Spring 2007, Volume 17, No. 1
Research Serendipity--Discovering Resources in Family Histories
Daniel J. Meissner
Marquette University
In 2003, I published an article in Twentieth Century China on the origins of China's flour milling industry. This study focused on the efforts of two brothers - Sun Duosen and Sun Duoxin - from Anwei province to open the first modern flour mill in Shanghai at the turn of the twentieth century. The ultimate success of their Fou Foong flour mill attracted other entrepreneurs to the business, resulting in the founding of China's modern milling industry. By 1910, Chinese mills became the leading supplier of flour to domestic urban markets, replacing American imports that had dominated China's quality flour trade for thirty years.
Examining economic factors and business decisions that influenced the outcome of this David vs. Goliath contest was a purely academic pursuit. I culled information from typical resources - newspaper articles, consular reports, customs documents, trade journals, sales records, shipping tables, and a variety of secondary sources - to construct as accurate a history of this event as possible. I was satisfied that my comprehensive research had culminated in a strong, logical interpretation of the origins of the Fou Foong mill, growth of the domestic industry, and competition between American and Chinese flour.
As I soon learned, however, my research was not quite comprehensive; another excellent but completely overlooked resource had been missed. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, descendants of the original Sun brothers living in the United States began to contact me about the article. At first, they simply introduced themselves, commenting generally on the essay and their relation to the "Fou Foong" family. But as our correspondence expanded, they began providing more information, including missing names and facts, stock certificates, genealogies, and even a detailed, unpublished family history. In these collective memories, I discovered, was a valuable, untapped resource that provided new data and collaborative evidence for my research. Of even greater import, however, their stories brought an academic topic to life as family members recalled people and events related to the mill, and personal stories of their early years living in Shanghai.
One descendent who lived in China until the 1990s, claimed that I was mistaken in stating that Fou Foong's original flour bore the Bicycle brand. He did recall a bicycle printed on sacks of the family's flour, but remembered his mother telling him that the brand was introduced much later at the suggestion of his grandmother who had not yet been born in 1900 - the year I claimed it was introduced. This sparked a lively exchange of email messages with various recollections and arguments being circulated. One person noted that he had read that bicycles were so unpopular at the turn of the century that is was unlikely to have been selected as the brand for a new product like flour. Another recalled a story about the family ancestors fleeing Shandong with all their belongings packed on a wheelbarrow, which he explained, became the inspiration for the original brand, "lao che." The grand-nephew of the founding brothers agreed with this story. He remembered his grandfather telling him that the original wheelbarrow brand was changed sometime later to the more modern image of a bicycle, but the popular "lao che" name for the flour was retained. I countered with my own evidence, reasserting that "Bicycle" was the company's original brand. In the end, we agreed to disagree until more documentation could be found.
Others correspondents provided details about specific family members mentioned in (or omitted from) the article. One person provided the name of the interpreter who accompanied Sun Duoxin to the United States to purchase the original milling equipment. He also explained that as a young man, Charlie Soong also served as an interpreter for the Fou Foong company. Someone else recalled a story about a coup led against Sun Duosen when he was serving as military governor of Anhui province. Still another vividly recalled the American miller, Mr. Farmer, who he claims was sent to Shanghai to equip and manage the Fou Foong mill. He remembered seeing the miller off at the steamship in 1930, after retiring from a long career with the firm. Once again, I produced records indicating that the first miller was Mr. Morris, and most likely, Farmer replaced him several years after the mill was in operation. Although this correspondent's information was not quite accurate, it still provided me a research avenue to pursue. I was unaware of Mr. Farmer's extended employment with the firm, and will attempt to follow this lead to see if he left a diary, collection of letters, or documents related to his time in Shanghai.
Equally insightful as these details about the mill, were reminiscences of life in Shanghai at the turn of the century. Several people wrote describing their privileged life in the French Settlement, but one also noted passing straw wrapped bundles - abandoned infants - under trees near the walkways. As a young girl in the 1940s, one writer recalled the resentment she felt toward Sikh policemen patrolling Shanghai streets and barring access to Caucasian-only establishments. Many wrote of school, jobs, family holidays, historical figures, and often, of the adjustment to life in the United States. All of them provided me a glimpse into the personal lives of the Sun family, which previously I had considered only an historical subject.
The correspondence with Sun family members generated by my original article has resulted in a wealth of information that will further my research on their assorted enterprises. It may prove beneficial for others investigating Chinese industrial and business history to learn more about the possibility of tapping oral and written records of descendants of families once involved in these enterprises. Perhaps other scholars who have had a similar response to their research and publications will share their experience in a short essay for CBH.
Last Updated On: 5/25/07
