Liu Guojun and the Commercial Resistance: Industry as a Weapon in Wartime China
Introduction:
This article, originally published in Changzhou Daily on September 21, 2025, revisits the extraordinary role of Liu Guojun, a patriotic industrialist who embodied the ideal of “saving the nation through industry.” From boycotting Japanese goods in the 1930s to relocating entire factories under bombardment, Liu’s actions became a powerful example of how commerce and industry were mobilized as tools of resistance.
Additional Notes:
This English version has been adapted for accessibility to English-speaking readers, with minor adjustments made for clarity. All images and captions are sourced from the original publication, with copyrights retained by their original creators, included to honor the spirit and details of the initial work. The original article in Chinese is available for viewing here.
Changzhou Daily, September 21, 2025 – Wenbita Column, Memory By Wang Liangwei
After August 1937, the three factories of Dacheng were repeatedly bombed by Japanese forces. The photo shows Mr. Liu Guojun and factory director Zhang Yifei standing among the ruins of Dacheng’s First Factory.
The term “Commercial Resistance” generally refers to the period between the “September 18 Incident” of 1931 and the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan in 1945, when Chinese national industrialists and entrepreneurs resisted Japanese aggression through economic activities, strategic relocations, and boycotts of Japanese goods. Liu Guojun, a patriotic industrialist with profound foresight, unified his personal fate, his enterprises, and the survival of the nation at a time of national crisis. Through decisive action, immense sacrifice, and unyielding will, he practiced the ideal of “saving the nation through industry,” becoming a distinguished representative of Chinese industrialists during the war.
In November 1931, shortly after the “September 18 Incident,” Liu published his Plan for Saving the Nation with Native Yarn in the Wujin Commercial Daily. He explicitly raised the slogan “Save the nation with native yarn,” advocating the use of domestic textiles and boycotting Japanese goods, and implemented this principle in his business operations. He declared: “My competition target is Japanese merchants. One of the most important ways to compete with Japan is to promote national products. Encouraging the public to buy domestic goods is important, but our factories must also use domestic raw materials and produce national products to resist Japanese goods. On this matter, I am unwavering and lead by example.” He even required Dacheng employees to learn the factory song, which included the lyrics: “Promote national goods, compete abroad, reclaim our rights.” He established Guangyi Cloth Factory and Dacheng Textile & Dyeing Company, introduced advanced technology and equipment, and reformed management to improve the quality and competitiveness of domestic products. His ultimate goal was to replace foreign goods (especially Japanese imports) with superior national products, reclaim markets, and revitalize the national economy.
Before the “July 7 Incident” of 1937, Liu traveled to Japan four times. Although each trip had different experiences and outcomes, his purpose was consistent: “Learn from the strengths of foreigners to resist them.” He said: “I will not be discouraged or yield. The Japanese are fierce, like an ‘evil dragon,’ but as the saying goes, ‘the evil dragon cannot defeat the local snake.’ I was born and raised in China. No matter how ferocious the Japanese dragon is, I am not afraid. I will fight it.”
When full-scale war broke out in 1937, all three Dacheng factories were bombed by Japanese forces. Liu’s enterprises faced the fate of being seized or destroyed. This was not only a personal financial loss but also a devastating blow to his lifelong dream of “saving the nation through industry.” Protecting the lifeblood of national industry and preventing it from serving the enemy became his most urgent and direct form of resistance. He declared: “I am still young, only 50 years old. My belief is: although material losses are immense, my spirit will not die, and the enterprise can certainly be rebuilt.”
After the “August 13 Incident,” with Changzhou on the brink of collapse, Liu made a life-or-death decision: at all costs, relocate the factory equipment westward. Before Changzhou fell in November 1937, he dismantled the most advanced spindles, looms, and dyeing equipment from the three Dacheng factories and transported them by river through Zhenjiang to Hankou. Some new spindles were returned to Shanghai and temporarily stored in the International Settlement. When Wuhan was threatened in 1938, Liu organized a second relocation. Despite enemy bombings, bandit raids, treacherous rapids, and rugged mountains, he preserved the core equipment and ultimately rebuilt the Daming Textile & Dyeing Company in Beibei, Chongqing. This massive relocation across provinces and thousands of miles was hailed as one of the “Dunkirks of China’s industrial sector.”
In the wartime rear, facing shortages of materials, blocked transportation, and a lack of skilled workers, Liu mortgaged his personal property to raise funds, led employees to rebuild factories on barren slopes, repaired damaged equipment, and overcame raw material shortages by opening cotton supply channels in Shaanxi and promoting improved cotton varieties. He innovated processes, using local resources to replace imported materials. To fully support military needs, Daming became a vital textile base in the rear, producing military cloth, medical gauze, and bandages around the clock for frontline troops, while also manufacturing high-quality civilian cloth under the “Three Gorges” brand to ease clothing shortages.
After Changzhou fell, Japanese forces attempted to coerce Liu into cooperating with Japanese capital to resume production. He firmly refused, never collaborating, and upheld his noble national integrity. Remaining staff also worked to protect factory assets and avoided cooperation with puppet authorities.
In 1938, Liu leveraged the special status of Shanghai’s International Settlement to establish Anda Textile Company, registering under British ownership to evade Japanese control. Anda secretly transported equipment from Changzhou and produced textiles within the Settlement, selling products to inland China and Southeast Asia. Profits were used to support enterprises in the rear.
In the winter of 1944, as the war entered its strategic counteroffensive stage, Liu and his assistant Miao Jiashan traveled via India to the United States and Canada to visit factories, purchase advanced equipment, and build connections for postwar recovery. In July 1944, Liu published A Proposal for Expanding Spindles, outlining a grand blueprint for postwar textile development: “This is both encouragement for comrades interested in this matter and advice to government authorities, fulfilling the duty of a citizen.”
After victory in 1945, Liu immediately began reclaiming and rebuilding the Dacheng factories in Changzhou, transporting back some of the relocated equipment and quickly resuming production.
Liu Guojun’s path of “Commercial Resistance” traced a route from the industrial hub of Changzhou in Jiangnan, upriver through war and peril, to reignite the flame of national industry in the mountains of Sichuan, illuminating the battlefront with its brilliance. His journey profoundly demonstrates that in times of national peril, true national capitalists were not merely profit-seekers but warriors who used industry as their backbone and integrity as their soul to fight for the survival of the nation. His spirit and actions were the most tragic yet most glorious practice of the “saving the nation through industry” ideal during the flames of war, leaving an indelible chapter in the history of Chinese national industry and the War of Resistance.
Attribution & Credentials:
- Original Chinese article: Changzhou Daily, September 21, 2025, A03 edition, Wenbita “Memory” column.
- Author: Wang Liangwei.
