Provide 2 articles for reference:
Pencil is one of the main writing tools in modern people's cultural life.
Wooden graphite pencils originated in England in the 16th century. In the 17th century, Germany built the world's first pencil manufacturing factory. In the 18th century, the French succeeded in researching and reforming the lead manufacturing process, making a major breakthrough in improving the use value of pencils, and laid the foundation for the development of the modern pencil industry. In the 19th century, Russia, Japan, the United States and other countries successively established pencil manufacturing factories. At the end of the 19th century, pencils from Germany, Japan, the United States and other countries were successively imported into China and dominated the Chinese pencil market.
The Chinese pencil manufacturing factory was born in the 1930s. In 1932, the pencil factory run by British businessmen in Kowloon, Hong Kong was converted into the Dahua Pencil Factory with Chinese investment. It was the first pencil factory in China. In 1933, the Beijing China Pencil Company and the Shanghai Huawen Pencil Factory appeared one after another. Neither of these two factories was a full-scale manufacturer. And due to backward production technology, they have not been able to develop.
In 1933, Wu Genmei returned from studying in Japan. Full of ideals of saving the country through industry, he initiated the raising of funds to build a pencil factory. He shouted loudly in the art of the scene: "Pencils occupy an important position in various stationery items and are closely related to primary school students. Checking the customs trade report, the number of pencils imported into our country last year (1932) amounted to 1.5 million gold units. Just a pencil This is what we are wary of, and why we feel the need to establish this kind of industry as soon as possible." "Although our country's only Tai Hwa Pencil Factory has been established in Kowloon, it is not enough to maintain this factory and boycott foreign goods. There is a great need to promote this kind of industry." Wu Genmei, together with several like-minded people such as Zhang Weishi and Guo Zichun, struggled to raise 50,000 yuan in funds and resolutely solved the problems of factories, technical equipment, raw materials, etc., and established China's first factory in Shanghai in 1935. An all-purpose pencil manufacturing factory that can manufacture lead, pencil board, pen holder and appearance processing by itself.
In old China, domestic pencils had to compete with foreign pencils and squeeze into the market, which was very difficult. Wu Genmei did not shrink back or be discouraged. In line with the anti-Japanese patriotic sentiments of the people at that time, a widespread trend of promoting domestic products was set off across the country. , named the factory "China Standard Domestic Pencil Factory Co., Ltd." (In 1942, the company was reorganized and renamed "China Standard Pencil Factory Co., Ltd.", referred to as "China Lead Company"). It claims that the factory's products are made by "Chinese technicians, Chinese raw materials, and Chinese capital." At the same time, the words "Chinese people use Chinese pencils" are printed on the pencils to stimulate the patriotic enthusiasm of compatriots and encourage Chinese people to use domestic pencils. With the support of the patriotic enthusiasm of the Chinese people, the products of the China Standard Domestic Pencil Factory gradually squeezed into the pencil market dominated by foreign pencils and gained a place. Later, after many efforts, the pencils were placed on the stationery counters of the three famous department stores, Yong'an, Xianshi, and Daxin, on Nanjing Road, the most prosperous street in Shanghai. This increased the product's value and popularity, established product credibility, and sales continued to increase. Not only has it gained a firm foothold in the Shanghai market, but it has also gradually expanded its sales area. Products are also found in remote areas such as Yunnan, Shaanxi, Xinjiang, and Southeast Asia (Southeast Asia), Thailand, and other regions.
In 1937, turbulence broke out at home and abroad. During the "July 7" Incident, Japanese imperialism launched a large-scale invasion of our country. The war soon spread to Shanghai, and the "August · During the "13" Songhu Anti-Japanese War, the pencil factory was located on the national border and fell under artillery fire and was forced to stop work. In order to prevent the company he had worked so hard to create from falling to his rivals, Wu Genmei, with the approval and support of his employees, responded to the National Government's Ministry of Economic Affairs' call for factory relocation and decided to demolish all factories to the rear of the mainland. The factory workers went all out under the threat of enemy artillery fire and moved to Wuhan for the first time. In 1938, he moved to Yichang. In 1939, when the company moved to Chongqing for the third time, the current in the Sichuan River was turbulent. The civilian ship carrying the machinery was in danger, and two-tenths of the equipment sank at the bottom of the river. After three moves, hardships and dangers, the pencil factory was finally established in Chongqing and became the only pencil factory in the rear area. While in Chongqing, the factory was bombed twice by Japanese planes, destroying workshops and warehouses and causing heavy losses.
Under the power of the enemy, all the workers in the factory did not grovel or give in. They worked hard to make repairs, persisted in production, and shouldered the responsibilities of the only pencil factory in the rear area. During the eight years of the Anti-Japanese War, 51.414 million pencils made entirely of domestic products were manufactured and sold throughout the rear areas, alleviating the urgent need for cultural and writing supplies in the rear areas. At the same time, the affiliated China Standard Sawmill produced a large number of military wooden boxes that were urgently needed on the anti-enemy front lines, and the affiliated Zhonghe Chemical Factory produced a large number of chemical products needed for the military industry, doing its best to directly support the cause of the Anti-Japanese War.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, Wu Genmei returned to Shanghai to prepare for the resumption of the factory. In the first half of 1946, it was completed and started production. It was the first batch of Shanghai's relocated factories to return to Shanghai from Chongqing to resume factory. one of the enterprises.
In the early days of the resumption of the factory, it faced the serious threat of large-scale dumping of American pencils and fierce competition from two powerful rivals, the Great Wall Pencil Factory and the Shanghai Pencil Factory, which were originally located in Shanghai. As a result, the production and operation of the factory fell into very difficult times. situation. In 1948, there was social unrest, inflation, and prices soaring indefinitely. The factories sold finished products and could not replenish raw materials in an instant. They had to drink doves to quench their thirst and take loans at high interest rates to maintain production. This formed a vicious circle. Debts became heavier and heavier, and it was difficult to make ends meet. To continue. By 1949, the factory was in a state of semi-stop operation. The factory workers endured many hardships, endured pain and suffering, fought tenaciously, and finally preserved the factory intact, laying the foundation for the development of the pencil industry after the founding of New China.
Soon after the liberation of Shanghai in May 1949, China Lead Company, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the People's Government, made every effort to develop the pencil industry in New China. In September 1949, we actively responded to the call of the People's Government and invested in a set of pencil manufacturing equipment with a monthly production capacity of 20,000 ro and established a joint venture with the "Public-Private Partnership Harbin Enterprise Company" of Heilongjiang Province to establish the "Public-Private Partnership Harbin China Standard Pencil Company". This was the first joint venture between a private enterprise and a foreign public-private partnership to build a factory in Shanghai. It caused a sensation in Shanghai at the time, and was reported specifically by the Shanghai Business Daily. Harbin China Standard Pencil Company is still one of the largest enterprises in the national pencil industry.
In July 1950, China Lead Company was officially approved as a public-private partnership by the Financial and Economic Committee of the State Administration Council, becoming the first public-private partnership in the Shanghai light industry system. From then on, the company entered a new period of development and began a new journey.
After the joint venture, the socialist consciousness of the workers has been significantly improved. Seeing that the country has begun large-scale economic construction, the demand for drawing pencils used for engineering design drawings has greatly increased, but China has never had complete specifications. Domestic drawing pencils are of excellent quality, so imported products such as expensive American “Venus” brand drawing pencils are widely used. The employees were excited and determined to change this situation and trial-produce high-quality drawing pencils. After hundreds of tests - improvements - tests again - improvements again, a high-quality "Zhonghua" brand 101 drawing pencil with complete specifications was finally manufactured in March 1954. After being launched on the market, it was well received by consumers, and drawing pencils from the United States, Germany, Japan and other countries disappeared from the Chinese market. The "Zhonghua" brand 101 drawing pencil is the only product in China that can compete with foreign drawing pencils and is unmatched by domestic products. It has epoch-making significance in the history of China's pencil industry.
In October 1954, the Shanghai Pencil Industry Joint Venture merged, and China Lead Company was renamed "Public-Private Joint Venture China Pencil Company No. 1". In June 1955, it was renamed "Public-Private Partnership China No. 1 Pencil Factory" (referred to as China No. 1 Pencil Factory). In January 1956, the state merged the “public-private joint venture China Pencil Factory No. 3” (originally the Great Wall Pencil Factory founded in 1937) into the China Lead Factory No. 1. Later, it was merged into "Wuhua Hardware and Stationery Manufacturing Factory" and 8 small owner units. Through industry reorganization, the scale of enterprises has been expanded, and the production economy has achieved unprecedented development. Output value and output increased exponentially. The total industrial output value in 1957 (calculated at constant prices in 1957) was 4.527 million yuan, an increase of 2.2 times in 1950; the pencil output was 121.8898 million pieces, an increase of 2.18 times.
The scale of the enterprise expanded exponentially. In 1957, the fixed assets (original value) were 828,000 yuan, an increase of 3.55 times over 1950; the number of employees was 691, an increase of 306 over 1950. The enterprise suffered losses before the joint venture. In March 1950, the total corporate liabilities reached RMB 4.5 billion, and capital turnover was extremely difficult. After the partnership, the debts were gradually paid off and losses were turned into profits. In 1957, the total profit and tax amounted to 1.639 million yuan, and the profit was 1.407 million yuan.
From 1958 to 1965, various political movements and mass movements were carried out in successive years, which to a certain extent disrupted enterprise management and production order. Product quality varies from time to time, and economic benefits fluctuate, which affects the development momentum of the company, but the overall production economy is still growing. Comparison of main economic indicators in 1965 with 1957: total industrial output value (calculated at constant prices in 1957) was 13.162 million yuan, an increase of 1.9 times; pencil output was 322.7753 million pieces, an increase of 1.64 times; total profits and taxes were 5.803 million yuan, an increase of 2.5 times; fixed Assets (original value) are 1.957 million yuan, an increase of 1.36 times.
During this period, two remarkable results were also achieved: First, starting from the mid-1950s, mass technological innovation and technological revolution movements were continued, and technical equipment was introduced from abroad to renovate old equipment and processes. carried out comprehensive reform and transformation. In 1956, the reform adopted a rotary drum core drying machine to replace the backward manual core drying process; in the 1960s, hundreds of technological innovation projects such as grinding heads and planing rod combined machines were successfully put into production. In addition, in 1956, a three-color printing machine was introduced from Japan to digest and reprint samples and was transformed into a four-color printing machine; in 1958, advanced equipment such as a 200-ton hydraulic core machine was introduced from West Germany, which changed the original backward technology and equipment. Exports "Great Wall" brand pencils and customized brand pencils. In 1959, he applied to register the "Xiang" brand trademark specifically for export products, mass-produced and exported "Xiang" brand pencils, and expanded the export volume. By 1965, the export product delivery volume reached 113 million pieces, accounting for more than one-third of the total pencil output, which played a pillar role in transforming my country from a pencil importing country into a major pencil exporting country.
The "Cultural Revolution" from 1966 to 1976 brought disaster to China Lead Factory. The party organization was paralyzed for a time. A series of so-called "struggle, criticism, and reform" actions not only made many people Being treated unfairly confuses people's thinking and frustrates the enthusiasm of the majority of employees. The so-called "streamlining of institutions" in 1968 abolished the original administrative agencies, completely disrupted the management system and work order, resulting in serious consequences of production chaos and economic stagnation.
In 1979, under the guidance of the line, principles and policies of the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, China Lead Factory embarked on a historic reform step and moved forward firmly. After restorative and constructive rectification from 1981 to 1983, the trauma in corporate management caused by the "Cultural Revolution" was basically healed.
In 1984, on the basis of consolidating the results of enterprise reorganization, we strengthened the construction of spiritual civilization and material civilization, cultivated and promoted the enterprise spirit of "modest, simple, enterprising, and progressive", enhanced employees' sense of ownership, and improved employees' Team quality. The entire factory worked together and worked hard to eliminate "dirty, messy, and poor" conditions, and the factory took on a new look. At the same time, it improved the level of corporate management, promoted product quality, and improved economic benefits. It won the "1984 Bureau-level Award" The honorable title of "Civilized Unit". All employees of the factory are working hard and never stop, aiming at the "three new" goals (further updating of equipment, further refurbishment of products, and further refreshing of efficiency), and the "three beauties" activities (beautiful living facilities, beautiful greening of the factory area, and beautiful souls of employees), continue Climb upward and achieve results. Since 1986, it has won the honorary title of "Shanghai Civilized Unit" for consecutive years.
After the implementation of the factory director responsibility system in August 1985, all employees of the factory resolutely implemented the spirit and requirements of the Party Central Committee that "enterprises must actively reform their internal mechanisms", promoted reform, worked hard, and made the enterprise enter a leap forward. development period.
First, establish a market information-oriented product development system.
In accordance with the business philosophy of high-end, large market, and new technology, a product development center was established to give full play to the comprehensive advantages of technology, technical equipment, and professional talents, and invested a small amount of capital. In addition to developing high-end, high value-added thermal transfer pencils, laser In addition to pencils, fluorescent pencils, etc., in 1986, it focused on the development of the "Alice" brand series of cosmetic pens, filling the domestic gap and meeting the needs of people's continuous improvement in material and cultural life. In just four years, it has become the company's second largest "hit product." Become the only company in China that produces a series of pen-type cosmetics.
Second, establish a marketing system that focuses on international market competition. Position the ultimate goal of competition in the international market, adopt measures such as consolidating industrial and trade relations and rely on main channels for exports; explore the agency system and seek new export channels; set up factories in the Zhuhai Special Economic Zone to develop multi-variety exports, and do everything possible to expand all types of mid- to high-end products. Products are exported and opened up to the international market, developing to more than 70 countries and regions in Europe, the United States, the Middle East, Central and South America, Africa, Southeast Asia, and Hong Kong. The annual foreign exchange earnings have reached a maximum of more than 6 million US dollars, taking a leading position in the national pen industry.
Third, in view of the weak production technology and equipment of old enterprises, we have stepped up technological transformation and technology introduction, and successively introduced more than 30 sets (sets) of technology and equipment from West Germany and other countries to make every key process of pencil production more efficient. All have key professional equipment that reached the international advanced level in the early 1980s, and the automation and production efficiency of individual machines have been greatly improved. While introducing and transforming production equipment, we also planned to carry out the transformation and construction of key expansion projects of production infrastructure such as "Expansion of Fine Lead Core Workshop", "Pilot Workshop of Cosmetic Pens", "Introduction and Reproduction of Resin Fine Core Process Equipment", etc. Improving existing production conditions, improving product quality, and expanding production capacity will all have a positive impact.
Fourth, on the basis of consolidating the base camp based on the factory, we have extensively carried out horizontal economic alliances across regions, industries, and different systems, and developed all-people joint ventures, state-owned enterprise joint ventures, Sino-foreign joint ventures, etc. The joint venture forms of three different systems have improved the ability of enterprises to adapt, develop and improve themselves, developed production, increased exports and achieved good social and economic benefits.
China Lead Factory actively deepened reforms and transformed its operating mechanism, which resulted in profound changes in the enterprise. It basically realized that "the product structure has changed from a single wooden pencil to a variety of products" and "the operating mechanism has changed from a production-oriented one to a multi-product one." There are four key shifts: "operational development type", "marketing concept from production-centered to economic benefits-centered", and "sales channels from single channel to multi-channel". There are 14 specifications of wooden pencils, with an annual production capacity of 530 million pieces; 2 series of cosmetic pencils, 37 varieties, with an annual production capacity of 20 million pieces; 3 series of mechanical pencils, 10 varieties, with an annual production capacity of 5 million pieces; fine pencils with an annual production capacity of 5 million pieces; It is a multi-category and multi-variety comprehensive manufacturing enterprise with 2 series of lead cores and 20 varieties, with an annual production capacity of 10%. The four major series of products are jointly operated.
In 1990, the entire factory covered an area of ??15,194 square meters and a construction area of ??20,566 square meters. It has 562 sets (sets) of various types of equipment. Fixed assets (original value) are 15.716 million yuan, and net value is 12.09 million yuan. The number of employees at the end of the year was 988. The total industrial output value (calculated at constant prices in 1990) is 66.933 million yuan. The overall labor productivity is 70,158 yuan/person, the total annual profit and tax is 20 million yuan, the profit is 13.045 million yuan, and the per capita profit and tax exceeds 20,000 yuan. The main economic indicators are always ranked first in the national pencil industry. It has become the enterprise with the largest scale, the highest output, the most varieties, the best efficiency and the best reputation in the country's pencil industry; it has also become a key enterprise in the country's light industry. In 1990, it was approved as the only national first-level enterprise in the pencil industry.
The company is not complacent just because it has won the title of national first-class enterprise. With the deepening of economic system reform, it actively explores and deepens corporate reform, accelerates corporate development, and remains invincible in the fierce market competition. effective way to land. Based on the actual situation of the enterprise, we think and compare, choose the best, and decide to convert the state-owned enterprise into a joint-stock operating mechanism.
After careful preparation and active work, in May 1992, the Shanghai Municipal People's Government approved the restructuring of China Pencil Factory No. 1 into "China No. 1 Pencil Co., Ltd." with the integration of Chinese and foreign capital. The enterprise has entered another new period of vigorous development.
For more than half a century, the ups and downs of China Lead Plant No. 1 have been full of hardships and disasters, struggles and struggles, setbacks and successes. The founders of China Lead Factory No. 1 and the majority of employees worked hard, worked hard, used wisdom and hard work to develop China's pencil industry, created great achievements one after another, and created monuments one after another. The glory of China Pencil Factory No. 1 will always shine in the history of China's pencil industry.
The wind that travels through time and space begins at the end of Green Apple
China is a big country of pens. This is not just about the sheer number of people who use pens. We should also see that our ancestors Civilians have been using brushes to write since at least 1500 years ago. What’s even more surprising is that this gadget is still used today because it still has practical value, and even plays an irreplaceable role. On the other hand, the quill pen has a history of thousands of years. Nowadays, apart from being collected as an antique, who would use it anymore? The breadth and depth of Chinese culture can be seen here. In the city, oil lamps were eliminated by electric lamps, sundials were eliminated by clocks, carriages were eliminated by cars, and firewood was eliminated by oil and gas... This is the result of the duel between high and low efficiency and effectiveness.
The history of the relatively mature pencil is only two or three hundred years; the history of the fountain pen is not long, only more than a hundred years; the history of the ballpoint pen is even shorter, only half a century. The fountain pen revolutionized the life of the pencil, and the ballpoint pen revolutionized the life of the fountain pen. Judging from the results, the function of the pencil has not been completely replaced. It is still widely used as an economical and effective writing tool; the rise of the ballpoint pen basically The function of the pen is covered above, but it shows respect for the pencil. This is an interesting phenomenon worthy of attention.
For some time, academic circles have devoted great enthusiasm to discussing the process of China's modernization. Since the signs of modernization are difficult to be defined or measured by a single thing, a series of representative events are needed as strong circumstantial evidence, especially those that can profoundly affect the Chinese people's life concepts, lifestyles, living habits, and quality of life. and psychological state events are the most powerful. The late 1920s and early 1930s was an important period for the overall development of Shanghai's industry. This was also a period of "modernization", during which the rise of China's pencil industry was taking place. Although the pencil is small, its influence, especially on the citizen class, is by no means inferior to that of the shipbuilding industry and the chemical industry. For example, in schools and other places, pencils have become a temporary choice. Therefore, the pencil should become one of the indicators, just like the emergence of the zipper, which is considered to mark the beginning of an era.
Some people say: Everything starts with a pencil, whether it is a fashion designer making symbols on clothes, a campaign plan, or a demonstration of nuclear theory. I think the fact that the total annual sales of pencils in the world reaches 14 billion is enough to make us stand in awe of this thing that was once used to refer to "inconspicuous" and "insignificant" things.
◆Jianxiao
Seeing and hearing, tomorrow will be better
I entered the pencil factory as an apprentice when I was 18 years old. First, we came to the core-making workshop that specializes in mixing graphite and clay with water in different proportions to make pen refills. The superior arranged for me to work as a refill worker, helping to bundle the refills that had been squeezed by machines and baked in electric ovens, and then manually (now using machines) immersed the refills in grease to lubricate the refills for writing. Because the pen refill contained graphite and was black, my face would turn black and white when I sweated at work. I was young at the time and thought it was fun to have a big painted face.
Later, because the pen-making workshop that specializes in making pen barrels was short of manpower, I was temporarily lent to learn the pen-making machine. A large tree that can be hugged by several people is made into a five-finger-wide pencil board through sawing, cutting, etc., and then a slot is made on the board to put the pen core, and finally another pencil board is glued on, and a rod-making machine is used. Cut the pencil board into shaped pencils.
Later, he was transferred to the finished product workshop to operate the paint machine, specifically for applying colorful paint to natural wood primary color pencils.
Although the factory was a public-private partnership at that time, the degree of mechanization and automation of the pencil equipment was still very low. A paint machine required two workers: one stood at the front of the machine to control the machine to add paint; the other stood at the rear of the machine to hold a large amount of paint with his hands. Put a large number of pencils on the conveyor belt opposite (a pencil needs to be painted more than ten times before leaving the factory). A class leader had been carried down nearly a hundred times and his back ached and he was terribly exhausted. In this way, I worked as a prostitute for two full years. It was not until the 1960s that technical innovations by scientific and technical personnel changed the old-fashioned paint machine to a rotary type that automatically turned the pencil around, freeing up half of the labor force.
The painted pencils may be printed with various patterns or directly attached with eraser heads and marked with trademarks. In this way, raw materials such as graphite and wood went through three workshops and dozens of processes to finally make pencils that look beautiful and can be used for writing.
I have worked in the No. 1 Pencil Factory for more than 40 years, and I have witnessed with my own eyes the production of pencils from tens of millions in the early 1950s to more than one billion today; the single-story bungalow that year was renovated into Today's five-story building; the staff has expanded from more than 200 to 2,000 people. I only saw the end of the pencil factory yesterday, but I have experienced the pencil factory today, and I believe that the pencil factory will be better tomorrow.
◆Wen Yong (71 years old)
Yesterday, the Shanghai pencil industry relied on imported foreign pens to become popular
If a worker wants to do his job well, he must first benefit from it device. If you want to read and hyphenate, you have to use a pen. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, movements such as "Abolish Science and Create Schools" emerged, and imported stationery such as pencils began to appear in front of Chinese people. At that time, the government did not pay attention to the pencil industry. The reason was, on the one hand, the lack of specialized talents, and on the other hand, it looked down upon this small business of a few copper coins per pencil. As a result, a large number of foreign products took advantage of the opportunity without scruples, among which German products were the earliest and most numerous. Staedtler (chicken brand) pencils were already popular all over the country at the end of the 19th century. Then Japanese and American goods were imported one after another. By around 1925, Japanese goods surpassed German goods to take the first place. According to the "Customs China and Foreign Trade Statistics Annual", the number of pencils imported from Shanghai increased at a rate of at least 10% every year. In 1931 alone, the foreign exchange spent on imported pencils reached 949,316 yuan in customs gold units (customs gold units are the customs internal trade settlement currency. illiquid market). The anti-imperialist and anti-feudal "May Fourth" movement in 1919 and the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal "May 30" movement in 1925, which boycotted foreign goods and promoted domestic products, played a certain catalytic role in the birth of my country's national pencil industry.
In the early 1930s, Shanghai's machinery industry, shipbuilding industry, chemical industry, and food industry all had a basic foundation, but the scale was small. Only the textile industry and flour industry were relatively developed and had a wide business scope. . As for the pencil industry, it is still in its infancy. In 1932, British businessmen established the Dahua Pencil Factory in Kowloon; in the same year, Tianjin Lu Kaiyi opened the China Pencil Company in Peking; later, a Chinese pencil factory was also opened in Shanghai. The two pencil factories in Peking and Shanghai purchase lead cores, wooden shafts and semi-finished pencils from Germany or Japan and process the finished products domestically. Due to lack of technical strength and inability to compete with foreign products, they were forced to suspend production and close down one after another not long after the start of construction.
The first pencil manufacturer in China
In 1928, Wu Genmei, a native of Wujin, Jiangsu, who went to Japan to study applied chemistry at the Yokohama Technical School with the ideal of industrial salvation, looked at the Japanese pencil industry Developed countries and Chinese people ignore the pencil industry but are determined to devote themselves to this cause. He loudly shouted: "A mere pencil is consuming millions of dollars of our people's wealth every year. This is what we are wary of, and this is also where we feel the need to establish this kind of industry as soon as possible. Although Kowloon already has The only Dahua Pencil Factory in our country was established, but it is beyond our power to maintain this factory and boycott foreign products. There is a great need to promote this kind of industry." For this reason, Wu Genmei went directly to Japan's Masaki Yamato Pencil Co., Ltd. as an intern after graduating in 1932, and quietly learned all the secrets of making pencils and the knowledge of running a factory.
In 1934, Wu Genmei and his classmate Guo Zichun from Longxi, Fujian, and Zhang Weishi from Changzhou, Jiangsu, who graduated from Beiping Finance and Business College and majored in economics, met at Xiexu Road in Shanghai (today's Huidong Road) Established pencil factory on No. 1176.
After more than a year of hard work, on October 8, 1935, China's first pencil company capable of manufacturing lead and pen barrels - China Standard Domestic Pencil Factory officially started production, shattering the Japanese "even if it was Wu Ding (Wu Ding)" Genmei's scientific name) II will not be able to make China's own pencils." The factory's low-end "Good Student" and "Kids" pencils, mid-range "Aviation to Save the Nation" pencils, and high-end "Ding Brand" pencils initially opened up sales amid the rising anti-Japanese patriotic sentiments of the people across the country and the vigorous "Promote Domestic Products" movement. Then, in pursuit of victory, the words "Chinese people use Chinese pencils" written by Pan Gongzhan, the director of Shanghai Education at that time, were printed on pencils, made into advertisements, and widely publicized to further stimulate the patriotic enthusiasm of compatriots.
At that time, almost nine out of ten pencils sold by major bookstores and stationery stores in Shanghai were customized from China Standard Domestic Pencil Factory. In addition, the post offices under the Ministry of Communications and the railway bureaus under the Ministry of Railways also order large quantities of pencils from the factory. In 1936, the Ministry of Education issued an order to all education bureaus and schools across the country to unanimously adopt products produced by this factory, and students from all schools were also happy to purchase them.
The prototype of the national industry is beginning to take shape
In May 1937, Zhang Dayu and others from Jiangyin, Jiangsu Province, who were former professors at Tsinghua University, founded the Great Wall Pencil Factory at No. 635 Changshou Road, Shanghai. The factory produces "Great Wall Brand" pencils and its business is booming.
After the rise of the all-out anti-Japanese army on "August 13", the people of the whole country shared the same hatred of the enemy and went to Japan to fight for the national calamity. The China Standard Domestic Pencil Factory was willing to risk the war and the loss of dismantling and shipping, and after a long journey, it moved its production to Chongqing in the rear area for the third time.
In 1939, Zhang Weishi, Guo Zichun and Wu Genmei parted ways. The same shareholders who stayed in Shanghai and business people in Tianjin prepared the Shanghai Pencil Factory at No. 548 Xujiahui Road, Shanghai. The sudden rise of the Shanghai Pencil Factory was regarded as the most well-equipped pencil manufacturing enterprise in China at that time. Japan's Mitsubishi Pencil Factory hated the popular "Samsung" pencils and resorted to threats and inducements, but was rejected by the Shanghai Pencil Factory.
At this point, the China Standard Domestic Pencil Factory, which was moved from Shanghai to Chongqing, the Great Wall Pencil Factory in Shanghai, and the Shanghai Pencil Factory formed the prototype of China's national pencil industry.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Wu Genmei returned to Shanghai to rebuild the China Standard Pencil Factory at No. 296 Donghanyang Road. After resuming production, the products of the three pencil factories in Shanghai were sold throughout the country and exported to Southeast Asia. Pencils serve as the pioneer of exporting domestic products to overseas markets, which is actually the glory of China's national industry.
In August 1949, Wu Genmei actively responded to the call of the Communist Party and jointly founded the Harbin China Standard Pencil Company as a public-private partnership, which was the earliest public-private partnership factory in China. In July 1950, China Standard Pencil Factory officially approved the public-private partnership and became the first public-private partnership in Shanghai's light industry system. In October 1954, with the approval of the Local Industrial Bureau of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, the Shanghai Pencil Industry Joint Venture merged. The China Standard Pencil Factory was a public-private partnership China Pencil Company No. 1; the Shanghai Pencil Factory was a public-private partnership China Pencil Company No. 2; the Great Wall Pencil Factory was a public-private partnership China Pencil Company No. 2. Pencil Company Factory No. 3. In June 1955, Shanghai Pen Manufacturing Company was established, and the word "Company" was removed from the names of the three original factories. In 1956, the Third Pencil Factory was merged into the First Pencil Factory.
Since then, Shanghai's pencil industry has undergone earth-shaking changes and entered a new and leaping era. ◆Xu Ming
Related links A brief history of pencils
The ancients used lead to write characters, which was called pencils (the second edition of "Cymology" in May 24th of the Republic of China). Modern pencils are composed of a pen core (synthesized from graphite and clay) and a pen barrel (made of wood).
In 1564 AD, the British invented graphite ore. In 1565, the British began to select graphite flakes from graphite mines and clamp them with wood chips for use. This was the earliest graphite pencil. Because graphite is used instead of lead to make the refill, its color is darker than lead. The appearance of graphite is somewhat like lead, so it is still commonly called pencil to this day.
By 1801, the world's earliest mechanical pencil factory appeared in Germany.