China handicraft industry plays a very important role in China's modern economy. It is not only the main sector of industrial production, but also one of the indispensable pillars of rural economy. Handicraft and agriculture together formed the foundation of China's national economy in modern times. In the modern economic development of China, handicraft industry is a distinctive department. On the one hand, it is often combined with subsistence agriculture, and its considerable function is to meet the daily needs of farmers; On the other hand, it is in line with the domestic market and even the international market, and is closely related to cities and big industries; Its success or failure has a very important influence on the transformation of China's economy from "tradition" to "modernity". Before the Anti-Japanese War 10 years, that is 1927 to 1937, the handicraft industry also had its special stage problems, which also had a special impact on the modern handicraft industry in China. According to historical data, handicraft industry (including human-driven mechanical production) from 1927 to 1937 still occupies an extremely important position in the national economy, far exceeding the modern mechanical industry in industrial types and total output value. Even in Shanghai, where industry and commerce are the most developed, handicraft production is quite common. According to the survey of 1932 on Shanghai 134, "small and medium-sized industries account for 8/10" (1), and small industries are mainly manual production or driven by labor; There are still a considerable number of manual (manual) and power machinery combined or coexist, and human production accounts for a large proportion. Among them, chalk, ink, pen and ink, inkstone and glue are all produced by artificial producers.

Paste, inkpad, card, racket, plaster model, tie, gauze belt, woven wick, watchband, crosshair, cotton gauze, woven mat, straw, straw hat, rattan, rope making, crystal sugar, making cold dishes, sherbet, soybean milk, vanishing cream, puff, paint, copper polish, shoe polish powder, battery. Some manual producers include: lettering, paper making, wax paper base paper, corrugated paper, piano, hosiery, dyeing and weaving, wool caps, wide and narrow belts, towels, clocks, wax thread, ice cream, cosmetics, electric engraving, smelly liquid medicine, leather dyeing, leather sticks, polishing, soap, matches, enamel, feeder industry, toothbrushes and buttons. In addition, there are many industries whose production methods are unknown. It is estimated that manual production also plays an important role, such as lace, starch, marble, parasols, thermos bottles, silver boxes, weighing, shoe polish, printing tables, candles, wood oil, biogas lamps, biscuits, candy and so on. ①

It should be noted that the object of the last survey was the "factories" in various industries in Shanghai, and from the survey content, most of them achieved good results in various industries. Therefore, handicraft production actually exists more widely and plays a more important role in Shanghai's industry. According to the survey results of Shanghai Social Bureau 1933- 1935, "there are 72 084 firms, and there are 26 128 firms with handicraft properties, accounting for 36.25% of the total number of firms in the city, which shows that handicraft industry has occupied an important position in the citizens' economy". The firms with handicraft nature mentioned here are likely to refer to those firms that both produce and sell handmade products. Judging from the situation of 5874 people, there are * *178 people who do not use electricity for production, and there are * * * 5696 people who do not use electricity for production. The categories of these enterprises are completely produced by manpower, covering almost all industrial fields, including: 8 1 1 daily industries, including knitting, lace, shoes and hats, foreign iron, weights and measures, thermos bottles, toothbrushes and brushes, mirrors, buttons, umbrellas, toothpicks and other industries; The furniture industry has 1 155, including wood furniture, metal furniture, rattan and bamboo furniture, beds, suitcases, cookers and other industries; 662 smelting industries, including metal smelting and sand turning; Transportation industry 163, including vehicle manufacturing, vehicle repair, vehicle parts and shipbuilding; There are 395 machinery and metal products industries, including machinery, mechanical hardware repair, hardware manufacturing, battery flashlights, electrical accessories, cans, steel windows, electric welding, copper and tin products, copper and lead wires and other industries; There are 49 geotechnical engineering industries, including ceramics, glass, bricks and tiles, masonry and Shui Mu operations; 80 textile industries, including cotton textile, silk weaving, printing and dyeing, textile supplies, etc. Paper-making and printing industry 169, including paper-making, printing (with lettering), binding and other industries; Timber industry 1055, including grooved board, sawn timber, bellows, carpentry, lathe, crate, lifesaver, cork, mirror wood, pattern worker, shoe last and other industries; 59 rubber and leather industries, including tanning and leather products; There are 37 tobacco and food industries, including candy and biscuit cans, bread, condiments, flour mills, cigarettes and other industries; Chemical industry 13, including cosmetics, soap and alkali, candle making and other industries; 92 accessories and musical instruments industries, including musical stationery, musical instruments, silverware gifts, art, jewelry, sports equipment and other industries; Other categories are 1 129, including medical instruments, boxes, toys, ropes, flowers, video production, paper binding, carving, briquettes, dental instruments, glue making, bamboo shed, bristle printing, rattan and bamboo instruments, incense sticks and whip blasting. ②

Zhejiang Province, which is adjacent to Shanghai, is a relatively developed area in modern China, but compared with Shanghai, there is less machinery industry, and handicraft industry plays a more important role in the economy. In the early 1930s, the Ministry of Railways made an economic survey on the Zhejiang section of the Beijing-Guangzhou line, saying: "The industry in Zhejiang section is centered on Hangzhou, and there are cotton mills, silk mills and cotton mills that use new machines and new electricity. He also knows that this area is the central area, and the production capacity of * * * accounts for more than 60% of the total value of the whole section. In addition, it is everywhere, almost handicraft industry. Lanxi is more developed in cotton textile, knitting and soap making, followed by Jinhua and Quxian. To Ruojiande, Tonglu, Fenshui, Deng Xin, Yiwu, Zhuji and other counties, although there are also textile industries, the output is too small to be self-sufficient. " (3) For example, Shou Chang County in this area: "All the people in the county are engaged in farming, and there is no industry at all. Although there are more than 70 households in the handmade paper industry, it is a sideline of farmers ... As for the machinery industry, there is only one electric lamp and rice mill. " ① Chun 'an County: "It is still in the state of rural society. All kinds of handicrafts have no special products. In the machinery industry, only electric lights are also the rice milling industry. " ② Yuyao County can be regarded as an economically developed area in Zhejiang Province, but in the early 1930s, there were only two canned food factories, three small machine rice mills, three small electric light companies and 1 machine cotton ginning factories, and the rest belonged to workshop handicrafts or cottage handicrafts. Of course, in large and medium-sized cities like Hangzhou, modern industry has developed considerably in the 1930s, but the importance of handicrafts is still surprising. Silk industry is the basic industry of Hangzhou economy, but in 193 1 year, there were 54 silk factories in the city, including 867 electric looms and 52 hand-woven iron machines. There are 3009 employees, including 2558 workers. The output of silks and satins is 122 645, and the value is 4 96 1 000 yuan. There are also two silk weaving factories, of which 1 has 36 jacquard machines (possible manpower) and 86 employees. 193 1 produced 50,400 feet of silk products, with a turnover of150,000 yuan. Another factory has 15 wire drawing machines, 4 engraving machines and 36 employees. L93 1 year turnover is 60,000 yuan. In the same year, the number of employees and output value of "pure family industry" far exceeded that of "factory". Among them, there are 2,596 "cooked freighters", 6 looms168, 90 workers15, and the output is 370,880. There are 3 10 operators, 600 machines and 3,200 workers, with an output of 44,600 yuan and an output value of1762,000 yuan. In addition, there are 200 "spare parts suppliers", with 3 machines10 and 320 workers, and the output is 1 1 000. (4) Even if the silk factory with 1/3 powerful human loom is regarded as a modern industry, its output is only 29% of that of manual machine users (excluding the output of silk weaving factory).

Fujian belongs to the eastern coastal area, and its economic status is more important than that of Zhejiang. At the end of 1920s, the Ministry of Railways reported on the investigation of 28 counties in Fujian coastal inland: "Fujian coastal inland industry is not very developed, and it is still in the handicraft era. There is no machinery industry except Fuzhou and Xiamen, where there is a cannery in Hanjiang and four factories in Longxi. The general situation of handicraft industry in each county is: "Fuding industry is very naive, completely in the era of handicraft industry, and its essentials include weaving, papermaking, hosiery, silk thread, fishing net, soy sauce, brick, ash and tea oil." "Xiapu's important industries include smelting iron, making ash, making soy sauce, making vegetable oil, making bowls, making plums and so on. ""Fuan is famous for making paper umbrellas, wax gourd candy, coarse porcelain, bricks, tiles, brown sugar, tea oil, soy sauce, blue silverware, bamboo fire cages and cloth. "... Fuzhou (Minhou) is the seat of the provincial capital, but it seems that the handicraft industry is much more developed:" Fuzhou's machinery industry is very important, with canned goods, gum and oil pressing. There are three canned "factories", and the largest worker is only 16. There are two rubber factories with 50 workers. Only one company uses new machines in the oil exploration industry, and it belongs to the electric light company. Only mawei shipyard can be regarded as a real big machine industry. Handicraft industry includes 55 pieces of lacquerware, 23 pieces of luggage, 2 pieces of hardware1piece, 39 pieces of horn comb, 0/0 piece of grate comb/kloc-0, 3 pieces of candle/kloc-0, 7 pieces of feeder, 39 pieces of hosiery, 6 pieces of towels, 55 pieces of cotton goods and an umbrella1piece. ⑤

Since modern times, the central region of China has obviously lagged behind the eastern region in the overall economy. Due to the underdevelopment of machine industry, the position of handicraft industry is more important. The following are only parts of Anhui, Hunan and Shaanxi provinces as examples.

According to the investigation made by the Ministry of Railways 1930 in Dangtu, Hexian, Wuhu, Xuancheng, Fanchang and other 13 counties of the Anhui section of Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, modern industries are concentrated in Wuhu Port, while other counties are basically handicrafts, mainly cotton textile and paper making, as well as reeling, knitting, soap candles, paper cannons and other industries. ⑥ According to the investigation of Wuhu by 1934 Construction Committee, "Wuhu has a complete machine industry, including only yarn mills, flour mills and rice mills, and other 20 industries, such as textile mills, soaps, cotton textiles, hosiery weaving and printing. Although some of them use machines, they still use human resources and should belong to handicrafts. " The survey includes Wuhu industrial statistics, including 24 industries of modern industry and handicraft industry. If yarn mills, power plants, flour mills, rice mills and machinery factories are regarded as modern industries and others as handicrafts, the number of handicrafts in units, capital and commerce accounts for 99%, 22% and 53% of all industries respectively. In addition, there are embroidery, lacquerware industry, footwear industry, umbrella industry, suit industry and so on. , all have the nature of handicraft industry, "especially its workshop is located in the store, and capital and business are calculated in the store." ①

From 1933 to 1934, we investigated 20 counties in Hunan, such as Liling, Xiangtan, Hengshan, Hengyang and Anren: "This area spans southern Hunan and northern Guangdong, with inconvenient transportation and poor people's intelligence. So there are few modern industries, and there is only one electric lamp factory in Xiangtan, Hengyang, Qujiang and Hengyang. Except for the electric lamp factory, the others are still in their infancy, and they have not yet taken off the face of the old handicraft industry. The scale of the electric light factory is also small. " (2) "The authors of its old handicrafts, such as Liling porcelain, Xiabu firecrackers, Xiangtan paper umbrellas, and the paper makers from Shixing and Renhua, are the most". (3) "There are farmers in the countryside, who make explosives, make paper, make mats, paste paper umbrellas, make farm tools, burn bricks, burn lime and charcoal, and weave bamboo utensils". ④

According to the investigation of 25 counties in Shaanxi from 65438 to 0935, such as Chang 'an, Xianyang, Xingping, Wugong, Fufeng, Qishan, Fengxiang and Baoji, the modern industry and handicraft industry were underdeveloped, but the influence of handicraft industry on economic life was obviously greater than that of modern industry. Among the 24 counties, only Chang 'an has a slightly developed modern industry, including Shaanxi Machinery Bureau, which manufactures small machines such as water pumps, and 1 mechanical brick and tile company, acid factory and soap factory. The rest of the civilian factories are only workshops and handicrafts. Besides, Baoji has no modern industry except a match factory. Famous handicrafts in this area include Fengxiang's liquor burning, wood industry and Qishan's flour industry. Jiu Feng is famous for producing Yu Fengxiang. There are 60 burning houses in the county town and Chencun town in Liulin, * * *, and each family produces about 280 kilograms of wine every day. 60 families produce about 4.032 million kilograms of wine every year, and the general price of wine is about 100 kilograms 10 yuan. The county's annual output of shochu is about 7.5 million kilograms, with a value of about 700,000 yuan, which is mostly transported to Xi 'an and transshipped all over the country. The county's wood products are also very famous in the province, and there are 27 kinds of wood products in the county. Every year, about 6.5438+0.5 million pieces of wood products are manufactured, and each piece is about 5 to 6 yuan. The dried noodles in Qishan County sell well in the whole province. There are about 10 noodle shops in the city, with an annual output of about 10.5 kg, per 1 0 kg/yuan. In addition, Xingping produces about 270,000 kilograms of homespun with a value of about 240,000 yuan, which is distributed in northern Shaanxi, Gansu and other places. Yiquan homespun has an annual output of about 6.5438+0.7 million kilograms, with a value of about 6.5438+0.5 million yuan, which is mostly sold in Gansu. As can be seen from the investigators' narrative, Shaanxi's economic backwardness left a deep impression on them: "As for the family industry, there is a homemade old-fashioned wood loom in the villages of counties and towns, which is thought to be used by housewives for profit. Working hours are impermanent, and most of them are for their own use ... This family business was quite common in the past, but since the drought, people have saved their lives. " Every time I pass by a county, I always see that only a few farmers have this production tool, and sometimes they can't find it. Other small industries such as paper making, farm tools, brick burning, lime and charcoal are all in the same situation, and people's livelihood is depressed, which can be seen. " ⑤

In modern China, the southwest and northwest regions, especially the border areas, were either difficult in transportation or in harsh natural conditions, and the level of modern industry and handicrafts was even more backward. Let's briefly introduce the situation in parts of Guizhou, Yunnan and Gansu. According to the investigation before and at the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, Guizhou's industry and commerce are still at the primary stage at most. In terms of production, most of them still rely on hard work; In terms of trafficking, almost all rely on merchants to match the bridge. Factories and large shops equipped with machines are the only ones so far. ⑥ For example, cotton textile industry, 1937, fashionable inorganic textile factories were all handmade: "The handmade cotton textile industry in Zhenfeng, Anlong, Guanling, Lushan, Duyun, Meitan, Luodian and Anshun counties in Guizhou Province is quite developed, but the province needs about 2,444,565 pieces of cloth, and only 6,543 pieces are self-sufficient. ① Grain processing is also manual: "Generally, rice is used as raw material, and water mill is often used, that is, water mill rice clothes". Other products, such as paint, paper, matches, candles, soap, glass, metal products, bamboo and ceramics, are handicrafts. ②

In the early 1930s, the Ministry of Railways made a survey of eight counties near the Yunnan-Guizhou section of the Hunan-Yunnan line, such as Xuanwei, Weng 'an, Qing Yu, Tongren, Yinjiang, Shengxi, Jiangkou and Sinan, and got the following impression: "The industries of the counties near the Yunnan-Guizhou section of the Hunan-Yunnan line are more naive than those along the line. The machinery industry, except Xuanwei, is a handicraft industry. Xuanwei ham and home-made cloth from various counties are the major producers. Most of the industries are run by farmers in their spare time, or they work or drop out of school. " (3) Even in Kunming, the provincial capital, handicrafts still dominate. "County-level industry" in Kunming only includes brewing room, soy sauce room, oiling room, weaving room, sewing room, coffin room, rice noodle room, tofu room, sugar shop, paper making room, carpenter room and blacksmith room. It's all personal operation, and there is no large-scale organization. Manufacturing is purely based on the old method, without improvement, all the equipment is very simple ... Urban industry is relatively developed, but it is understood that few people use machinery, that is, more than a dozen machines, at least a few machines. These products are not enough to meet the needs of this city. " ④

The investigation in Gansu during 1935 shows that "the production situation in Gansu is still in the stage of agricultural society". ⑤ The machine industry is very naive, and there are only two or three factories in Lanzhou. However, handicraft industry in Gansu is far more common and important than modern industry: "In terms of eating, there are grinding, refueling, brewing, vermicelli making, bacon and so on;" In terms of wearing, there are spinning, weaving, tanning, wool spinning, Ma Xie, straw hats, carpets, etc. In terms of use, there are pottery, bamboo mats, lacquerware, etc. In addition, there are tobacco, matches, soap, paper, incense and so on. " ⑦