The history of the hosiery industry - the development of the modern hosiery industry

The development of the Chinese knitting industry began from the beginning of hosiery. The hosiery industry belongs to the category of the knitting industry. In the past, there was no such industry as hosiery in China. At that time, the Chinese people wore cloth socks. Since 1879, western knitwear has been imported into China, and it has been affected by it. In some coastal importers, knitting companies have been established. "The end of the Qing dynasty, the German eagle ball kylin and other brands of sweatshirts and trousers, are sold at the coastal ports, the people appreciate, increase year by year, and the danger is also big, so the enthusiastic people, and start the factory." China's hosiery industry has begun to rise. The hand-socking machine that was promoted to Shanghai by foreign countries is the earliest hosiery machine in China and the symbol of the start of the Shanghai hosiery industry. A few years later, due to the introduction of the electric socks machine, a power-driven knitting factory was officially launched. The first factory in Shanghai that used the electric socks machine was the Jingxing Knitting Factory, “for the knitting industry”. At this time, there was also a factory specializing in the manufacture of hand-socks machines. The hand-socks machines produced were much cheaper than the imported socks machines. Each set was only a dozen yuan, and it was quickly recognized by the market. Nanhui, Songjiang, Wuxi, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Lanshi, Pinghu and Jiaxing also introduced such hand-socks machines in large numbers, which made the hand-made hosiery industry in these places rapidly popularized. As a result, there has been a machine industry in the country that uses electric socks and hosiery, represented by Shanghai, and two major categories of hand-made workshops that use hand-cranked hosiery, represented by Nanhui, Wuxi, Lanshi, and Pinghu. The hosiery industry has become a cross-level "amphibious" industry.

After the "September 18th" Incident, with the rise of national industry, the rapid development of the hosiery industry was promoted. Some major cities along the coast already have more than 1,000 knitting and hosiery companies, of which only 600 in Shanghai alone. There are also some Jews who open small-sleeved socks factories in Shanghai and use the imported Koden socks machine to produce women's long stockings. The grade and price are higher in the market.

In the period before liberation, due to the war, the hosiery industry, like other knitting industries, suffered setbacks and the industry was at a low ebb. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the recovery and revitalization began again. In particular, through the joint autumn camp, a group of hosiery enterprises have truly embarked on a path of normalized development and scale through mergers, joints, and transformations.

From the hosiery industry to the 1920s and 1930s, the popularity of domestic hand-socks machines and the navigation of the 1925 Yangtze River in the past few decades have led to a surge in the sales of socks, and the hosiery industry has developed greatly and entered a prosperous period. The Jiangnan area has formed a central area of ​​the hosiery industry centered on Shanghai. According to statistics, the number of large-scale socks factories in Shanghai has grown from 20 in 1921 to more than 130 in 1929. Wuxi's hosiery factory has reached 37 at this time, and the development of hosiery industry in Nanhui, Pinghu and Lanshi. It also reached its peak.

1. The hosiery industry centered on Shanghai

Overview of the development of Shanghai Hosiery

The knitting industry in Shanghai started earlier, second only to the silk and cotton textile industry. In the 22nd year of Guangxu Emperor Guangxu (1896), China's first knitting factory was founded in Hongkou, Shanghai, and has a history of more than 100 years. The knitting factory was called "Yunzhang Shirts and Socks Factory". It was founded by Hangzhou-based Wu Xiuying. At that time, it used human hosiery machines, argan cranes and sewing machines made by British and German to produce socks and underwear. At the beginning, there were only a few hand-socks machine weaving socks, which were small in scale and low in output. Later, due to poor management, he was resold to Guangdong merchants in the 28th year of Guangxu (1902) and renamed Jinglun Shirts Factory (the predecessor of Shanghailun Knitting Factory). Add machines and start to develop into underwear. In the 32nd year of Guangxu, the creation of Guidi shirts, pepper shirts, and brocade shirts became more and more popular. In the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu, the shirt was exported to Nanyang, and the export history of domestic knitwear was first opened. However, at that time, the Chinese knitwear market was still dominated by the British, German, American, Japanese and other countries. The operation of the national knitting industry was extremely difficult. In the 20 years since the factory was founded, the Shanghai Underwear Factory has not been developed.

The establishment of Jinglun Socks Factory marks the beginning of the Shanghai handmade hosiery industry. According to "Small Industry of Shanghai" records:

In the industry of hosiery, the capital can be large or small. Therefore, the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, urban towns and villages are almost everywhere. There are more than one hundred machines, and there are only one or two machines. The products are very poor, and the prices are extremely high. Sales, Shanghai is a dumping ground for foreign cargo planes. If you want to overcome the imported goods, the non-small capital socks factory can bear this responsibility. In recent years, the Shanghai Chinese stockings factory has sprung up, and there are more than 60 in total. The biggest one is China. A knitting factory, Hongxing socks factory, if he progresses, and Jiuhe and Anan Wu and Shengde eight more long-term three talents and Dafeng essence, and so on, too many to mention.

There are two types of hosiery machines: hand-cranked machine electric machine. According to the current situation of the Shanghai stocking factory, the weaving line socks are more hand-shake, the stockings are more electric machines, the socks are ribbed and flat, and the flat socks work more complicated. Ten pairs of double-strand weaving, ribbed socks are woven with forty-two double-stranded lines and forty-two or less, but the yarn is 19 foreign goods, domestic yarn, coarse, still to 60 Yarn, the Shanghai National Goods Yarn Factory, the sunrise is less than two packs, that is, the first Chinese knitting factory, the sunrise line socks are 1,800 hits, and the sixty lines and twelve packs are needed. The difference is far away. sigh.

Weaving socks procedure, 1 shaker 2 inverted yarn 3 hosiery 4 inspection 5 seam head 6 bleaching dyeing 7 decoration. Such as subdivision, there are 22 kinds of procedures, most of the hand-socks machine domestic products, each price of 17 yuan, the power machine in recent years can also be self-made, but the needle used in the machine, Shanghai Although there are ingenuity and two machine factories, specializing in the manufacture and sale, but the use of weaving stockings, such as needles used in weaving stockings, is still not foreign goods.

In the early years of the Republic of China, the first factory in Shanghai that used electric hosiery machines, the Jingxing Knitting Factory, became the originator of the motor knitting industry. In the first year of the Republic of China (1912), the first professional hand-cranked sock factory in Shanghai, Ketai Socks Factory was established. In the following year, Jinxing Socks Factory first introduced electric socks machine to foreign countries and became the first motor socks factory in Shanghai. After the outbreak of the First World War, the import of the stockings dropped sharply. At that time, the domestically produced hand-socks machine was successfully trial-produced, and the socks factory developed. In the 5th year of the Republic of China, Shanghai Handloos and Socks Factory has grown to more than 70. In the 8th year of the Republic of China, the Huashang Socks Association was established and there are more than 50 member factories. Among them, the larger China No. 1 Knitting Factory (now the China First Cotton Spinning Knitting Factory) has a total of 270 K-shaped and B-shaped socks machines.

At this time, Shanghai already has a specialized socks store. The Nanyang Shirts Store was originally a sock stall located on Guangdong Road, specializing in old-fashioned white bamboo stockings. In 1916, he changed to a business, mainly engaged in knitting stockings, named Nanyang Socks Factory, and produced high-yarn shirts, double-yarn cotton shirts and double-yarn flat socks with the trademark "Island Brand". In 1927, Nanyang Socks Factory was added to Nanjing Road. In 1955, the old road of Guangdong Road in Nanyang Socks Factory was merged into the South, and the next year was renamed Nanyang Shirts Store.

After 1914, due to the outbreak of the First World War, the source of foreign products was blocked, and the sock factory opened “such as spring bamboo shoots, and the positive competition, the production became more and more refined, and the socks factory developed faster”. According to statistics, the number of large-scale socks factories in Shanghai has grown from 20 in 1921 to more than 130 in 1929. The speed of development is evident. As of 1935, there were more than 30 motor socks factories in Shanghai.

After the successful manufacture of the domestic electric socks machine in the 18 years since the Republic of China, the motor sock factory developed rapidly and coexisted with the hand-sock factory. There are also small factories with omnipotent plants and single processes. In the 16th year of the Republic of China, the Huashang Socks Association was reorganized into the Knitting Association, and more than 200 member factories in the knitting industry, marking the Shanghai knitting industry has a large scale.

In the 20th year of the 20th year of the Republic of China, the national anti-Japanese national salvation movement was soaring, boycotting Japanese goods, promoting domestic products, and the national knitting industry was further developed. In the 25 years of the Republic of China, there were underwear all-round factories such as Zhongnan, Guohua, Fuhua and Huifu, and weaving (weaving and garment) factories such as Chengfeng, Linsen and Yansheng, Hualun, Kunyuan, Xiangsheng, Youyi, etc. Single weaving factories, Huachang, Zhongxing, Yixing, Xinyu, Yingyin and other single factories have been established. Shanghai Knitting Underwear All-round Factory has grown to 22 companies. The variety of socks has evolved from general yarn socks to rayon jacquard socks, high-count yarn hemp socks, over-the-knee women's socks, flower-mouth socks and wool socks, which have changed the market for imported socks.

In the August 13th Anti-Japanese War in the 26th year of the Republic of China, Wuhe, Linsen, Xiangsheng, Guohua, Zhongnan, Kangfu and other factories located in Hongkou, Zhabei and Nanshi were destroyed by Japanese artillery. The knitting industry migrated to the concession, setting off a climax of construction, Jingfu, Gonghe, Hongsheng, Fuqiang and other factories have been set up, more than 100 knitted underwear factories; socks factory increased public welfare, Meifeng, Yukang, Tianyi, Jiuhua and other more than 30. Wuxi Zhonghua Socks Factory also moved into the Shanghai Concession at this time. Most of the factories have gained profits through the expansion of export sales by Nanyang merchants.

On December 8, the Republic of China, the Pacific War broke out, and the export was interrupted. Domestic sales were also limited by electricity and raw materials, and production in the whole industry shrank. In the 32nd year of the Republic of China, the Japanese Puppet promulgated the "Provisional Regulations on the Acquisition of Cotton Yarns". The Commercial and Commercial Association purchased the gauze for 1/4 of the market price. The Shanghai Knitting Industry was acquired by the Japanese Puppet for 160 tons of various types of cotton yarn. Most of the plants are compressed and the production and sales volume has dropped sharply. At that time, the China No. 1 Knitting Factory moved to the Shenxin Nine Factory, and the Jinglun Factory moved the Hengtong Yarn Factory to take the yarn on the spot and the production continued.

After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in the 34th year of the Republic of China, the Japanese-Korean Kangtai Plant was accepted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the National Government and renamed the Shanghai First Knitting Factory of China Textile Construction Corporation. Private knitting factories have resumed work. Meifeng, Yongda, Yunming and other socks factories have been established. In the 37 years of the Republic of China, the number of socks factories reached 780, an increase of 146 from the 34th year of the Republic of China. However, civil war soon intensified, inflation, and knitting yarns were limited by the quotas of Chinese textile construction companies. Most factories were forced to cut production, and Shanghai knitting production generally tended to wither.

Among these socks factories, there are only a few sole proprietorships, and most of the socks factories adopt a shareholding system. The specific way of raising capital is generally raised by people who are familiar with the socks industry or who want to be managers. The person first went to A to say that he wanted to organize a factory, invited him to join as a shareholder, and then went to B to say that he had already entered the shareholding, and made the same request for B. Then he went to Bingding to do the same lobbying until he reached the tenth. The stock or 12 shares will reach the capital required to build the factory.

In 1932, the total capital of 21 socks factories in Shanghai was 1,877,766 yuan, and the average capital of each sock factory was 894,17. 4 yuan. The largest capital is Huachun Weaving Factory, with 559,441 yuan. The smallest capital is the Sancai Factory. With a capital of 5,000 yuan, even if the capital is the least, the socks factory has 24 electric socks machines, 6 ribbed cars, 2 sewing machines, 1 spinning car and 2 spinning machines.

According to the records, Nanhui’s hosiery industry began in 1912, and the heyday was from 1919 to 1926. In these seven years, “the urban and rural suburbs, the socks factory stood, the sound of the machine was the same, and it was very popular”, from 1927 By 1933, the hosiery industry began to decline. "The situation is not right, the financial crisis is tight, the rural economy is getting more and more ruined, the purchasing power is low, and the hosiery factory announces the stop because of the loss. It is time to smell." In 1933, there were 48 large socks factories that continued to work in Nanhui. Among them, the number of wholly-owned socks factories was the largest, with 32, and the remaining 16 socks factories were of a partnership nature.

In 1949, Shanghai was liberated, and the Municipal Military Management Association took over the bureaucratic capital of China Textile Corporation Shanghai No. 1 Knitting Factory and changed its name to the state-owned Shanghai Knitting Factory. At that time, there were 831 Shanghai sock industry, all of which started 17 and 298 partially started, with a working rate of 37%. Beginning in the second half of 1950, state-owned businesses processed orders for knitting factories, and the National Bank issued loans to difficult households. In the underwear, socks and gloves industry, a joint venture was established in 1951, and the production of the company gradually improved. At this time, a number of private knitting factories were added.

In 1954, the socks factory of Everbright, Datong and Hongxing took the lead in implementing public-private partnerships. Zhenfeng Cotton Weaving Factory moved to Hefei City, Anhui Province, and became the first in-house enterprise in Shanghai textile industry. In January 1956, 1517 private enterprises in the whole industry implemented public-private partnerships, including 787 in the sock industry. On November 19th, Shanghai Underwear Weaving Industry Co., Ltd. (renamed Shanghai Knitting Underwear Industry Co., Ltd. on December 13) and Shanghai Socks Industry Co., Ltd. were established to implement centralized management. In 1957, the company divided the focal points into independent factories, central factories and escrow factories according to the principle of “the same products, similar areas, district management, and point-to-face”. At this point, the production of each plant began to be included in the national plan. After 1956, more than 40 knitting factories in the industry moved to the mainland. By 1959, the affiliated enterprises were divided into 171 knitting factories according to the principle of “product classification, collaborative support”. There are 33 underwear, 106 socks, 30 gloves and 2 machines. In 1962, five socks factories in Nanhui County and one socks factory in Songjiang County were placed under the Shanghai Knitting Industry Company.

In the late 1950s, the Shanghai knitting industry generally carried out a technological innovation movement. The hand-socks machine has successively removed the rocking handle and developed it to semi-automatic and automated. Sock dyeing is changed to flat pulp and drum type, and the dyeing process removes the crowbar bar. In addition, we have established Knitting First and Second Machinery Factory, Needle Bleaching Factory, Needle Bleaching Second Factory, Tongfeng Silk Factory and Knitting Trademark Factory to provide supporting and cooperative services for the industry.

In the early 1960s, the sock factory generally used chemical fiber raw materials, and the production of chemical fiber socks officially started. In 1961, nylon stockings and elastic nylon stockings accounted for 5.21% of the total production of socks, gradually replacing traditional yarn socks. Gloves are also beginning to be produced from chemical fiber raw materials. During the 1960s, two machinery factories in the industry developed from repairing to manufacturing. Shanghai Knitting Machinery No. 1 Factory (referred to as a machine factory) began to use the old K-sock machine body to be transformed into a 51-type embroidery socks machine. In the 1970s, the Z72 and Z76 double-needle socks machines were successively manufactured. Shanghai Knitting Machinery II The factory (referred to as the second machine factory) successfully produced the first domestic warp knitting machine and 20-inch, 30-inch triangular large-diameter jacquard weft knitting machine to fill the domestic gap. In April 1970, the industry established the Knitting Third Machinery Factory to manufacture the GN2-1 high-speed overlock sewing machine (the shell car), and the entire industry old-fashioned overlock machine was completely updated. After more than 10 years, it has completed the innovation from hand crank, semi-automatic, fully automatic to electronic group control.

During the 1970s, the underwear industry started to develop chemical fiber products. In 1971, Jinglun Factory trial-produced cotton, cotton, nitrile cotton, polyester-cotton products, and opened the first of Shanghai's knitted outerwear chemical fiber products. Then, Hongxing Socks Factory was changed to Knitting 20 Factory, Qingsheng Socks Factory was changed to Knitting 19 Factory, weaving weft knitting and knit polyester fabric; and the first socks factory added polyester production line.

During the “Sixth Five-Year Plan” and “Seventh Five-Year Plan” of the country, the total investment of Shanghai Knitting Industry Technology Transformation was 409 million RMB (including US$37.88 million), and 181 projects were invested. The new factory building area of ​​the whole industry is 300,000 square meters, accounting for 60% of the entire construction area of ​​the whole industry. A large number of high-rise buildings and wide office buildings have been completed, which has transformed the original batch of alleys and workshops. Most of the plants' sewage discharges meet the national emission standards. The total investment of the Shanghai Weaving Fifteenth Factory is more than 10 million yuan. During this period, 237 foreign socks machines and nearly 1,500 auxiliary equipments were introduced. The industry has the international level of host equipment in the early 1980s, rising from 5% to 18%. At the same time, the industry has become self-reliant, producing 4,469 sets of socks machines (including more than 3,000 units in the industry) through three machinery factories, and updated 50% of the old equipment in the industry in the 30s and 40s. Through the transformation of the old factory, the industry broadens the export market, expands the production of nylon stockings, thin socks, towel socks and children's socks, and compresses the variety of elastic nylon silk plain socks.