Morning in Shanghai (Complete 4 Volumes)

Author: Zhou Erfu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: The Dawn of Shanghai can be regarded as a rare masterpiece, whose cognitive and artistic value cannot be overlooked. The Communist Party of China had a scientific understanding of the national bourgeoisie and, addressing their dual nature, creatively formulated a policy of peaceful transformation upon liberation to gradually reform capitalist private industries into socialist economic entities. The Dawn of Shanghai is set against the backdrop of Shanghai in the early days of liberation, vividly depicting the significant historical process of transforming the national bourgeoisie and profoundly pointing out the only path to light for the Chinese national bourgeoisie after their "midnight" transition to dawn: accepting transformation, discarding the old for the new, and taking the socialist path of serving the people. This is the significance of the work. The work successfully portrays a group of characters from the national bourgeoisie, among whom Xu Yide, the central figure of the entire book, is particularly well-crafted. In the spring of 1949, Shanghai had just been liberated. The capitalists were in a state of panic. Xu Yide, the general manager of Hujiang Textile Mill, was also anxious. Long before the People's Liberation Army attacked Shanghai, Xu Yide, known as the "Iron Calculator," had already planned to flee Shanghai for Hong Kong, or even New York. The liberation of Shanghai made him reconsider his idea of operating his business in Hong Kong. Using the six thousand spindles he had transported to Hong Kong before Shanghai's liberation, he opened a new factory there. He also secretly smuggled existing cotton yarn out of Shanghai, exchanged it for foreign currency, and deposited it in banks in Hong Kong and New York. He also sent his son to study in Hong Kong. However, he ultimately did not leave. He could not bear to abandon his assets in Shanghai. For his own interests, he schemed against the Communist Party and the people's government. On one hand, he had his confidant—Mei Zuoxian, the deputy general manager of Hujiang Textile Mill—bribe the Nationalist Tao Amao to infiltrate the trade union and provide him with intelligence to deal with the Communists. On the other hand, he bribed the tax bureau's factory officers through Mei Zuoxian to steal national economic intelligence and make huge profits. In production, he cut corners and used inferior materials, making illegal fortunes.