“China” Town
The following article was translated from the September 9, 2006 edition of Modern Weekly:
Imagine There Was a Town Called “China”
Since I am an observer of business history, I am often asked this question: “How do you view the changes in China over the past twenty years?” Every time this question comes up, I use a hypothetical situation to explain my view.
Suppose, for a moment, that there was a town named “China” in the far east.
Twenty years ago, all of the houses in this town had white walls and black roofs, with a small stream in front of each house. In between one house and another there were simple rain coverings connecting the houses together. Everyone in the town knew each other, life was monotonous, and all the people in the town were equal, but poor. One and all had a job that was both easy and not especially necessary, and as long as there were no man-made or natural disasters, everyone had food to eat.
Yet there were no great savings or stores of food, and everybody wore similar plain clothing. Everyone was mostly friendly and innocent here, and the entire town had only one crossroads. The stores were all equally humble and clean, and the goods were distributed by a rationing system, you had to have a ticket to get anything. The town was serene and yet lacking something. If you had material aspirations in this town, people would blame you as having an “immoral point of view”.
A little later on, a small handful of non-law abiding people appeared in the town and started to open up street side stands. They peddled strange little trinkets from who-knows where. The stricter of the administrators from the town went around everywhere to chase away these people, take their merchandise, and kick their stands over. The administrators did this because in their eyes these people were filthy, didn’t follow the regulations, and didn’t fit in with the original order of things.
Yet these peddlers and hawkers could not be driven away – the little trinkets they sold attracted people, whose neighbors all lit up when they saw the new trinkets, who were willing to buy them as well. The number of small merchants kept growing and growing, as their presence grew larger and larger, and money naturally flowed into and became concentrated in their hands. Initially they were the most stigmatized and ridiculed people in the town, but unexpectedly they rather quickly turned into the richest people in the town. This was actually making a lot of people very nervous, not only were the small merchants wearing the newest clothing, but they even had enough money to buy the stands of others whose business was not so good.
The administrators of the town secretly began to change their way of thinking, believing that letting the town become a bustling place was a pretty good thing. Hence, they began setting up their own stores to do business and earn money. Even though they had advantages over everyone – all of the best stores on the streets were theirs, and they could even establish their own business regulations (for example only their shops being allowed to sell ice tea when there was hot weather) – they were never the match of the owners of the smaller shops. Their stores were shattered by the competition in a fairly short amount of time. First they were driven out of business on the outer edges of town. Several years later, they were even beaten out of business in the center of town. This was something to be pretty upset about!
At just about this time, some rich people from another city hurried over to do business in China, bringing with them unique and fun products that no one had seen before. The streets became busier and busier, and since the number of people doing business was growing and growing, the old streets of the town had to be widened, and anything that got in the way of traffic or business had to be thrown out. Everything turned into utter confusion (乱七八糟).
The old regulations didn’t seem to fit with the new order, but there also was never enough time to establish a new system that met the current need. Thus, everything appeared to be in chaos. Being conservative and law abiding was no longer a virtue; instead those who didn’t follow the status quo and who secured their own gains became the most respected people in society. Sometimes, even brute force engendering ill-gotten gains were tolerated.
Both elated and worried, the administrators began searching for new means to make money. Whenever a town starts to flourish, the most valuable resources are the land nearby major intersections and the shops that occupy this land. Whoever owns those will own the source of wealth. So it was that the administrators again changed their thinking, and started to look for new allies. Since the native born small merchants and hawkers had always been looked down upon by the town’s administrators, rich yet vulgar merchants from far away became the administrators’ most suitable allies.
A new game began, and the administrators one by one took the land that was held in their name, along with the stores on them, and joined with the outsiders. This was really a match made in heaven, as one party was able to provide the best resources in the entire town, and could even produce made-to-order regulations, while the other had seemingly endless pockets and brought over the best production skills and newest products. Because of this, they gradually became the most important figures in town. The local small merchants and peddlers in the town were still doing their best to continually expand and develop, but they were never able to take back the best locations. Even worse than this, there were many types of goods that they were completely unable to supply. No one knew if this situation would ever change.
At this point, this city (no longer a town) called “China” was experiencing breathtaking changes.
While originally there was only one flourishing crossroads, now there were many business districts, and the goods sold on the streets were more plentiful by the day. People’s lives were also richer and better than before by no small measure, and the city had become famous near and far as a trade crossroads. On the other hand, the clear sky of the past had become gray and foggy, as the city had turned into one large deafening construction site. Everywhere dust flew in the air as old houses were torn down, streets were expanded, and new shops were built. Everyday new signs and new products would appear on the streets. Everything was flourishing, and everything was done in a hasty and rushed manner.
The simple and leisurely life of 20 years ago had long ago left, and would never return to the city. The unhurried, unperturbed, and poetic types of the past had long ago disappeared, and everyone was tense, lacked a sense of security, and walked much more hurriedly than before. Even the way in which, and pace at which, people talked was not much like it was in the past. The friendly neighbors of the past also disappeared, since everyone was a business customer or businessman. Everyone’s identity and value was tied into how much wealth they had. Looking at things in such black and white terms just seemed like another form of ignorance, this one a bit more corrupted than the last.
Whether or not you liked it or not, this city called “China” is really quite different than it was twenty years ago. Everyone living in it and those who visit it are all very curious about its future. It is a very paradoxical time in this city, since people are often vexed by the problems before their eyes at the same time that they are filled with hope for the future.
Every time I used this kind of story-telling method to describe the changes that have taken place in China, all of those who listen laugh and think it is very interesting.
