Recharging China in war and revolution, 1882-1955

2021·3.5 MB·English

by  Tan, Ying Jia, 1978- author

Recharging China in War and
Revolution, 1882–1955

Recharging China in War and
Revolution, 1882–1955
•
Ying Jia Tan
Cornell University Press
Ithaca and London
Copyright © 2021 by Cornell University
The text of this book is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
To use this book, or parts of this book, in any way not covered
by the license, please contact Cornell University Press, Sage
House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.
Visit our website at cornellpress.cornell.edu.
First published 2021 by Cornell University Press
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Tan, Ying Jia, 1978– author.
Title: Recharging China in war and revolution, 1882–1955 / Ying Jia Tan.
Description: Ithaca [New York]: Cornell University Press, [2021] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020058201 (print) | LCCN 2020058202 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781501758959 (paperback) | ISBN 9781501758966 (pdf) |
ISBN 9781501758973 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Electric industries—China—History—19th century. |
Electric industries—China—History—20th century. | Electric industries—
Economic aspects—China. | Electric industries—Political aspects—
China. | Electric power production—China—History—19th century.
| Electric power production—China—History—20th century.
Classification: LCC HD9697.A3 T36 2021 (print) | LCC HD9697.
A3 (ebook) | DDC 333.793/2095109041—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020058201
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020058202
Cover illustration: Sheng, Cijun. Protect our factory: Guard against fire, burglars, and
agents’ activities. Poster. China: People’s Arts Publishing House, 1951. From Poster
collection, CC 120, Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford, California.
This book is published as part of the Sustainable History
Monograph Pilot. With the generous support of the
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Pilot uses cutting-edge
publishing technology to produce open access digital editions
of high-quality, peer-reviewed monographs from leading
university presses. Free digital editions can be downloaded
from: Books at JSTOR, EBSCO, Internet Archive, OAPEN,
Project MUSE, and many other open repositories.
While the digital edition is free to download, read, and share,
the book is under copyright and covered by the following
Creative Commons License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Please
consult www.creativecommons.org if you have questions
about your rights to reuse the material in this book.
When you cite the book, please include the following
URL for its Digital Object Identifier (DOI):
https://doi.org/10.7298/asmt-4x82
We are eager to learn more about how you discovered this
title and how you are using it. We hope you will spend a few
minutes answering a couple of questions at this url:
https://www.longleafservices.org/shmp-survey/
More information about the Sustainable History Monograph
Pilot can be found at https://www.longleafservices.org.

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
List of Abbreviations xv
Note on Transliteration xvii
Introduction
Forging Resilience 1
Chapter 1
Spinning the Threads of Discontent 18
Chapter 2
Defending the Public Good 38
Chapter 3
Unleashing Fire and Fury 62
Chapter 4
Dawning of the Copper Age 86
Chapter 5
Turning the Tide 112
Chapter 6
Waging Electrical Warfare 138
Chapter 7
Manufacturing Technocracy 163
Conclusion
Hauntings from Past Energy Transitions 185
List of Chinese and Japanese Terms 197
Notes 205
Bibliography 239

Illustrations
Figures
I.1. Map of China 2
1.1. Map of Shanghai’s main power station and
major textile mills, circa 1929 19
3.1. The Final Days of the Anti-Japanese Resistance (1941) 63
4.1. Products of the Central Electrical Manufacturing Works (1948) 88
5.1. Artist Impression of John Lucian Savage’s Proposed Yangtze Gorges Dam 113
5.2. Profile of the Tennessee River (1944) 121
5.3. Map of the Yangtze Gorges site depicting the extent of Savage’s survey 125
6.1. Fushun Power Plant after the Soviet takeover, circa 1945 139
Tables
3.1. Electrical industries under Japanese and
Guomindang control, circa 1939 79
7.1. Power output figures for Shanghai, 1949–1956 174
ix