Former Site of the Yingkou Branch of Shanghai Ruichangcheng Head Office

Former Site of the Yingkou Branch of Shanghai Ruichangcheng Head Office

The former site of the Yingkou Branch of Shanghai Ruichangcheng Head Office is a cultural relic protection unit of Liaoning Province.

The former site of the Yingkou Branch of Shanghai Ruichangcheng Head Office is located in the Dock Community, Yushi Subdistrict Office, Xishi District.

The main office of Ruichangcheng was in Shanghai. In the second year of the Xuantong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1910), its Yingkou branch was established and officially opened. With substantial capital, it ranked among the top businesses in Yingkou's national industry and commerce, and its trade extended far and wide.

In 1910, China was in decline, with the crumbling Qing Dynasty struggling to hold on. Yet, Yingkou in the northeast was thriving. Thanks to half a century of development since its opening as a port, the area was now dotted with docks along the riverbanks, masts of ships crowded the Liao River, and the sound of ship horns never ceased. The city was bustling with shops lining the streets, traffic bustling, and people coming and going in droves. It was in that very year that the Shanghai Ruichangcheng Head Office seized the opportunity to set up a branch in Yingkou. The owner was Ruikangsheng, and the manager was Cheng Chunyuan. The name combined their surnames with the meaning of “prosperity and good fortune.” The building of the Yingkou branch of Shanghai Ruichangcheng Head Office is unique — a square, loop-style structure covering an area of 2,802 square meters and standing 15 meters high. This building is a courtyard-style structure built by the Chinese themselves, featuring a rectangular layout with three-tiered corridors inside, all constructed with red bricks. Stairs are located at the northwest and southeast corners, and the corridors are paved with various patterned tiles, housing a total of over 70 rooms. Though it was a commercial building, it was exceptionally sturdy, resembling a military fortress. The courtyard layout formed by surrounding buildings carries a distinct southern architectural style, majestic and spectacular. Its construction cost a total of 100,000 silver dollars.

The main business of this large enterprise was pigments, but it also dealt in cloth, silk, and general merchandise. It also acted as an agent for goods from the American Standard Oil Company and the German Texaco Company. With an annual turnover of over 2 million yuan and annual profits of around 300,000 yuan, it was one of the largest merchants in Yingkou in terms of capital and business scope. A “large enterprise” (大屋子) was a uniquely characteristic form of commercial enterprise in modern Yingkou — a comprehensive business integrating warehousing, wholesale, agency, services, and intermediation. Merchants from other regions who stayed here could store their goods for free, and dedicated staff would help them find buyers or source needed products. If a deal was made, the “large enterprise” would take a 5% commission of the total transaction value. At the time, Yingkou’s commerce was extraordinarily prosperous, with huge trading volumes, and every “large enterprise” enjoyed substantial profits. From the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China, Yingkou had over a hundred such “large enterprises,” and Ruichangcheng rose to become one of the most outstanding among them.

But the good times did not last. After the September 18th Incident in 1931, Yingkou was occupied by Japanese invaders. Under the puppet regime’s economic “control” policies, Yingkou’s national industry and commerce suffered devastating losses. The Ruichangcheng large enterprise was forced to shift to factory work, processing silk for the Japanese invaders. By the late period of the puppet Manchukuo, especially after the implementation of the “July 25th” price freeze policy, when all market goods came under Japanese control, the business declined sharply and could no longer recapture its former glory. During the Kuomintang occupation, the business reopened by leveraging its solid reputation and the strong capital backing of its Shanghai owners, but it still struggled to survive and eventually closed down in 1948, just before liberation. This building, which bore witness to the modern economic development history of Yingkou, was taken over by the stubbornly resisting Nationalist Traffic Police Corps, who used it as their command center. However, even its solid fortress could not reverse the fate of defeat. Under the fierce offensive of our heroic People’s Liberation Army, with the cooperation of defecting Nationalist troops, the enemy forces were completely annihilated, and the victory flag was raised high above Ruichangcheng...

In 2004, the Yingkou Real Estate Economic Development Company transferred the property rights to the Yingkou Municipal Bureau of Culture. In 2005, with the support of the Liaoning Provincial Department of Culture, the Yingkou Municipal Bureau of Culture hired a professional maintenance team to carry out comprehensive conservation and restoration of the site, restoring it to its original appearance.

In 1990, the Yingkou Municipal People's Government designated the former site of the Yingkou Branch of Shanghai Ruichangcheng Head Office as a municipal-level cultural relic protection unit. In 2003, the Liaoning Provincial People's Government (Liaozhengfa [2003] No. 12) listed it as a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit. The scope of cultural relic protection and construction control zone announced by the Liaoning Provincial People's Government (Liaozhengfa [2004] No. 34) are as follows: within 10 meters outside the outer base of the building’s exterior walls is the protected area; extending 50 meters beyond the protected area is the Class II construction control zone.

Source: Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports, News, Radio, Television, and Tourism; Contributor: Dong Wenjie

Dock Community: Dock Community…… More details about the Dock Community++

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Liaoning Province