“Many a Long Day”: HSBC and Its Note Issue in Republican China, 1912–1935

Niv Horesh

doi:10.1093/es/khm101

“Many a Long Day”: HSBC and Its Note Issue in Republican China, 1912–1935

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 February 2015

Niv Horesh

Article contents

Abstract
References

Get access

Rights & Permissions

Abstract

This article utilizes the local banknote circulation volumes of HSBC, the largest foreign bank in China, as a gauge with which to explore political stability and state-building during the Republican era (1912–1935). It will challenge the prevailing view that British banks faced little resistance in China through the 1920s–1930s, and expose new archival evidence on the perception of, and mobilization against, foreign banks.

Type: Articles
Information: Enterprise & Society , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , March 2008 , pp. 6 - 43

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/es/khm101 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © The Author(s) 2008. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Business History Conference. All rights reserved.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bibliography of work cited

Borg, D. American Policy and the Chinese Revolution. New York, 1947.Google Scholar

Carroll, J. Edge of Empires: Chinese Elites and British Colonials in Hong Kong. Cambridge, MA, 2005.Google Scholar

Chan, Kai Yiu. Business Expansion and Structural Change in Pre-War China. Hong Kong, 2006.Google Scholar

Chen, Shao-teh. Etude sur le marche monetaire de Changhai. 1932. Reprint, New York, 1982.Google Scholar

Cheng, Linsun. Banking in Modern China: Entrepreneurs, Professional Managers and the Development of Chinese Banks, 1897–1937. New York, 2003.Google Scholar

Coble, P. The Shanghai Capitalists and the Nationalist Government, 1927–1937. Cambridge, MA, 1980.Google Scholar

Cochran, S. Big Business in China: Sino-Foreign Rivalry in the Cigarette Industry, 1890–1930. Cambridge, MA, 1980.Google Scholar

Cohen, B. Geography of Money. Ithaca, 1988.Google Scholar

Collis, M. Wayfoong: The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. London, 1965.Google Scholar

Cox, H. The Global Cigarette: Origins and Evolution of British American Tobacco, 1880–1945. New York, 2000.Google Scholar

Cribb, J. Money in the Bank: An Illustrated Introduction to the Money Collection of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. London, 1987.Google Scholar

Dayer, R. Finance and Empire: Sir Charles Addis, 1861–1945. Basingstoke, 1988.Google Scholar

Ding, Richu. Shanghai jindai jingji shi [The Modern Economic History of Shanghai, 2 Vols]. Shanghai, 1994.Google Scholar

Du, Xuncheng. Zhongguo Jinrong Tongshi: Beiyang Zhengfu Shiqi [A Comprehensive History of Finance in China, Vol. 3: the Beiyang Government Era]. Beijing, 1993.Google Scholar

Feuerwerker, A. China–s Early Industrialization: Sheng Hsuan-huai (1844–1916) and the Mandarin Enterprise. Cambridge, MA, 1958.Google Scholar

Fewsmith, J. Party, State, and Local Elites in Republican China: Merchant Organizations and Politics in Shanghai, 1890–1930. Honolulu, 1985.Google Scholar

Friedman, M., and Schwartz, A..A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960. Princeton, 1963.Google Scholar

Fung, E. The Diplomacy of Imperial Retreat: Britain’s South China Policy, 1924–1931. Hong Kong, 1991.Google Scholar

Gillin, D. Warlord: Yen Hsi-shan in Shansi Province, 1911–1949. Princeton, 1967.Google Scholar

Goldstone, J. Revolution and Rebellion in the Early Modern World. Berkeley, 1991.Google Scholar

Hanna, H., Conant, C., and Jenks, J.. Report on the Introduction of the Gold-Exchange Standard into China, the Philippine Islands, Panama, and Other Silver-Using Countries. Washington, D.C., 1904.Google Scholar

Helleiner, E. The Making of National Money: Territorial Currencies in Historical Perspective. Ithaca, 2003.Google Scholar

Hong, Jiaguan. Jindai Shanghai jinrong shichang, [Financial Markets in Modern Shanghai]. Shanghai, 1989.Google Scholar

Isaacs, H. The Tragedyofthe Chinese Revolution. Stanford, 1961.Google Scholar

Ji, Zhaojin. A HistoryofModern Shanghai Banking: the Rise and Decline ofChina’s Finance Capitalism. Armonk, NY, 2003.Google Scholar

Jones, G. British Multinational Banking, 1830–1990. Oxford, 1993.Google Scholar

Kapp, R. Szechwan and the Chinese Republic: Provincial Militarism and Central Power, 1911–1938. New Haven, 1973.Google Scholar

King, F.H.H. The History of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. New York, 1987.Google Scholar

Lai, Xinxia. Beiyang Junfa Shi [The History of Beiyang Warlords]. Tianjin, 2002.Google Scholar

Li, Jianmin. Wusa can’an hou de fanYing yundong [The Anti-British Movement Following the May Thirtieth Incident]. Taipei, 1986.Google Scholar

Li, Hong. Xianggang da shi ji [A Chronicle of Hong Kong History from 214 BCE to 1987]. Beijing, 1988.Google Scholar

Mackenzie, C. Realms ofSilver: One Hundred Years ofBanking in the East. London, 1954.Google Scholar

Mao, Chih-Li [Mao Zhili]. Zhang Jia’ao yu Zhongguo yinhang de jingying yufazhan [‘Chang Kia-ngau and the Management and Development of the Bank of China, 1912–1935’]. Taipei, 1996.Google Scholar

Orbell, J., and Turton, A.. British Banking: A Guide to Historical Records. Aldershot, 2001.Google Scholar

Pan, Liangui. Shanghai huobi shi [The History of Shanghai’s Currency]. Shanghai, 2004.Google Scholar

Peng, Xinwei. Zhongguo huobi shi [The History of Chinese Currency]. Shanghai, 1958.Google Scholar

Pick, A. Standard Catalog of World Paper Money, 6th ed., 2 Vols. Iola, WI, 1990.Google Scholar

Pinnick, A.W. China and Silver: An Investigation of the Monetary Principles Governing China’s Trade and Prosperity. Shanghai, 1930.Google Scholar

Pugach, N. Same Bed, Different Dreams: a Historyofthe Chinese American Bank of Commerce, 1919–1937. Hong Kong, 1997.Google Scholar

Pye, L. Warlord Politics: Conflict and Coalition in the Modernization of Republican China. New York, 1971.Google Scholar

Quested, R.K.I. The Russo-Chinese Bank: a Multinational Financial Base ofTsarism in China. Birmingham, 1977.Google Scholar

Rajan, G.R., and Zingales, L.. Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists: Unleashing the Power of Financial Powers to Create Wealth and Spread Opportunity. New York, 2003.Google Scholar

Remer, C.F. A Study of Chinese Boycotts: With Special Reference to Their Economic Effectiveness. Baltimore, 1933.Google Scholar

Rigby, R. The May 30 Movement: Events and Themes. Canberra, 1980.Google Scholar

Sanminzhuyi qianzike [The Three Principles of the People: a Reader], Compiled by the Xiaozhuang Society for Popular School Education. Nanjing, 1928.Google Scholar

Sheehan, B. Trust in Troubled Times: Money, Banks and State-Society Relations in Republican Tianjin. Cambridge, MA, 2003.Google Scholar

ShengGang da bagong ziliao [Materials on the Great Strike in Guangdong Province and Hong Kong], Compiled by the Guangdong Institute of Philosophy and Social Sciences. Guangzhou, 1980.Google Scholar

Sheridan, J. Chinese Warlord: The Career ofFeng Yu-hsiang. Stanford, 1966.Google Scholar

Slater, A. China and Silver. New York, 1934.Google Scholar

Tamagna, F. Banking and Finance in China. New York, 1942.Google Scholar

The Foreign Trade of China 1925: Reports and Abstracts of Statistics. Shanghai, 1926.Google Scholar

Tyson, G. 100 Years ofBanking in Asia and Africa. London, 1963.Google Scholar

Van de Ven, H. War and Nationalism in China, 1925–1945. London, 2003.Google Scholar

Vissering, G. On Chinese Currency: Preliminary Remarks on the Monetary and Banking Reform in China, 2 Vols. Amsterdam, 1914.Google Scholar

Wagel, S.R. Chinese Currencyand Banking. Shanghai, 1915.Google Scholar

Waldron, A. From Warto Nationalism: China’s TurningPoint, 1924–1925. Cambridge, 1995.Google Scholar

Wasserstrom, J. Student Protests in Twentieth-Century China: The View from Shanghai. Stanford, 1991.Google Scholar

Wei, Wen Pin. The CurrencyProblem in China. New York, 1914.Google Scholar

Wright, T. Coal Mining in China’s Economy and Society, 1895–1937. Cambridge, UK, 1984.Google Scholar

Wusa, yundong shiliao, [Historical Records of the May Thirtieth Movement], Compiled by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. Shanghai, 1981.Google Scholar

Wusi yundong zai Shanghai shiliao xuanji, [Select Historical Records of the May Fourth Movement in Shanghai]. Shanghai, 1961.Google Scholar

Xu, Jiqing. Shanghai jinrong shi [A History of Shanghai Finance]. 1932. Reprint, Taipei, 1970.Google Scholar

Yang, Yinpu. Shanghai jinrong zuzhi gaiyao [Overview of Shanghai’s Financial Structure]. 1930. Reprint, Taipei, 1972.Google Scholar

Young, A. China–s Nation-Building Effort, 1927–1937: The Financial and Economic Record. Stanford, 1971.Google Scholar

Zhongguo jindai zhibi shi [The History of Banknotes in Modern China], Compiled by the Monetary Society of Jiangsu. Beijing, 2001.Google Scholar

Zhonghua minguo huobi shi ziliao [Materials on the Monetary History of Republican China, 2 Vols.], Compiled by the People’s Bank of China. Shanghai, 1989.Google Scholar

Bergere, M.C. “The Consequences of the Post First World War Depression for the China Treaty-Port Economy, 1921–3.” In The Economies of Africa and Asia in the Inter-war Depression, ed. Brown, I.. London, 1989, pp. 221–52.Google Scholar

Brandt, L., and Sargent, T.. “Interpreting New Evidence about China and US Silver Purchases.” Journal of Monetary Economics 23 (1989): 31–51.Google Scholar

Feuerwerker, A. “Economic Trends, 1912–49.” In The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 12, eds. Fairbank, John and Twitchett, Denis. Cambridge, UK, 1983, pp. 128–307.Google Scholar

Fitzgerald, J. “Increased Disunity: The Politics and Finance ofGuangdong Separatism, 1926–1936.” Modern Asian Studies 24 (1990): 745–75.Google Scholar

Friedman, M. “Franklin D. Roosevelt, Silver, and China.” Journal of Political Economy 100 (1992): 62–83.Google Scholar

Helleiner, E. “One Nation, One Money: Territorial Currencies and the Nation-State.” Arena Working Papers (1997): 17.Google Scholar

Helleiner, E. “National Currencies and National Identities.” The American Behavioral Scientist 41 (1998): 1409–36.Google Scholar

Horesh, N. “The Hongkong Bank and its Early note issue in Shanghai, 1865–1911.” Late Imperial China 27 (2006): 109–40.Google Scholar

Horesh, N. “Between Legal and Illegal Tender: the Chartered Bank’s note Circulation in and Around China, 1864–1939.” Modern China (forthcoming 2008).Google Scholar

King, F.H.H. “Defending the Chinese Currency: The Role of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, 1938–1941.” In Eastern Banking: Essays in the History of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, ed. idem. London, 1983, pp. 279–320.Google Scholar

King, F.H.H. “The Extraordinary Survival of Hong Kong’s Private note Issue: from Profit Making to Public Service.” In Money in Hong Kong: Historical Perspective and Contemporary Analysis, eds, idem. and Jao, Y.C.. Hong Kong, 1990, pp. 1–50.Google Scholar

King, F.H.H. “Extra-Regional Banks and Investment in China.”. In International Banking, 1870–1914, eds, Cameron, Rondo and Bovykin, V.I.. New York, 1991, pp. 371–405.Google Scholar

Ku, Hung-ting. “Urban Mass Movement in Action: the Shakee Incident and the Canton-Hongkong Strike.” In Proceedings ofthe Conference on the Early History of the Republic of China, 1912–1927. Taipei, 1983, pp. 849–72.Google Scholar

Lai, C., and Gau, J.. “The Chinese Silver Standard Economy and the 1929 Great Depression.” Australian Economic History Review 43 (2003): 155–68.Google Scholar

Lin, A. “Building and Funding a Warlord Regime: The Experience of Chen Jitang in Guangdong.” Modern China 28 (2002): 177–212.Google Scholar

Lloyd, G.D. “Foreword.” In The Chinese Puzzle, ed. Ransome, A.. London, 1927, pp. 9–11.Google Scholar

Meissner, D. “The Business of Survival: Competition and Cooperation in the Shanghai Flour Milling Industry.” Enterprise and Society 6 (2005): 364–94.Google Scholar

Orchard, D. “China’s Use of the Boycott as a Political Weapon.” The Annals ofthe American AcademyofPolitical and Social Science 152 (1930): 252–61.Google Scholar

Rajan, G.R., and Zingales, L.. “The Great Reversals: the Politics of Financial Development in the Twentieth Century.” Journal of Financial Economics 69 (2003): 5–50.Google Scholar

Rawski, T. “Milton Friedman, Silver, and China.” Journal of Political Economy 101 (1993): 755–8.Google Scholar

Schuler, K. “The World History of Free Banking: an Overview.” In The Experience ofFree Banking, ed. Dowd, K.. London, 1992, pp. 7–47.Google Scholar

Selgin, G. “Free Banking in Foochow.” In The Experience ofFree Banking, ed. Dowd, K.. London, 1992, pp. 103–22.Google Scholar

Sheehan, B. “The History of Chinese Money and Banking: A Mini Explosion.” Chinese Business History 14 (2004): 1–2, 10.Google Scholar

Sheehan, B. “Myth and Reality in Chinese Financial Cliques in 1936.” Enterprise and Society 6 (2005): 452–49.Google Scholar

Van der Ven, H. “Public Finance and the Rise of Warlordism.” Modern Asian Studies 30 (1996): 831–5.Google Scholar

Yasutomi, Ayumu. Honkon Shanhai ginkō no shikin kōzō, 1913–1941 nen [The Capital Structure of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, 1912–1941]. Ajia keizai 44.10 (2003): 27–53.Google Scholar

The Bankers Magazine Google Scholar

Dongfang zazhi 9 (1912), 15 (1918) [Chinese language magazine].Google Scholar

Financial Times Google Scholar

Gongshang banyuekan [Chinese language magazine]Google Scholar

North China Herald Google Scholar

Rexue Ribao [Chinese language daily].Google Scholar

South China Morning Post Google Scholar

Yanyong, 1 (1913) [Chinese language magazine].Google Scholar

Yinhang zhoubao, 11 (1927) [Chinese banking magazine].Google Scholar

Bonin, H. “Les banquiers franÇais en Chine (1860–1950): Shanghai et Hong Kong, relais d’un imperialisme bancaire ou plates-formes d’outre-mers multiformes?” Unpublished Paper, 2002.Google Scholar

Paauw, D., Chinese Public Finance During the Nanking Government Period, PhD. Dissertation, Harvard University, 1950.Google Scholar

Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Group Archives, London.Google Scholar

United Kingdom National Archives, Kew.Google Scholar