Socialist Transformation Of Handicraft Industry In Zhejiang From 1953 To 1956

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China,and especially three years after the recovery and development of the national economy,our country began to have large-scaled industrialization construction and ownership reform.Handicraft industry,with agriculture and capitalist industry and commerce,the so-called "three transformations",not only keeps close contact with the production and life of both urban and rural residents,but also has important influence on the development of industry and agriculture.This paper,taking materials from Archives of Zhejiang and local literature,analyses the background,process and result of socialist transformation in handicraft industry during 1953-1956 in Zhejiang.In 1953,based on the Soviet economic model,China began to implement the first five-year plan of national economy.However,the shortage of modern industrial machines and the backward mode of production could never meet people's daily needs,thus a large part of which could only satisfied through handicraft production,especially in the field of agricultural production.Lots of farm tools and their maintenance still relied on handicraft industry.At the same time,in the process of industrialization,handicraft industry,while attracting urban and rural surplus labor force,not only contributed to the stability of the society,but also trained skilled workers,which provided important industrial backup technicians for the state-owned enterprises.Compared with other parts of the country,Zhejiang is one of the most developed areas in traditional handicraft industry.It has its own features.In the transformation of handicraft industry,people in Zhejiang actively carried out the reform policy issued by the central committee of the communist party.Also the handicraft industry in Zhejiang,on the other hand,was promoted through the transformation.To realize the socialist reform,the handicraft industry in Zhejiang,relying on workers association and provincial administrative organization,pushed craftsmen on the way to collectivism.Through the socialist education and class divisions,the ideological consciousnesses of craftsmen were promoted and at the same time the grass-roots power control was strengthened.New management system was set up to correspond to the changes brought by the production organization.With poor infrastructure,shortage of funds and other objective factors,it's a relatively good choice to organize individual craftsmen,carry on the division of labor cooperation and improve production efficiency.Although mechanization and half mechanization helped the handicraft industry from manufacturing cooperatives to collective enterprises and state industry,the priority to the development of modern industrial policy,with the background of national industrialization,hindered the gradual development of handicraft industry.The shortage of material resources and low technical level also had bad influence on handicraft production.In addition,the income reduction of artisans,and the backward management of the cooperative mode caused a long-term stagnation after the climax of reform.Some failure to appreciate the nature and characteristics of regional rival industrial skill also influenced the inheritance of handicrafts.Handicraft socialist transformation was completed successfully in the short term,which fully reflected the country's strong organizing power.However,in the process of transformation,especially after the cooperative climax,the problems exposed showed people's rush decision and over implication at that time.