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{{Short description|2003 non-fiction book by Parks Coble}}
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'''''Chinese Capitalists in Japan's New Order : The Occupied Lower Yangzi, 1937-1945''''' is a 2003 non-fiction book by [[Parks Coble]], published by [[University of California Press]].
It discusses the activities of businesspeople in [[Shanghai]] during the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], when the [[Empire of Japan]] controlled the city. These businesspeople made their companies registered to other countries in an effort to protect themselves from the Japanese government. The book describes how the Japanese government's policies altered over time and how the businesspeople acclimated.<ref>Bian, p. 715.</ref> The work's focus is on particular businesspeople across several prominent families.<ref name=Lup814>Lu, p. 814.</ref>
This is Coble's third book about business-people in the [[Republic of China (1912-1949)]].<ref name=Gerth>Gerth.</ref>
==Background==
Coble used sourcing written in Chinese, English, and Japanese.<ref name=Bianp716>Bian, p. 716.</ref> Some sourcing came from the [[Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences]].<ref name=Mitterp497>Mitter, p. 497.</ref>
Eric Jones, of [[Melbourne Business School]] and the [[University of Reading]], stated that Shanghainese businesspersons were loath to leave explicit written records that could have them targeted by the Japanese and/or by the [[Kuomintang]], which would suspect them of allying with the other side. Therefore, there is a relative paucity of surviving records about this period.<ref name=Jones>Jones.</ref> According to Rana Mitter of the [[University of Oxford]], scholars in the West were, in prior eras, unable to obtain several of the sourcing documents.<ref name=Mitterp497/>
==Contents==
According to Coble, as the individuals were trying to be unscathed, one could not easily categorize them as either being pro-China or whether they were pro-Japanese Empire;<ref name=Lup814/><!--Source text: "He points out that it is difficult[...]Survival was the main goal;[...]"--> Coble disagrees with the idea of saying they were entirely in one or another category.<ref name=Sheehanp263>Sheehan, p. 263.</ref> According to Coble, his coverage did not agree with a narrative in China about businesspeople moving factories into Chiang-held areas in anti-Japanese operations, because only a small number of businesspeople did so.<ref name=Reynoldsp173>Reynolds, p. 173.</ref> The businesspeople who had chemical-related businesses were, due to fears that pro-Japan groups could seize their businesses, were more likely to side with Chiang.<ref>Wright, p. 1158. Source text: "[...]those who best fitted the “patriotic capitalists” model were those[...]"</ref>
Many of the businesspersons did not relocate with the [[Chiang Kai-shek]] government to [[Chongqing]] due to mutual mistrust between the businesspersons and Chiang, and businesspersons were often unable to relocate their businesses.<ref name=Mitterp497/> The Japanese authorities eventually had to cooperate with Chinese people on the ground by 1943 as the Japanese faced increasing weaknesses.<ref name=Gerth/> Many of the businesspeople then left China in 1949 as it became Communist.<ref name=Jones/>
One chapter discusses the Rong family.<ref name=Sheehanp263/>
==Reception==
{{expand section|date=January 2024}}
Morris L. Bian of [[Auburn University]] praised the "meticulous research" and described the book as "definitive".<ref name=Bianp716/>
Samuel C. Chu of [[Ohio State University]] praised how the book's author used "painstaking care" to gather the data for analysis.<ref>Chu, p. 379.</ref> According to Chu, there is some repetition in the writing due to the amount of detail covered.<ref>Chu, p. 380.</ref>
Karl Gerth of the [[University of South Carolina]] described the book as "an important contribution" to its field, which had hitherto little coverage in scholarship; according to Gerth, his own criticisms of the work were "minor quibbles".<ref name=Gerth/><!--Source: "[...] to a long-neglected era of Chinese modern history,[...]"-->
Jones stated that the author did a good job at doing research considering the lack of documentation.<ref name=Jones/>
Hanchao Lu of [[Georgia Tech]] wrote that the work is "original and pioneering".<ref name=Lup814/>
Mitter described the work as "impressive".<ref name=Mitterp497/>
E. Bruce Reynolds of [[San Jose State University]] wrote that the work is "Meticulously researched".<ref>Reynolds, p. 174.</ref>
Brett Sheehan of the [[University of Wisconsin]] described it as "carefully researched and important".<ref name=Sheehanp263/>
Tim Wright of the [[University of Sheffield]] described the book as "important".<ref>Wright, p. 1159.</ref>
==See also==
* ''[[The Collapse of Nationalist China]]'' - Another book by Coble
==References==
* {{cite journal|last=Bian|first=Morris L.|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/enterprise-and-society/article/abs/parks-m-coble-chinese-capitalists-in-japans-new-order-the-occupied-lower-yangzi-19371945-berkeley-university-of-california-press-2003-xiii-296-pp-isbn-0520232682-6000/87C39668F1A6C2986179E7FBF37B6D91|title=Chinese Capitalists in Japan's New Order: The Occupied Lower Yangzi, 1937—1945|journal=[[Enterprise & Society]]|year=2003|volume=4|issue=4|pages=715–716|doi=10.1093/es/khg055}} - [https://muse.jhu.edu/article/50973/pdf Also at] [[Project MUSE]]
* {{cite journal|last=Chu|first=Samuel C.|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23732566|title=Chinese Capitalists in Japan's New Order: The Occupied Lower Yangzi, 1937—1945|journal=[[China Review International]]|year=2003|volume=10|issue=2|pages=379–381|doi=10.1353/cri.2004.0068 |jstor=23732566|s2cid=143383742 }}
* {{cite journal|last=Gerth|first=Karl|url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA138950611&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=0030851X&p=AONE&sw=w|title=Chinese Capitalists in Japan's New Order: The Occupied Lower Yangzi, 1937-1945|journal=[[Pacific Affairs]]|year=2005|volume=78|issue=2|pages=304–305}} - Document number GALE|A138950611
* {{cite journal|last=Jones|first=Eric|url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA113140717&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=00076791&p=AONE&sw=w|title=Book Reviews: Chinese Capitalists in Japan's New Order: The Occupied Lower Yangzi, 1937-1945|journal=[[Business History]]|year=2004|volume=46|issue=1|page=133}} - Document number GALE|A113140717.
* {{cite journal|last=Lu|first=Hanchao|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/274492555|title=Chinese Capitalists in Japan's New Order: The Occupied Lower Yangzi, 1937-1945|journal=[[Business History Review]]|year=2003|volume=77|issue=4|pages=814–816|doi=10.2307/30041268 |jstor=30041268 |s2cid=156821891 |id={{ProQuest|274492555}} }}
* {{cite journal|last=Mitter|first=Rana|url=https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/109/2/497/16325|title=Parks M. Coble. Chinese Capitalists in Japan's New Order: The Occupied Lower Yangzi, 1937–1945. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. 2003. Pp. xiii, 296. $60.00|journal=[[The American Historical Review]]|year=2004|volume=109|issue=2|page=497|doi=10.1086/530368 }}
* {{cite journal|last=Reynolds|first=E. Bruce|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03612759.2003.10527531|title=Chinese Capitalists in Japan's New Order: The Occupied Lower Yangzi, 1937-1945: Coble, Parks M.: Berkeley: University of California Press 296 pp., Publication Date: April 2003|journal=[[History (Washington)|History]]|year=2003|volume=31|issue=4|pages=173–174|doi=10.1080/03612759.2003.10527531 |s2cid=141792642 }}
* {{cite journal|last=Sheehan|first=Brett|url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.2307/20066054?journalCode=tcj|title=Chinese Capitalists in Japan's New Order: The Occupied Lower Yangzi, 1937-1945 . Parks M. Coble|journal=[[The China Journal]]|place=[[Canberra]]|year=2005|volume=53|issue=53|pages=263–265|doi=10.2307/20066054 |jstor=20066054 }}
* {{cite journal|last=Wright|first=Tim|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-economic-history/article/abs/chinese-capitalists-in-japans-new-order-the-occupied-lower-yangzi-19371945-by-parks-m-coble-berkeley-and-los-angeles-university-of-california-press-2003-pp-xiii-296-60/8C38FB5D35F5AAAB0557E229D80D904A|title=Chinese Capitalists in Japan's New Order: The Occupied Lower Yangzi, 1937–1945. By Parks M. Coble. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2003. Pp. xiii, 296. $60|journal=[[The Journal of Economic History]]|year=2003|volume=63|issue=4|pages=1158–1159|doi=10.1017/S0022050703282577 |s2cid=154735872 }}
===Notes===
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* ''[https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520232686/chinese-capitalists-in-japans-new-order Chinese Capitalists in Japan's New Order]'' - [[University of California Press]]
* ''[https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1ppcn7 Chinese Capitalists in Japan's New Order]'' - Available at [[JSTOR]]
{{Parks M. Coble}}
[[Category:2003 books]]
[[Category:History books about China]]
[[Category:Culture in Shanghai]]
[[Category:University of California Press books]]