Wu Zhihao
Wu Zhihao was a Chinese Republic–era industrialist, known as the “King of Cloth Shops.”[1][2]
Biography
Wu Zhihao was born in Fenghua, Ningbo Prefecture, Zhejiang. His elder brother Wu Zhijian became a noted industrialist in Shanghai and Hong Kong, and his nephew Wu Huilian (胡漢清) was a prominent barrister in Hong Kong. A child prodigy, Wu left formal schooling at age 12 after attending Huaiyin Academy, and upon his father’s death at 16 he began working in business.[3]
He apprenticed as a tailor in Shanghai, mastering Western-style garment making. He later founded several cloth and silk emporia—Baocheng Cloth Shop, Dasheng Silk and Satin Bureau—and launched the “Tian” series: Tianfu Silk Bureau and Tianbao Silk Shop. Specializing in silk and textile production, he introduced Western machine-weaving techniques to improve Chinese silks. By the early 1920s, he operated multiple shops across Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and owned prime clothing stores on Shanghai’s Fujian South Road, earning the nickname “King of Cloth Shops.”[1][2]
In 1921, he co-founded the Shanghai Shangbao Bank with tobacco magnate Wu Tingsheng. He also championed Chinese-made goods, establishing the Shanghai National Products Company and serving as manager of the National Products Commercial Bank. In Ningbo he founded the Ningbo Industrial Bank, and in 1922 helped launch the China Commercial Trust Company.[1]
In 1932 he opened the Shanghai Department Store, specializing in domestic products and emerging as a leading figure in the National Products Movement.[2]
After 1937, Wu relocated to Hong Kong, where he continued in the silk and textile trade and helped found the Soochow–Chekiang Merchants Association. He died in Hong Kong in 1946.[2]
Family
His sons included Wu Xianhua, founder of the Sanduo Silk Company; Wu Xianting, a physician in Hong Kong; and Wu Weiyong, former president of the Hong Kong Medical Association.[2] His grandsons Wu Yangzheng and Wu Yangming likewise pursued medicine and industry.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Wu Zhihao, Dictionary of Republican-era Zhejiang Figures
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/nextplus/%E5%91%A8%E5%88%8A%E5%A3%B9%E4%BA%9B%E4%BA%8B%E5%A3%B9%E4%BA%9B%E6%83%85/article/20160210/2_17221892/%E5%A8%81%E9%99%A2-%E9%87%91%E5%88%80-%E4%BD%99%E5%8D%93%E6%96%87%E5%89%8B%E6%98%9F
- ↑ “Shanghai Native Products Circle Celebrities,” 1933