Zhang Jian (businessman) explained

Zhang Jian
Native Name:張謇
Native Name Lang:zh-hant
Office:Minister of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce
Premier:Xiong Xiling
Term Start:December 1913
Term End:April 1915
Predecessor:position created
Successor:Zhou Ziqi
Office1:Minister of Agriculture
Premier1:Xiong Xiling
Term Start1:September
Term End1:December 1913
Predecessor1:Luo Zhenfang
Successor1:position abolished
Office2:Minister of Industry and Commerce
Premier2:Xiong Xiling
Term Start2:September
Term End2:December 1913
Predecessor2:Xiang Ruikun
Successor2:position abolished
Office3:Minister of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce of the Qing Dynasty
Monarch3:Xuantong Emperor
Primeminister3:Yuan Shikai
Term Start3:1 July 1911
Term End3:12 July 1912
Predecessor3:Pulun
Successor3:vacant
Nationality:Qing Empire
Republic of China
Birth Date:1 July 1853
Birth Place:Haimen, Jiangsu, Qing Empire
Death Place:Nantong, Jiangsu, Republic of China
Education:zhuangyuan in the Imperial examination
Occupation:entrepreneur, politician and educator
Party:Progressive Party
Module:
Child:yes
P:Zhāng Jiǎn
W:Chang1 Chien3

Zhang Jian (; 1 July 1853– 24 August 1926), courtesy name Jizhi (季直), art name Se'an (啬庵), was a Chinese entrepreneur, politician and educator.[1] He is known as a "new gentry" and official-entrepreneur.

Biography

Zhang was born in Haimen county, Jiangsu province in 1853. He initially served as a staff member under the general Wu Changqing. After Wu's death, he returned to his hometown where he studied agriculture while preparing for further examinations. In 1894, he achieved the highest score in the Palace Examination, earning the prestigious title of zhuangyuan. Subsequently, he served at the Hanlin Academy.

Zhang was obliged to return to his hometown for mourning his father in the same year. After the First Sino-Japanese War, he ventured into investing in and establishing modern enterprises. He later founded Dah Sun Cotton Mill in Nantong, financed by both the imperial court and local merchants. Additionally, he diversified into land reclamation, river conservancy, and modern education, especially in the northern Jiangsu. It is generally accepted that Zhang is a successful entrepreneur, however, some financial improprieties led Dah Sun to an insolvent liquidation in the 1920s.

Zhang proclaimed that "the victory of Japan and the defeat of Russia are the victory of constitutionalism and the defeat of monarchism". In 1909, he was elected the chairman of Jiangsu provincial assembly. He refused the membership of the Friends of the Constitution, and acted as a buffer against the active constitutionalists. But in the end of 1911, his thought swung in the republican's favour. Then he drafted the original Edict of Abdication for Puyi. He was appointed as the Minister of Enterprise of the temporary government of the Provisional Government in Nanjing, but did not take the office actually. In 1913, Zhang became the Minister of Industry and Commerce and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry in Beiyang Government.

Achievements

Zhang was among the pioneers of the Chinese modernization. Aside from companies and factories, he also founded the first normal school in modern China, Tongzhou Normal College in 1902 and established Nantong Museum, the first museum in Mainland China in 1905.[2] He remoulded the infrastructure of Nantong and made it became a template for earlier urban development in China.[3]

The institutes founded or funded by Zhang Jian:

Legacy

In his statements that private companies must serve the state, Xi Jinping cites Zhang as an example of a patriotic entrepreneur whose example should be followed.[7]

Further reading

References

Notes and References

  1. Book: 中国大百科全书(第二版). Encyclopedia of China Publishing House. 2009. 978-7-500-07958-3. 28. 46–7. zh. Encyclopedia of China (2nd Edition).
  2. Fong. Grace S.. Female Hands: Embroidery as a Knowledge Field in Women's Everyday Life in Late Imperial and Early Republican China. Late Imperial China. 31 March 2015.
  3. Book: Pong, David. Encyclopedia of Modern China. 2009. 978-0-684-31566-9. 4. 144–6.
  4. Web site: 筚路蓝缕:"公立"复旦公学的创办_校史通讯_复旦大学. news.fudan.edu.cn. 2018-05-28.
  5. Web site: 学校简介. www.shou.edu.cn. 2018-05-28.
  6. Web site: 学校简介. www.hhu.edu.cn. 2018-05-28.
  7. Book: Marquis, Christopher . Qiao . Kunyuan . 2022 . . Kunyuan Qiao . 978-0-300-26883-6 . New Haven . 1348572572.