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Nationalism on Their Own Terms: The National Products Movement and the Coca-Cola protest in Shanghai, 1945–1949*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2017

LIANG YAO
LIANG YAO*
Affiliation:
Tsinghua University, Beijing, China Email: liangyao83@gmail.com
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Abstract

This article re-examines the meanings of Chinese nationalism and its relationship to vibrant and recurring National Products movements in modern China through the case of the Shanghai Coca-Cola protest of 1947–1948. In a campaign to revitalize national industry, the Chinese business community of Shanghai targeted Coca-Cola as a foreign luxury, and asked the Nationalist government to prohibit the importation of raw materials for Coca-Cola. However, archival materials show that not only was the Coca-Cola bottler in Shanghai—Watson's Mineral Water Company—a Chinese company but they had made large contributions during previous National Products movements. Using imported raw materials was also a very common practice in the Chinese soft drinks industry in the first half of the twentieth century. By revealing inconsistencies between the Chinese business community's statement of protest and the actual character of Coca-Cola's Shanghai bottler, this article argues that in this case Chinese nationalism became a pretext and tool for business competition. This research suggests that Chinese nationalism as an analytical lens remains complicated and its role and meaning in history must not be over-generalized. Rather than the existence of a unified and singular nationalism, Chinese nationalisms have been socially constructed over time, with multiple faces, interpretations, and functions for different interest groups.

Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 51 , Issue 5 , September 2017 , pp. 1439 - 1468
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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Footnotes

*

I would like to thank my supervisor, Hanchao Lu, and Kristin Stapleton for their insightful comments and constructive suggestions during the preparation of this article. I would also like to thank Jonah Bea-Taylor for his invaluable support and assistance in copy-editing. Additional thanks go to John Krige, Steven Usselman, and Laura Bier at Georgia Tech, and the Modern Asian Studies reviewers, who made helpful suggestions.

References

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14 Information about and introductions to the three Coca-Cola bottling plants in China in the early twentieth century could be seen in a variety of newspapers and magazines, including Sheng shi jing ji qing bao (申时经济情报 Economic Report in Shanghai), 15 July 1936; Gong ye yue kan (工业月刊 Industry Monthly), issue 7, 1948, pp. 20–21; and ‘Coca-Cola bottler: Laoshan Crystal Mineral Water Company’, Pin min bao she (平民报社 Civilian Newspaper), 11 January 1948, D0019/00014, the Qingdao Municipal Archives, Qingdao.

15 Xiaochun, ‘Coca-Cola shang zhan qi shu’ (可口可乐商战奇术 Coca-Cola's excellent strategy in the commercial war), Hai Chao, issue 44, 13 April 1947.

16 Aquarius Mineral Water Company and Yili Mineral Water Company were two of the largest and the most competitive soft drinks companies in Shanghai in the Republic era.

17 ‘Surveys on Watson's Mineral Water Co. conducted by the Bank of Shanghai’ 1934, Q275-1-1947, the Shanghai Municipal Archives, Shanghai, p. 22.

18 Ibid., p. 10.

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22 ‘Red cross on the water’ (水上红十字), Xinmin Evening News 新民晚报, 7 October 1945, p. 1.

23 ‘Coca-Cola’, Qiu Hai Tang (秋海棠 Begonias), 1946 (10).

24 ‘Posting Coca-Cola advertisement on Zhejiang-Jiangxi railroad’, S356-1-9, the Shanghai Municipal Archives, Shanghai, p. 2.

25 ‘Shun xi fan hua, quan yun shuijiao’ (瞬息繁华, 全运睡觉 Fleeting prosperity, quietness of the national sport competition), Xinmin Evening News, 10 May 1948, p. 4.

26 Afen, ‘Wei wang de yin xiang’ (Memory cannot be forgotten), Xinmin Evening News, 11 October 1957, p. 6.

27 Ibid.

28 ‘Di qi jie quan guo yun dong hui xin wen, quan yun hua xu’ (第七届全国运动会新闻, 全运花絮 News about the seventh national track and field meet), Xinmin Evening News, 16 May 1948, p. 4.

29 Hairen 海人, ‘The secret of Coca-Cola’, Libailiu (礼拜六 Saturday), issue 88, 1947, p. 8.

30 Malasong 马拉松, ‘Kekoukele feiji yun hu’ (可口可乐飞机运沪Coca-Cola arrived at Shanghai), Hai Tao (海涛), (26) 1946.

31 ‘Coca-Cola was sold well in Shanghai, the daily sale reached 14000 dozens’, Qing Bao Evening Edition 青报, 17 August 1947, D000029/00034, the Qingdao Municipal Archives, Qingdao.

32 Because of pressure from home and abroad to seek peace, on 28 August 1945 the Nationalist Party and the Communist Party started peace talks in Chongqing. The negotiations lasted 43 days and failed, which resulted in the commencement of a full-scale civil war in 1946.

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35 ‘Look at our economic situation’, Xinmin Evening News, 28 May 1946, p. 1.

36 ‘Remain fresh in the memory of the business community, the story of the influx of American products’, Xinmin Evening News, 11 November 1950, p. 2.

37 ‘The influx of canned food, western products have a good sale’, Xinmin Evening News, 21 February 1947, p. 4.

38 Wen hui bao (文汇报), Shanghai, 10 February 1947, pp. 7–8.

39 Qingdao Times, 9 May 1931, D000253/00033, the Qingdao Municipal Archives, Qingdao.

40 Cochran, Big Business in China.

41 She hui jing ji yue bao (社会经济月报 Society and Economy Monthly), 3(3) 1936, pp. 84–85, Microfilm J-3199/01:1679, Shanghai Library.

42 Xiaochun, ‘Coca-Cola shang zhan qi shu’ (Coca-Cola's excellent strategy in the commercial war), Hai Chao, issue 44, 13 April 1947.

43 ‘Correspondence between Shu-Lun Pan & Co. and the Coca-Cola Export Corporation’, July 1947, Q90-2-619, the Shanghai Municipal Archives, Shanghai, p. 24.

44 Ibid.

45 Ibid., p. 25.

46 Ibid., p. 26.

47 The Republican Party launched the New Life Movement in 1934, through which Jiang Jieshi and his wife, Song Meiling, prescribed proper etiquette on every aspect of daily life, including opposition to conspicuous consumption, opium use, promotion of courteous behaviour, etc.

48 Gong Shang Fa Gui (工商法规 Trade and Industry Regulations), 5 June 1948, p. 470.

49 ‘Forbidden Coca-Cola imports’, July 1948, U1-12-316, the Shanghai Municipal Archives, Shanghai. Also see Xinmin Evening News, 3 July 1948, p. 4.

50 ‘Forbidden Coca-Cola imports’, July 1948.

51 PAN, Junxiang潘君祥, Zhong Guo Jin Dai Guo Huo Yun Dong (中国近代国货运动 The National Product Movement in Modern China), Chinese Literature and History Press, Beijing, 1996, pp. 497–500 Google Scholar. Also see Gerth, China Made, p. 196.

52 ‘The investigation report by the Bank of Shanghai’, 23 July 1923, Q275-1-1947, the Shanghai Municipal Archives, Shanghai.

53 Ibid., June 1934, Q275-2-1947, the Shanghai Municipal Archives, Shanghai.

54 Ibid., December 1933.

55 Ibid.

56 ‘The investigating report by Shanghai Municipal Government’, 25 August 1954, B163-1-135-58, the Shanghai Municipal Archives, Shanghai.

57 Ibid.

58 ‘The origin of Watson's Ice Manufacturing Company’, Q275-1-1947, the Shanghai Municipal Archives, Shanghai.

59 Ibid.

60 ‘Shanghai shi qi shui guo zhi ye gai kuang’ (上海市汽水果汁业概况 An overview on Shanghai soft drink industry), S117-3-1, the Shanghai Municipal Archives, Shanghai.

61 ‘The investigation report by the bank of Shanghai’, 1937, Q275-2-1947, the Shanghai Municipal Archives, Shanghai.

62 ‘Shanhai qi shui guo zhi ye zhi yan ge’ (上海汽水果汁业之沿革 History of Shanghai soft drink industry), 10 May 1951, S117-3-1, the Shanghai Municipal Archives, Shanghai.

63 Gong Shang Fa Gui, 5 June 1948, p. 470.

64 John B. Sherwood, ‘Incident in Shanghai’, Coca-Cola Overseas, October 1948.

65 Ibid.

66 Ibid.

67 Ibid.

68 ‘Announcement by the Shanghai Municipal Government’, U1-16-316, the Shanghai Municipal Archives, Shanghai.

69 Cochran, Chinese Medicine Men.