From "Xiananyang" To "King Of Cotton Yarn"! There Is Such A Foreshadowing For The Economic Development Along The Wusong River

The mystery of history often has a presupposition. The characteristics of Wusong River, which is high in the East and low in the west, foreshadows a series of major changes in China's cotton textile industry in the past few hundred years

"Su lake is ripe, the world is full." This proverb has been popular since the Southern Song Dynasty. It can be seen that in the song and Yuan Dynasties, the Wusong River Basin was already a place with plenty of rice and enough grain. However, according to Wang Weiguo, the author of the book research on Wusong River culture published in 2019, with the change of water system structure and hydrogeology, by the end of Yuan Dynasty, the soil in the lower reaches of Wusong River was no longer suitable for planting rice. The vast granary began to plant cotton. The formation and prosperity of the cotton textile industry in Shanghai started from then on.

Wang Weiguo, the author of Wusong River culture research and a member of Suzhou Wu Culture Research Society, is near the Wusong River. Growing up drinking the water of Wusong River, he is full of deep feelings for this river with profound cultural heritage. Since 2015, Wang Weiguo officially started to write a book for this river. In order to prepare the manuscript, Wang Weiguo has studied the culture of Wusong River Basin for many years. He found that the granary was also short of food.

Is Wusong River Basin unique? Affected by climate, geography and other factors, the lower and middle reaches of Wusong River are located in highland area. In other words, the Wusong River flows from lowlands to highlands and into the sea. During the period from Six Dynasties to the end of Tang Dynasty and Five Dynasties, the gradually formed weir gate system of Tangpu polder guaranteed that enough clear water could wash the muddy tide into the sea, and the sediment would not be deposited in the river and cause silting, which laid the foundation for Suzhou to become a "land of fish and rice". However, Wang Weiguo thinks: "this characteristic of High East and low West also foreshadows the change of coastal economic pattern."

Since then, the water conservancy system of protecting one side of soil and water was destroyed in Song Dynasty. The clear water is weak day by day, so it can't resist the muddy tide. A large amount of sediment is deposited in the lower reaches of Wusong River and its tributaries. Over time, the Highlands become increasingly arid. In the area of Wunijing in the lower reaches of Songjiang Prefecture, the soil has become Sandy. Such land is no longer suitable for rice cultivation. But for cotton, it is fertile soil. In the Yongle period of Ming Dynasty, the planting structure of "cotton in seven parts and rice in three parts" had been formed in the highland area of Wusong River Basin.

Cash crops bring rich income, which promotes the formation and development of cotton textile industry. In today's map of Shanghai, "Wunijing" is nowhere to be found, but this small town on the Wusong River was famous for its excellent cotton textile products. Gu Gongxie of the Qing Dynasty mentioned in the excerpt of leisure notes of the summer that "hundreds of cloth shops in the former Ming Dynasty were all in Songjiang, Fengjing and Zhujing, while the Dyers, kickers and merchants learned from them." At that time, Songjiang cotton cloth had been exported to various countries in Southeast Asia, and its industry was prosperous. Wang Weiguo said: "in the early Qing Dynasty, many dyers moved to Suzhou. Suzhou's finishing and dyeing technology is outstanding, and the exported cotton cloth was once called "Su cloth."

The history and important position of cotton textile industry in Shanghai has lasted for hundreds of years since Ming Dynasty. From Wang Weiguo's point of view, it can be said that the far-reaching influence of the Wusong River's changes contributed to the rise of Shanghai's early national industry to a certain extent. In the 1920s and 1930s, Shanghai's cotton textile industry has entered a glorious period. Rong Desheng and Rong Zongjing also set up yarn factories in Shanghai. Through continuous development, merger and acquisition, the two brothers have become the famous "king of cotton yarn" in China. Since then, due to the adjustment of industrial structure and other reasons, cotton textile industry is no longer the pillar industry in Shanghai, but its development source is inextricably linked with Wusong River. Wang Weiguo thinks: "Wusong River originates from Suzhou, flows through Shanghai and finally enters the sea. Changes in the upstream will have a series of impacts on the downstream. Shanghai and the Soviet Union, which are connected by land and water, have been compatible for 200 years. "