Chinese Industrial Cooperatives ( zh, c=工業合作社, p=Gōngyè Hézuòshè) (CICs) were organisations established in China during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

(1937–1945) to support China's war effort by organizing small-scale grassroots industrial and economic development. The movement was led by the Chinese Industrial Cooperative Association (CICA or Indusco), founded in 1938 by foreign and Chinese activists. Its international arm the International Committee for the Promotion of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives (ICCIC, also known by the nickname Gung Ho International Committee) was founded in 1939 in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

to promote

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

s in China. The movement was especially active in the 1930s and 1940s with support from both left and right wings of Chinese politics. The movement disappeared after the 1950s after the establishment of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

government, but CICA and ICCIC were revived in the 1980s and are still active in the twenty-first century. In the English-speaking world, the industrial cooperatives' best known legacy is the term " gung-ho", which came to mean "overly enthusiastic," but had no relation to its meaning in Chinese, stemming from their shortened name ( zh, t=工合, hp=gōnghé, l=to work together).

History

The Gung Ho ( zh, c=工合, hp=gōnghé, l=to work together) movement was first initiated in Shanghai in 1937. Some of the principal organizers were

Rewi Alley Rewi Alley (known in China as 路易•艾黎, Lùyì Aìlí, 2 December 1897 – 27 December 1987) was a New Zealand-born writer and political activist. A member of the Chinese Communist Party, he dedicated 60 years of his life to the cause an ...

of New Zealand,

Edgar Snow Edgar Parks Snow (July 19, 1905 – February 15, 1972) was an American journalist known for his books and articles on communism in China and the Chinese Communist Revolution. He was the first Western journalist to give an account of the history of ...

, Nym Wales ( Helen Foster Snow), and

Ida Pruitt Ida C. Pruitt (1888–1985) was a China-born American social worker, author, speaker, interpreter and activist in Sino-American understanding. Her biographer called her "China's American Daughter." In the 1920s and 1930s she supervised social wor ...

of the US, as well as a group of Chinese including

Hu Yuzhi Hu Yuzhi (; September 9, 1896 – January 16, 1986) was a Chinese politician who served as a vice chairperson of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the acting chairman of the China Democratic League The China Democrat ...

( 胡愈之) and Sha Qianli ( 沙千里). In August 1938, the CICA was established. It was founded in the wartime capital

Hankow Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers w ...

when China was engaged in the

. Through the sponsorship of Madame Chiang Kai-shek, Finance Minister Dr. H. H. Kung supplied government financial support. The movement aimed to organize unemployed workers and refugees, increasing production to support the war effort. The goal was to replace industrial capacity lost to bombing by dispersing and giving workers voting shares in their CICs. The CICA organized small scale self-supporting

s, mainly in rural areas, to create employment for workers and refugees and produce goods for the war effort. In January 1939, the international arm ICCIC was established in

. Ms.

Soong Ching-ling Soong Ch'ing-ling (27 January 1893 – 29 May 1981), Christian name Rosamonde or Rosamond, was a Chinese political figure. She was the wife of Sun Yat-sen, therefore known by Madame Sun Yat-sen and the "''Father of the Nation, Mother of Mode ...

was elected honorary chair and the Anglican Bishop of Hong Kong, the Right Rev. Ronald O. Hall to be chair, and Dr.

Chen Hansheng Chen Hansheng (February 5, 1897 – March 13, 2004), also known as Chen Han-seng and Geoffrey Chen, was a Chinese historian, sociologist and social activist considered a pioneer of modern Chinese social science. He was an underground spy for ...

was appointed as secretary general. Rev. Dr. Walter Brooks Foley, pastor of Union Church of Manila, Philippines, serve on the international committee, along with leading Chinese businessmen in Manila Dee C. Chuan, Alfonso Sycip, and Yu Khe thai. Foley became president of the Philippine Association of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives. In 1941, the Gung Ho movement reached its peak: around 3,000 cooperatives with a combined membership of nearly 300,000 people were functioning. Their factories produced more than 500 products for the local people, and a large number of blankets, uniforms and other army supplies for the battlefront. Ida Pruitt toured the United States to raise substantial financial support. The unique role of Gung Ho cooperatives in the war also won such international acclaim that the term " gung-ho" became a famous slogan of the

U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...

. Adopting the literal meanings of the two characters separately as "work" and "together", the slogan entered the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

as a term denoting whole-hearted dedication to a meaningful cause. Both the

Nationalist government The Nationalist government, officially the National Government of the Republic of China, refers to the government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China from 1 July 1925 to 20 May 1948, led by the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT ...

of Chiang Kai-shek and the Communist movement of

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

supported the movement and tried to control it. Alley placated the

Nationalists Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, Id ...

but his sympathies and eventual loyalties were to the emerging

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

government. In 1942, Alley was dismissed from Gung Ho by the government of Chiang Kai-shek. After Mao's victory in 1949 Alley stayed in China, but there was no need for the CICA and ICCIC. Both CICA and ICCIC suspended their works in 1952. An excellent discussion of the CICs appears in Graham Peck's book ''Two Kinds of Time'' (1950). Peck traveled with Alley to a number of CICs early in 1941 and was able to see them at their height, but as his experience grew he came to understand their limitations and the fact that their course was ultimately downwards, not upwards, for a variety of reasons.

Revival

The CICA was revived in 1983, and the ICCIC was revived in 1987 in Beijing by Alley and other former Gung Ho leaders. The reorganized ICCIC registered with the

Ministry of Civil Affairs The Ministry of Civil Affairs ( zh, 中华人民共和国民政部) the cabinet-level executive department of the State Council of China which is responsible for social and administrative affairs. It is the 10th-ranked department in the State C ...

of People's Republic of China as an international non-profit organization.

Zhu Xuefan Zhu Xuefan (; June 12, 1905 – January 17, 1996) was a Chinese male politician, who served as the vice chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. References {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhu, Xuefan 1905 births 1996 deat ...

( 朱學範) was elected as honorary chair and Alley as chair. The main task of the revived ICCIC is the promotion of cooperatives in China. Membership is open to all individuals and organizations who support the cooperative movement. The committee has approximately 100 members from China,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

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France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

, and

. The ICCIC's General Assembly of all members meets every five years. The executive board elected by the Assembly is responsible for decision-making on major issues according to its articles of association during the adjournment of the Assembly. A secretariat is set up to handle day-to-day work.

Notes

References

* * *
"New Industries"
''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

''. 22 April 1940.

External links

*
Inventory of Rewi Alley’s PapersAlbert F. Moe (1967) "Gung Ho", ''American Speech''. The American Dialect Society."China Through Western Eyes"

Indusco Inc. records
at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University, New York, NY {{DEFAULTSORT:Chinese Industrial Cooperatives Cooperatives in China 1930s in China 1940s in China Business organisations based in Hong Kong Organizations established in 1938 Organizations disestablished in 1952 Politics of the Second Sino-Japanese War Economic history of World War II

History

Revival

See also

Notes

References

External links