Abstract
The Kwong Tai Company (光大公司 1917–1960) holds a unique position in modern Chinese history as the first joint-stock company registered in British Hong Kong that originated as an ancestral tong in South China. Its history reflects how a traditional ancestral tong adjusted its operations in a unique historical setting and coped with a new identity. This case provides a missing chapter in the story of how traditional Chinese corporate institutions came to terms with Western ideas of the company and company law. By looking into the institutional and cultural transformations of the Yip Kwong Tai Tong, this article reveals how traditional Chinese institutions responded to political and economic changes in Republican China, when the state in China evolved into a different form, and the ritual-based society was in decline, especially when the world economic system entered coastal China.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 79-105 |
| Number of pages | 27 |
| Journal | International Journal of Asian Studies |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 28 Jan 2015 |
Scopus Subject Areas
- Arts and Humanities(all)
- Social Sciences(all)
User-Defined Keywords
- ancestral Tong
- Chamber of Commerce
- Chinese lineage
- company codes
- Joint Stock Company
- legal authority
- ritual authority
- South China