Wenzhou: Top in Money Making, Equally Fierce in Academia?
For a city to gain widespread recognition, it must have something to rely on. Some boast historical heritage, like Beijing and Xi'an; others are rich in natural resources, like Daqing and Panzhihua; some are known for their convenient transportation, like Zhengzhou and Wuhan; and others are celebrated for their stunning scenery, like Suzhou and Qingdao. But when it comes to Wenzhou, a city known worldwide, most people can only think of one thing—the people of Wenzhou!
The TV series "Wenzhou Family."
Since the 1980s, Wenzhou people have become renowned for their wealth. Wenzhou has an extremely high "business density"—one out of every four Wenzhou residents is engaged in business outside the city. With 700,000 Wenzhou people doing business in over 130 countries worldwide, they have created an economic scale far larger than that of Wenzhou itself. Wenzhou merchants have become another influential business group after the Anhui and Shanxi merchants, earning the title "Eastern Jews."
However, Wenzhou lacks natural resources, and its GDP per capita ranks among the lowest in Zhejiang, making it arguably the "poorest" city in the province. The challenging terrain of "70% mountains, 20% water, and 10% farmland" forced Wenzhou people to leave their hometown and do business worldwide, becoming a model of逆袭 (turning the tables). How Wenzhou people transformed from "having nothing" to "business geniuses" remains a timeless question.
Night view of Wenzhou. How "poor" is Wenzhou, exactly, when we talk about poverty in Zhejiang?
Photo/Jayveeho, Image/Figureworm·Creativity
Wenzhou is not a "central city" but a borderland defined by its topography.
Surrounded by mountains on the north, west, and south, Wenzhou is a名副其实 (true) mountainous area. The straight-line distance from Wenzhou to Hangzhou is equivalent to about an hour by high-speed rail. Nevertheless, before the Oujiang Bridge opened, it took Wenzhou people nearly a day to travel to Hangzhou. The endless mountains of southern Zhejiang tightly enveloped Wenzhou and also blocked the southward expansion of the "land of fish and rice."
Wenzhou is a名副其实 (true) mountainous area.
Located in a remote corner of the southeast, Wenzhou is neither connected to Shanghai and Hangzhou nor close to Guangdong and Hong Kong. It is small, resource-poor, and long isolated. Wenzhou embraces the East Sea with almost its entire eastern side, but for most of history before modern times, this was hardly an advantage.
With "70% mountains, 20% water, and 10% farmland," the geographical space available to Wenzhou people is very limited.
In ancient times, when agriculture dominated, Wenzhou people had no choice but to reclaim land from the sea to solve their food problems. However, frequent tidal invasions often caused troublesome soil salinization, posing a long-term生存威胁 (survival threat) to Wenzhou people. Since the Western Jin Dynasty, Wenzhou people have been building海塘 (seawalls, known as "coastal embankments" in southeastern China) for centuries.
Coastal land is highly susceptible to salinization due to tidal invasions.
Due to its remote location, Wenzhou could not receive funding from the imperial court and had to rely on民间众筹 (crowdfunding). For example, during the construction of the Nantang in the Song Dynasty outside Wenzhou,民间捐资 (private donations) accounted for more than half of the funds. Relying on their own strength, Wenzhou people built the largest number of seawalls in Zhejiang along a coastline stretching over 1,000 kilometers.
During the Ming Dynasty, the coastal terrain made Wenzhou vulnerable to severe倭患 (Japanese pirate invasions). In Wenzhou, resisting pirates was not just the government's responsibility; the民间 (private sector) also participated, spontaneously building cities and fortresses. The Yongchang Fortress, preserved in today's Longwan District, stands as a testament to Wenzhou's民间力量 (private strength).
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, under特殊的历史情境 (special historical circumstances), Wenzhou's strategic importance to the nation increased, but it lost opportunities for economic construction investment. There were no large state-owned enterprises, and urban infrastructure was severely lagging.
Wenzhou people have deep feelings for bridges. The picture shows the Oubei Bridge.
Even the "harder than reaching the sky" Sichuan roads have been opened up with railways. Yet, as one of the 14 open coastal cities, Wenzhou had neither railways nor an airport until 1989. It was not until 1998, when the Jinhua-Wenzhou Railway, funded by Wenzhou-born scholar Nan Huai-chin and jointly invested by Hong Kong, local authorities, and the Ministry of Railways, was completed, that Wenzhou's尴尬 (embarrassing) status as a "transportation dead end" ended.
The Jinhua-Wenzhou Railway ended Wenzhou's history of having no railways.
Photo/Jingju Jieduan Small DF, Image/Figureworm·Creativity
In Wenzhou, both the airport and the university were built through crowdfunding models. From the prosperity of the entire city to the concrete roads in every village, all embody the energy of the Wenzhou people themselves. Under the dual constraints of the natural environment and policies, the people of Wenzhou have been forced to develop and perpetuate a spirit of self-reliance, embedding "self-confidence" into their DNA.
The Ou River flows through the city, entering the sea to the east in the northern part of the city. For a long time, engaging in commerce along the waterways and going to sea became the survival path forced upon the people of Wenzhou. This was also an alternative path full of hardships and dangers, as the Wenzhou people themselves say: Wenzhou has only the "water" path (which sounds like "death" in the Wenzhou dialect).
The Ou River flows through the city and enters the sea in the northern part of the city.
During the time of Xie Lingyun, a famous minister of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, who served as the governor of Yongjia (ancient Wenzhou), Wenzhou had only about 30,000 people. In the Sui Dynasty, Wenzhou first exceeded 10,000 households. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, the population of Wenzhou climbed to 240,000. By the mid-Southern Song Dynasty, with the southward migration of the Song royal family, Wenzhou became a metropolis with a population of over a million, approaching Bianjing, the world's largest city during the Northern Song Dynasty. By the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, the population of Wenzhou had nearly reached 2 million.
After the Wei and Jin periods, a large number of people from the north migrated south, boosting the urban economy of the Jiangnan region. However, for Wenzhou, which has very limited land area, population growth visibly increased the pressure on land resources.
Emperor Gaozong of Song was chased by the Jin army to Wenzhou and once "stayed briefly" on Jiangxin Isle.
An unfriendly natural geographical environment often shapes a bold and courageous folk culture, with a commercial consciousness forming潜移默化ally. Coupled with population pressure, commercial and trade activities in Wenzhou rapidly flourished.
During the Southern Song Dynasty, Wenzhou merchants began to form groups and emerge. However, beneath the prosperous commercial scene, there were also discordant elements such as "smuggling salt and selling illicit tea." As a result, the Southern Song court opened Wenzhou Port as a foreign trade port and established a Maritime Trade Office (equivalent to today's customs) in Wenzhou. Thus, Wenzhou became one of the four major ports, alongside Quanzhou Port.
Fishing rafts at Bolang Drum, Dongtou Half-Screen Mountain, Wenzhou.
At that time, celadon, tea, and timber from Longquan, Lishui, Jinhua, and other places came down the Ou River to Wenzhou's Anlan Ting Wharf, where they gathered with goods produced in Wenzhou, such as paper, Ou kiln porcelain, and lacquerware. They were then either sent north to Goryeo and Japan or south to South Asia, the Middle East, and even Europe.
Ou kiln porcelain, lacquerware, and tea exported from Wenzhou Port during the Southern Song Dynasty.
Frequent maritime trade spurred the development of Wenzhou's shipbuilding industry. At that time, Wenzhou built 600 ships annually, ranking first in the country.
However, Wenzhou during the Song and Yuan dynasties was like a flash in the pan. After the maritime bans of the Ming and Qing dynasties, it declined rapidly. In modern times, Wenzhou was not particularly prominent, especially with Quanzhou and Chaoshan to the south and Ningbo and Shanghai to the north. The "Wenzhou merchants" truly gained widespread recognition only after the reform and opening-up.
In the 1980s, while the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta leveraged policy advantages to shift from overseas business to attracting foreign investment and local commerce, the people of Wenzhou persistently explored overseas markets.
Imagine the scene of thousands of ships competing in Wenzhou Port during the Southern Song Dynasty.
This is the "right path" in the eyes of the Wenzhou people.
During the Republican era, a saying circulated in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region: "For business, rely on the Ningbo people; for lawsuits, rely on the Shaoxing people; for education, rely on the Wenzhou people."
Wenzhou Medical University ranks first in China in ophthalmic and optometric medicine.
Do not assume that just because Wenzhou people are good at business, they only care about making money. The shrewdness of merchants cannot掩盖 the elegance of the Wenzhou people. In fact, from the Song Dynasty to before the founding of the People's Republic of China, the achievements of Wenzhou people in culture and education were even more outstanding than their money-making abilities. They love labor but also love learning. The perseverance and resilience of the Wenzhou people are equally reflected in their thirst for knowledge.
When the culture and economy of the Central Plains developed rapidly, Wenzhou, which was historically part of Dongyue, was naturally far from the emperor's reach. However, whenever wars broke out in the north, Wenzhou became a haven for northerners seeking refuge from the chaos.
Wenzhou, with its clear waters and lush mountains, has nurtured the unique Ouyue culture,
and also left behind abundant tourism resources.
During the Northern and Southern Song dynasties, under the pursuit of the Jin army, Emperor Gaozong of Song led the royal family to establish the capital in Lin'an (now Hangzhou). Wenzhou, once a remote border area, suddenly became part of the capital region. The fleeing Emperor Gaozong once stayed in Wenzhou, forming a bond with the city akin to "knowing each other in humble times."
The talent wars between cities today actually began in ancient times. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Wenzhou unexpectedly experienced prosperity brought by the influx of scholars, reaching the peak of its cultural development. The number of Jinshi (imperial scholars) from Wenzhou surged from double digits to over 1,000, ranking first in Zhejiang by an absolute margin. At the same time, the Yongjia School, one of the "Three Major Schools of the Southern Song" alongside Daoism and Neo-Confucianism, also emerged during this period.
Influenced by the Yongjia School, modern education in Wenzhou has thrived.
The rise and fall of culture always accompany economic fluctuations. After the Yuan Dynasty moved its capital to Beijing, Wenzhou returned to its remote status, and its economy rapidly declined, with the number of Jinshi dropping to just nine. The isolationist policies of the Ming and Qing dynasties further weakened Wenzhou's economic status, plunging it into another低谷 (low point).
After the reform and opening-up, the people of Wenzhou, fearful of poverty, were eager to escape their destitute situation. To outsiders, Wenzhou people seemed to rely solely on sheer courage and fearlessness to build their commercial empire. However, Wenzhou people themselves know that pursuing education and official careers is their true tradition and aspiration.
The Nan'ge Memorial Archway at the entrance of Xianshengmen in Yandang Mountain,
symbolizes the achievements and status of Wenzhou people.
The Yongjia School emphasized practical application, influencing modern times. The Qing Dynasty's devastating defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War stimulated Chinese enthusiasm for learning Western science. The Xueji Academy, founded by the renowned modern educator Sun Yirang in Ruian, Wenzhou, became one of China's earliest specialized mathematics schools. As a hometown of mathematics in China, Wenzhou people realized a century ago that "excelling in math and science opens doors everywhere."
During the Republican era, Wenzhou-origin faculty at Peking University far outnumbered those from other regions. This year, both top scorers in Zhejiang's college entrance examination were from Wenzhou. Wenzhou people have not only opened optical shops nationwide but also gained attention for their medical research水平 (level), especially after the popularity of Wenzhou-origin doctor Zhang Wenhong.
Today, Wenzhou still retains the names of many ancient lanes. Wuma Lane and Mochi Lane preserve the cultural traces of the great calligrapher Wang Xizhi. Kangle Lane, from East Huancheng Road to North Jiefang Road, and Xiechi Lane, east of Zhongshan Park, are associated with Xie Lingyun, the governor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Wenzhou people, through their urban memory, actively demonstrate their reverence and pursuit of culture.
The Wuma Historical Block records the cultural history of Wenzhou.
Strength in Unity: The Collective Pride of Wenzhou People
Wenzhou people excel at uniting to conquer the world.
The leaders of Aokang and Red Dragonfly shoes are relatives; the bosses of Chint and Delixi are classmates; Juneyao was founded by three brothers; and the heads of three giant enterprises in Chongqing are fellow townspeople from Ruian, Wenzhou. Brothers, classmates, and fellow townspeople... these are the grouping rules for Wenzhou people doing business outside. Wenzhou Chambers of Commerce are spread across over 80% of prefecture-level cities in China, becoming the most powerful chambers and the most trusted求助对象 (go-to for help) for Wenzhou people.
Thermometers produced in Wenzhou during the pandemic.
In the 1980s, renowned sociologist Fei Xiaotong predicted the success of the Wenzhou Model. It was not individual Wenzhou merchants but united "Wenzhou Business Groups" that turned small commodities into big markets.
In Prato, Italy, over 60,000 Wenzhou people jointly registered more than 7,000 companies,几乎掌握 (almost controlling) the textile and retail industries. Before the demolition of Beijing's Dahongmen, it聚集着 (gathered) 200,000 Wenzhou small vendors, making it a veritable "Wenzhou Village." Yongjia, with a population of less than a million, controls the命脉 (lifeline) of small supermarkets in countless small towns.
Aokang shoes and Wenzhou glasses are known nationwide.
Once, among every 400 Wenzhou natives, there was at least one millionaire. The rest of Wenzhou people were quietly creating their own small wealth goals.
Sticking together outside their hometown reflects Wenzhou people's love for their homeland. Although known as the "Oriental Jews," Wenzhou people differ fundamentally from Jews—Jews once had no home to return to, while Wenzhou people always have a permanent hometown.
Speaking the Wenzhou dialect allows one to venture anywhere in the world. Wenzhou people's love for their hometown is divided by the diverse and mutually unintelligible local dialects into love for their own smaller regions. One might suspect that Wenzhou people stick together out of necessity, given the extreme difficulty of understanding the Wenzhou dialect.
Even Wenzhou people themselves may not understand each other's Wenzhou dialect.
Wenzhou people's love for their hometown is reflected in their passion for traditional Wenzhou cuisine. Unique Wenzhou flavors are preserved locally. Fish balls made from croaker fish have no fixed shape; chilled raw crab is best paired with a bowl of hot steamed rice. Hard-to-find delicacies like Airen sponge cake, stir-fried rice noodles, and Yongjia wheat cakes are the hometown tastes Wenzhou people miss the most. Snacks like duck tongue and Xiangbalao have traveled the world with Wenzhou people.
Wenzhou's superior natural landscape has nurtured its distinguished cultural heritage, while its disadvantageous mountainous and coastal terrain, with scarce resources, has forged Wenzhou people's courage and wisdom. They can be refined scholars or resilient fighters. Wenzhou's greatest wealth will always be its people, who remain unbreakable no matter where they go.
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