The Vicissitudes Of Society In Nanxun Of China

In this article,the author researches a town named Nanxun in Hangjiahu Plain in the northern part of Zhejiang province.Under the background of natural exploitation and human development of Taihu Basin,and the clue of rise and fall of silk industry since modern times,the paper describes the social changes of this special area during about a hundred years, analyzes the inside and outside factors of the silk industy's vicissitudes,as well as the ups and downs of businessmen' colony of Nanxun, and ulteriorly discusses the changes in the fields of social economy and culture in China.This thesis discusses the developing process of the silk industry and economy of the town in Nanxun.It divides the process into three stages,namely,before the Opium War,after the Opium War to late 19th century,from late 19th century to 1937. Before the Opium War,the development of Chinese silk industry mainly relys on domestic demand.After that until late 19th century,export and domestic sales have half each.After late 19th century,export sales are a large proportion.Since late 19th century ,the economy in Nanxun has developed continually and reach a peak between in the 1920s and 1930s,especially in the 1920s.Traditional rural professional economy makes great progress under the situation of new international trade and brings an unprecedented prosperity for Nanxun. After traditional handicraft industry fails to compete with machine produce of modern China,all kinds of "new"cottage industries rise up and temporarily recuperate after traditional handicraft's losses. Because of a close contact with international trade,on one hand,the traditional handicraft can develop rapidly,consequently brings the prosperity of the town.On the other hand,it also falls into a decline because of the changes of international market.During this process, the author points out several outstanding essentials:First of all,the impetus to promote economic growth of Nanxun mostly comes from the international demands for raw silk.Since the opening of five treaty ports and the evolution of the Shanghai port,the demands act directly on this area and make it develop continually.Secondly,as interior power goes,the fateful improvement happens in the 1870s,that is to say,castle silk is weaved into silk so as to export.The improving course is passive,not active. With the rise of machine silk industry,Nanxun finally falls into a producing area of the materials-----pods.Thridly,we should notice the private mode of operation based on the family,which has continued for several thousand years.Not only the agricultural economy of the combination of plough and weaving in Pre-Modem,but also a variety of machining industries rising in rural areas,the mode of operation regarding the family as a basic unit has never changed.Thus it can be seen that the rural economy of towns always behaves to accommodate "passively" itself to the western civilization in the face of the western civilization that modern industry is a representative of it. It hardly happens to affiliate contemporary factors to the commodities and the mode of operation.Therefore,as a traditional town,Nanxun is a representative of Jiangnan towns because of its great rise and fall.Its prosperity relys on the traditional silk industry and the trade of "Huzhou silk"rising from the industry.The demands for castle silk of market abroad impulse its development.Further more,the opening of five treaty ports and the repid evolution of the Shanghai port give Nanxun the chance to improve.When facing the western civilization,the town hardly has a desire to take adventage of the new technology for itself.lt even laughs at the machine silk industry,and is still immersed in reeling silk with indigenous method.Therefore,its decline is a inevitable result of the development of modern silk technology.lt is just the modern silk industry which seizes the oversea market in the first instance and then domestic marketFinally it makes the traditional silk industry decline.The modem fate of Nanxun is just the same as the fate of the traditional silk industry of China to a certain extent.From the late 1950s to the late 1970s,in the rural economic policy,Chinese govenment experiences to take a quantum leep and regress again.The course vividly shows that the family individualism possesses a stubborn vitality and a great adaptability.This kind of small-scale producing mode makes privite economy burst forth in the littoral province of China in the late 1970s.At the same time,countless markets of industrial products and agricultural products spring up,and propel the peerless urbanization process of rural towns,which is the continuation of the modern movement in Jiangnan towns during 1920s and 1930s.The private mode of operation in traditional society of small farmer has a stubborn vitality and follows to this day.