The Research Of Rice Price In Shanghai During ’Isolated Island’ Period

Grain problems matter vital to national strategies and citizens’ livelihood, so historians have given high attention to food shipping, distribution and prices all the time. Shanghai, as the largest food consumption market and entrecote trade market in China since modern times, occupies an critical position without saying. In this paper, based on microscopic environment of Shanghai and its grain price’s variation, we have analyzed the cause of this rapid variation in the’isolated island’ time. Also, countermeasures by all political forces and social problems induced by the rice price are included.In 1938, Japanese troops implement the control policy of important strategic supplies as know as’sustaining the war by means of war’which lead to a sharp drop on rice price and supply imbalance on the market. In addition, many profiteers see the ’business opportunities’from the rice speculation. All the above contribute to the price’s rising in the’isolated island’ time.People’s living costs increase along with rice price’s continuously rising. Hence, the working class who greatly rely on payments get from working hours will suffer a lot. In order to coping with the high rice prices, they ask for more wages and rice subsidies by means of strikes which are main ways to’persuade’ the capitalist class. Therefore, the high prices are the first factor to bring out the labor dispute. Secondly, life is much harder for the people who have no fixed income, and some of them are desperate to rob. More seriously, more than a few people are starved to death because they have nothing to eat during everyday.The government’s macro control policy is a important way to ease malignant development of rice prices. However, it is hard to implement because of the complex political environments in this special period. Not only concession regimes and occupied area regimes coexist, but also the Japanese forces are involved. Moreover, the Chongqing national government still has a certain influence of Shanghai as well.The government had gave a certain support on policy, and two concession authorities also actively control the prices cooperating with merchants.Nevertheless, their efforts take effect only in a short period of time, and the essential problem can not be solved. On the other hand, the Japanese forces and the puppet government do not sympathy people’s suffering, but encourage the rise of prices further. The economic policies from all of the above political forces also reflects their political position and purposes.