of China, widely used in 1925 or so. The iron turbine machine(铁轮机)was introduced in the early of 1900s, but used widely from the beginning of 1925. The cotton weaving firms of Shanghai, Wuxi, Changzhou more widely used than the others, even used power iron turbine machine(电力铁轮机)The handmade cloth(土布)centers such as Nantong, Changshu began to use the iron turbine machine, but still in the state of decentralized production. In a word, machine production in large-scale of the cotton textile industry and silk reeling and weaving industry gained greatly competitiveness to handmade production in the cities of Jiangnan on the eve of the World War II. The transformation was almost successful, but hindered by Japanese invasion and the subsequent controlled economy policy.Development of the urban industry had fundamentally changed urban system and economic structure of Shanghai industrial district. Shanghai became a major comprehensive center of trade, finance and industry. Ningbo, Suzhou, Zhenjiang, Hangzhou were secondary centres of trade and finance. Shanghai, Wuxi, Changzhou, Nantong were the cities with a developed cotton textile industry. Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Huzhou had a developed silk reeling and weaving industry. Wuxi had a developed silk reeling industry. Because of the fact that most of modern industries were located in cities, the towns as a distribution hub of the silk, cotton, rice and handicraft industry lost their former glory. Industry division and cooperation fundamentally change the relationship of the cities. Suzhou, Hangzhou, the two urban systems of Centrality(中控型)were united into one, Shanghai urban system of Concentration(聚合型)A core-periphery structure between the Shanghai and the peripheral cities came into being. It was an embryonic form of the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis (都市连绵区)There were an axis of economic geography (经济地理横轴),that is, Shanghai-Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou-Zhenjiang. There were two growth triangles (成长三角).The north one was Shanghai-Zhenjiang-Nantong. The south one was Shanghai-Hangzhou-Ningbo.Industry transformation and economic growth of the industrial district was the outcome of international competition, which forced the Leading industries of the region to abandon the backward technology, and adopted modern mechanization, and finally led to exponential growth of output of industry and economy. The three regions took advantage of their comparative advantage to realize economic growth. And economic growth was the result of interaction of region of trading port, region of cotton production and region of silk production.