Chapter 23 Chapter Four: The Little Tailor Causes the Great Revolution
1997 is a year of great historical significance and celebration for the Chinese people. This is when our country will take back Hong Kong, the "Pearl of the Orient", which belonged to us from the British.
150 years ago, a great country was beaten by several gunboats from the West to seek peace; 150 years later, the 1.2 billion people in this great country were all immersed in the joyful atmosphere of the return of the lost treasure.With the price of 150 years, in exchange for this unusual result from shame to glory, should we seriously contemplate history after celebrating.
The conclusion is not complicated, because in the past we were poor, we were beaten and bullied when we were poor, but now we are finally strong.
150 years is a long time, but it is also a short moment in the long river of history.Compared with China, Britain, which defeated us back then, is not the same in terms of its territory, its population, and its history, but they won, which made our long-haired ancestors tremble.In fact, Britain is not scary at all. The scary thing is that they had already started the "industrial revolution" that lasted for nearly two hundred years.It was the "Industrial Revolution" that began in the 18th century, making this small country on the west coast of Europe dominate the world, and by the 19th century it became the most developed and richest first-class power in the world.Even in the 20th century, we still have to admit that it is still one of the few wealthy countries in the world today. Its economic strength and people's living standards, at our current speed, may still require decades of hard work to achieve achieve.
The greatness of the British lies in the "industrial revolution" that made it strong for nearly three or four hundred years.When we are interested in lifting the veil of development of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland today, we find that the power source of its earliest "industrial revolution" is the same as the power source of our Changshu people who started the market economy: they are all a machine. textile machine!
Before the Industrial Revolution, Britain was originally an agricultural country full of idyllic idyllic sentiments, and was called "Happy England" at that time.80% of its inhabitants are engaged in agricultural production.Britain's agricultural economy was more deeply commercial than that of any other country at the time, since England sold its vast wool to its European neighbors very early on.With the development of this commodity economy, the connection between farmers and the market has gradually become closer.After going through the "Enclosure Movement" and "Pirate Career", starting from the 1760s, Britain started the Great Industrial Revolution that has influenced our life and human progress until now.This revolution first started in the cotton textile industry sector.At that time, there was such a decree in England that anyone who died in British territory must be buried in woolen shrouds.But on the contrary, the cotton textile industry is a new industrial sector in the UK. Since it is not bound by tradition, the technological innovation of this sector is a matter of course.Those who are knowledgeable know that the cotton textile industry has two important categories: spinning and weaving.These two must be in balance for production to work properly.But in 1733, a Lancashire watchmaker invented the flying shuttle, which completely and completely broke this balance.The use of flying shuttles instead of manual threads increases the efficiency of weaving several times, so that the spinners cannot catch up with the weavers.This "yarn shortage" tide has really caused the British a headache for more than 30 years. It was not until a man named Hargreaves invented the "Spinning Jenny" in 1765 that he breathed a sigh of relief.
Bearded Hargreaves watched his wife Jenny spinning yarn very tiredly after get off work every day, and distressedly told his beloved wife to go to bed earlier.Jenny let go of her hand and accidentally knocked the spinning wheel to the ground with an "hey", and the spinning wheel was still spinning with the spindle.Hargreaves looked at it and had a sudden inspiration: If several spindles are erected at the same time, wouldn't the efficiency be several times faster than that of the horizontal spindle spinning car?The next day was Sunday, and Hargreaves got up early in the morning to do his good woodworking work, and a multi-spindle spinning machine was quickly completed by the Englishman.The wife tried it and said "OK" repeatedly!In order to show that this machine was a gift for his beloved wife, Hargreaves deliberately named it the "Spinning Jenny".It was this little machine invented by carpenter Hargreaves. Even our great Engels commented: "The spinning jenny reduces the production cost of cotton yarn, thereby expanding the market and giving the industry the initial impetus." Look, how amazing the little "Spinning Jenny" is!
But there is something even more remarkable about the "Spinning Jenny", that is, its birth also led to the birth of the proletariat!This may sound a bit abrupt, how could a small spinning machine made by the bearded Hargreaves for his beloved wife have nothing to do with our great class, great Marxism, and later, including our Chinese Communist Party? Has the entire International Communist Movement united?As long as we take a closer look at the series of industrial revolution movements triggered by the "Spinning Jenny", we will understand that this is the case.
At that time, due to the increase in demand for cotton cloth in England, the wages of weavers continued to rise.Therefore, some former weaving workers began to give up their previous concurrent agricultural production and specialize in weaving. In this way, the first batch of proletarians appeared on British land.They had no property of their own and lived only on wages.In addition, the advent of the "Spinning Jenny" also promoted the development of the division of labor in the textile industry, ending the production relationship in which spinning and weaving were completed in the same house in the past.Operating the "spinning jenny" was a laborious job, and men gradually became the dominant group in this occupation.Families often live on money earned from the men's spinning jobs.At the same time, other families simply abandoned hand spinning and specialized in weaving because they could not afford the "spinning jenny" and were unable to use the outdated hand spinning machines.In this way, the phenomenon that spinning and weaving are completed in the same family has completely disappeared, and it has been replaced by a clear occupational division of labor.This industrial division of labor in the primary stage of capitalism has intensified the specialization of textile production due to its own specialties.The intensification of specialization has greatly stimulated the improvement of productivity, and the improvement of productivity has in turn promoted the more obvious division of labor in society.At this time, the proletariat of the communist vanguard expanded more and more, and became more and more characteristic of its own class.
The historical achievements of the "Spinning Jenny" seem to have surpassed the evaluation given to it by the entire British society at that time.After its birth, it created a brand-new class for mankind, and at the same time, it greatly promoted the powerful vitality of another class—the bourgeoisie, especially the rapid development of capitalist production and capitalist commodity exchange.
With the increasing number of yarns driven by the "spinning jenny", it is obviously more and more difficult to use human power as the spinning power. In 1769, Arkwright, the barber, invented a hydraulic loom based on Hargreaves that could solve the power factor.This made the entire British textile industry take a big step forward, and really promoted the emergence of the modern factory system.So don’t think that the barber’s technology was stolen from a carpenter (of course, Arkwright had his own creation after all), but in a general sense, people have always regarded him as the initiator of the modern British factory system. Marx also agrees.
The inventions of the carpenter Hargreaves and the barber Arkwright brought about an unprecedented production revolution, technological revolution and later social revolution in British society.These three revolutions later developed from Britain to neighboring countries and even the whole world.In the past, we have always attributed the British Industrial Revolution to Watt's invention of the steam engine, which is wrong.In fact, this human invention of Watt was completely based on the "spinning jenny" and the water-powered textile machine, and the initial application of Watt's steam engine was only for the textile industry.Therefore, we can clearly see that from the "spinning jenny", to the water-powered textile machine, to Watt's steam engine, an industrial revolution in British society that later affected the entire human society was born in this way.
It can be summed up in one sentence. The British changed themselves and created wealth with a "spinning jenny".A "spinning jenny" brings more civilization and progress to the British, and it is the same to human beings.
My protagonist, the people in Changshu under the conditions of China’s socialist market economy today, may not be clear about the path they are taking, and how the original economic development model of the United Kingdom, one of the most developed and richest countries in the world today, is It fits so well!
People in Changshu naturally don't think about it, maybe they don't think about it and make such comparisons at all.But there is one thing they should be aware of. Many pursuits, many initiatives, and many innovations they have sprouted in their exploration of China's socialist market economy with its own characteristics today are in essence in line with the laws of economic development.This means proceeding from reality, seizing the local advantages at the time, seizing the opportunity, maximally stimulating the people’s creative nature and instinctive pursuit of self-worth, self-wealth and self-development, and making it a driving force for economic and social development and source of progress.
As far as its form is concerned, today's Changshu people are very similar to the British people when the industry started in those days in terms of productivity development.But in its essence, it is quite different.The use of textile machines by the British was an inevitable result of the development of productivity to a certain stage, while the use of textile machines by Changshu people was an orderly progress when production relations changed.However, we can use the same conclusion for the same phenomenon in two different historical stages, that is, whether it is the British of yesterday or the people of Changshu today, they start from the self-conditions of self-development and rely on the end result of a textile machine. The purpose is the same, that is, to change one's backwardness and increase one's wealth, so as to realize the overall progress of society.
Although we can't predict whether people in Changshu, holding a textile machine with their hands today, will change not only their own destiny but also the destiny of the whole world like the British yesterday. It's exciting, but one thing is certain. Holding the textile machine by hand will one day amaze the world!In fact, this powerful industrialization, commercialization, resourceization, wealthization, and powerization have been shown from them.It's just that no one said that in the past, and no one thought about it that way.Any profound revolution is developed to a certain stage before being recognized by people.The experience of Changshu people, perhaps after a longer period of time, will enable people to understand and realize its inescapable influence on the historical process of socialism in our country.Let me give up this kind of prophecy for a while, and take readers to see the surging and magnificent revolution brought about by Changshu people holding a textile machine today.
The emergence of this revolution in Changshu is strikingly similar to the history of the British Industrial Revolution, which began in the cotton spinning industry.The place name Changshu began in the Song Dynasty. The officials at that time named this place "Changshu" with "fertile soil and no water or drought every year", which can be described as very clever.Changshu Changshu, Changshu Changshu.Changshu Changshu, what you plant will ripen.Changshu people are rich first of all thanks to the first sage Yuzhong for reclaiming the fertile land that God can't refuse to be unfamiliar with. During the period from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, China's national industry began to emerge, and the early Chinese national industry all started from the industrial production of daily necessities that are closely related to people's livelihood.As a grain and cotton producing area, Changshu is also close to Shanghai, Suzhou and other cities. During this period, a wave of businessmen came here to set up factories.For example, the "Yutai Spinning Factory" built in Zhitang Town, Changshu in the 30th year of Guangxu with a sole investment of 270,000 taels of silver by a salt merchant from Jiangxi Province is an example.The factory covers an area of 200 mu. The imported equipment is all textile machines manufactured by British "Doberson" and "Hanston" in 1888. Its production scale can be regarded as extraordinary in China's early textile industry. In the 1920s, another group of businessmen from Shanghai and Wuxi came to Changshu to open factories, forming the second development stage of Changshu's textile industry.After the Anti-Japanese War began, factories in Shanghai, Wuxi and other cities moved to the village of Changshu not far from the city to avoid the bombing of Japanese aircraft. This objectively made Changshu's textile industry take a big step forward.
In fact, the above reasons are far from being the fundamental factors for the development of the textile industry.The reason why Changshu's textile industry can become the "locomotive" for local people to move towards a market economy today is mainly due to the conditions of Changshu people themselves.
In Hupu Town, Changshu, people told me about a character who was a bit like the bearded Hargreaves who invented the "spinning jenny" in the mid-18th century, but this character was a woman, and her name was Ji Genxian.I don't know if it's because her ancestor Ji Ling was a famous general in the Song Dynasty, or because she was born with the spirit of a fairy, her parents gave her such a name.Genxian was born in 1884 and died in 1978. He was a 94-year-old birthday star.On the homestead of Daju in her hometown, Hupu Town, the villagers built a statue for her. This is the only statue in Changshu that the villagers spontaneously made for a commoner peasant woman.In Changshu City, the government also made a statue of Ji Genxian.This is a very unusual thing.People of a certain age know that one of China's foreign exchange-earning products is "Changshu lace", which is also famous in the world's handicraft circles.The originator of China's "Changshu Lace" is Ji Genxian, a peasant woman who has lived for nearly a century.
In 1919, Ji Genxian, a young woman from a poor family, went to Xujiahui, Shanghai to visit relatives. After being introduced by her brother-in-law, she was baptized and joined the Catholic Church. She then learned how to embroider lace with a foreign nun in the church for about half a year.Because of Ji Genxian's ingenuity, the lace embroidered is not only superior, but also inherits foreign technology in craftsmanship, and also incorporates the essence of traditional Chinese handicrafts. In terms of quality, it can be called the first generation of lace.Later, when Genxian returned to his hometown, Hupu, he began to make embroidered lace for business. At this time, sisters-in-law and sisters from the neighbors always came to watch it in groups.Because embroidery lace was expensive at that time, and it was needlework at hand, it was not difficult to learn, so whenever Ji Genxian was doing work, he was surrounded by learners.In order to let the peasant sisters also learn the technique of embroidering lace, in the spring of the following year, Ji Genxian rented a hall of Baidangqiao Jushi and began to formally teach the technique of embroidery lace and also run the distribution business.Because embroidering lace can make women not only more ingenious and handy, but also have a skill whose income far exceeds that of other farm sidelines, so people flocked to Ji Genxian to learn the art, and then passed it on to ten, ten to hundreds, By the early 1920s, thousands of peasant women had learned to "make lace" in the countryside around Changshu.Women do it at home during the slack season, and take it to the field to do it during the busy season. They can also puncture a few stitches while breastfeeding their children, or embroider a few lines while cooking and waiting for the fire.After a piece of lace has been handed over, it can be exchanged for tens of yuan in cash.The private money that those handy girls earned from embroidering over the past three to five years is enough for their dowry.The effect of embroidered lace led to a custom among the people in Changshu: whichever girl who can't "make lace" can't find a good husband's family, and the girl who can "make lace" quickly will of course It has become a popular object for marriage and marriage.Such a custom in turn greatly stimulated the development of the lace industry.Before liberation, there were more than 300 lace firms in Changshu, and hundreds of lace firms also appeared in counties and cities around Changshu.After liberation, since Changshu had an independent lace export business, townships and towns also set up lace purchase and distribution stations, so this kind of handicraft by peasant women has completely formed a local industry, and even established in the county and township. With several specialized lace factories, "Changshu Lace" has thus become a famous local export product of the country and is famous all over the world.
In 1978, the 94-year-old "Queen of Lace" passed away, and two years later, "Changshu Lace", which she formed her own school, won the National Gold Medal.
Ji Genxian's "lace spread phenomenon" seems to be very common, but in fact it deeply reveals the ingenious nature and unique business acumen of the local people.Speaking of the "lace phenomenon" of Ji Genxian in Changshu, I have to talk about another unique "little tailor phenomenon" in Changshu's market economy.The so-called "little tailor" is a local name for the group of artisans who make clothes for a living.Don't underestimate Changshu's "little tailor".Readers know that there is a "Hongdu" clothing store in Beijing, which produces first-class clothing in China and even in the world.However, who is the "first pair of scissors" in "Red Capital", maybe no one can tell.Changshu people can tell you clearly: that is their "little tailor" - Tian Atong.
Changshu is a famous cotton-producing area. Since the Ming Dynasty, there has been a homemade textile industry produced by farmers for their own use.As the homespun textile industry matured, a large number of "little tailors" appeared, who were called one of the local "three immortals" along with carpenters and masons.Especially from the beginning of the 20th century to after the liberation, as "foreign machines" stepped on by feet replaced hand sewing and cutting more and more, Jiangnan, especially in cotton areas like Changshu, almost every village has one or several such small machines. tailor.Before there was a market economy, small tailors were completely a group of individual handicraft workers. They relied on their own labor to travel from home to home and west villages to cut clothes and pants for their neighbors and distant relatives. At most, they could earn a meager salary a day to support their families.However, even though he earned a meager profit, compared with the "field craftsmen" who make a living purely by doing farm work, in today's terms, the little tailor is considered a "white-collar worker".Because he doesn't need to bask in the sun, doesn't need to grab dung and ashes, and can eat and take (the Hakkas have to take care of the food and pay).Therefore, small tailors were very popular in southern Jiangsu before the 1960s and 1970s. Whether it is a man or a woman, finding a small tailor as a partner can be regarded as a "high-profile" marriage in the local area.Under the influence of this custom, small tailors are everywhere—although some of them can't take on one or two jobs a month, this does not affect the number of people learning the craft of tailoring.However, in the 1970s, especially after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the farmers in the Jiangnan area first had better food, and then every family lived in buildings.There are three things in life: "eating, housing, and clothing", and later on, getting well dressed becomes a major event in people's lives.As a result, small tailors in the south of the Yangtze River have unprecedented development and opportunities for use.
In the autumn of 1991, a piece of news that shocked the Chinese textile industry colleagues broke out in East China: Wangshi, a small town in Changshu, held a "Farmer Fashion Festival" in his own town.At that time, this incident not only aroused strong domestic repercussions, but even several foreign newspapers reported it one after another.In people's impression, only those elegant people can appreciate such an extremely elegant professional event of clothing art like the fashion festival, and it cannot be held in large and medium-sized cities that are not of a certain level.How could those "bumps" with mud on their feet engage in such activities?Indeed, it is said that quite a few people at that time expressed their dissatisfaction with such a factory where almost all cotton growers, cotton sellers, and cotton cloth weaves were held in the cotton fields, on the way to sell cotton, and in a factory that weaved cotton to make clothes. The people who sang the protagonists of the "Farmer Fashion Festival" were skeptical.But later people found out that they were wrong. Just like Zhang Ruifang, a famous Shanghai star, said, she accepted the invitation because of the face of the peasant brothers.She said that she has been playing rural women for decades since the 1950s. When she played this kind of role before, the director made her wear patched clothes, as if the more worn the more she looked like a rural woman.But today, when I went to a small town in Changshu to participate in the Farmers Fashion Festival, I saw that all of them were dressed so beautifully. When I played a role of a rural woman in the future, I could tell the director that I would also wear beautiful clothes on stage.
The fashion festival in Wangshi town has been held for several times now, and it has become famous.Mr. Fei Xiaotong once spoke highly of the fashion festival in the town, and wrote the inscription "Wangshi town, clothes and quilts all over the world".When it comes to the Farmers Fashion Festival in Wangshi, we have to talk about the "Qiuyan" clothing that supports this fashion festival.The "Qiu Yan" fashion, which is now well-known both at home and abroad, was produced in this small town of Wangshi.People from Changshu proudly introduced to me that their "Qiuyan", as a brand-name clothing product, is the first inspection-free product in Jiangsu's clothing industry.As an enterprise group, it ranks among the top 500 large-scale township enterprises in the country, with an annual output value of more than 200 million yuan and a profit and tax of 30 million yuan.There are more than 1,200 employees, and 5,000 sets of ready-made garments are produced every day. However, the company does not have a full-time product salesman, and its products are chased by others every year. The small town of Wangshi where "Qiuyan" is located now has more than 120 garment factories, large and small. Although the business is not as popular as "Qiuyan", all of them belong to "well-fed".After I learned about it, I found that the managers of all these factories were all "little tailors".The family in charge of the town revealed to me: The reason why Wangshi is able to dominate the fierce textile industry today is because there are more than a thousand ingenious little tailors on this land for a long time.Take "Qiu Yan" as an example, the six factory leaders were all little tailors back then.There is a very popular saying in Changshu, which is called "experts become factory directors, tailors rule the world".Explore the cause and effect of the development of Changshu's garment industry, and you will find that this statement is not unreasonable.
Pan Bingfu, the chairman of the "Qiuyan" Group and a well-known national entrepreneur with assets of 140 million yuan, was only a small tailor who ate hundreds of thousands of meals back then.In the headquarters office building of "Qiu Yan", I had only one encounter with this big boss who gallops through the "wear" field, but in this short moment, his deep eyes left a deep impression on me. impression.
"You mean Director Pan's eyes? Of course. He is famous for his sharp eyes." When Changshu's clothing colleagues talked about Lao Pan's eyesight, they all showed admiration.
As early as the beginning of 1980, "Qiu Yan" had just been listed and had no reputation at all.Once, Lao Pan learned in Shanghai Renli Clothing Store that ski jackets will replace Chinese and Western cotton padded clothes.At that time, this new fashion had not yet appeared in the Chinese market, but Lao Pan believed that the snow jacket would be popular in the Chinese market.So he resolutely decided to change production, and went south to Guangzhou to purchase materials and samples. After returning to the factory, he and the technicians creatively designed a unique hooded women's ski jacket with contrasting colors.This style became popular in Shanghai as soon as it was put on the market.The most well-dressed woman in Shanghai, in order to buy a "Qiuyan" brand ski jacket, could take two days off to queue up at the Renli Mall.It is said that only one Renli shopping mall sold 80,000 sets of such ski jackets within a week.
It is said that Lao Pan loves to "scan the market" with his eyes, and he always carries three treasures in his pocket: small scissors, a measuring tape and a calculator.When his eyes "sweep" to a new style and good fabric, he uses his "three treasures", and then goes back to the factory to use his brain, and within a few days, he will produce a new product that makes his colleagues jealous. One day in 1983, Lao Pan came to the most prosperous Nanjing Road and Huaihai Road in Shanghai and began to "sweep the market". People began to wear tight-fitting and elegant suits, but most Chinese were still relatively conservative at that time.Taking the best of the two, taking into account the fashion of the Chinese people, will definitely win... Lao Pan already has a new style of clothing suitable for the Chinese market in his mind as he walks.Sure enough, soon, a kind of "Kaqu shirt" with mid-length breeches as the fabric, full inner support, tight and generous, full of youthful vitality appeared in Shanghai shopping malls.As soon as the new clothes came into the market, there was a wave of "kaqu fever" in Shanghai and soon spread to the whole country.
In 1984, Lao Pan launched new "aviation style" and "forest style" ski jackets;
In 1985, Lao Pan launched the white suit series;
In 1986, Lao Pan launched women's embroidered wool-like, tweed suits and windbreaker series for men and women;
In 1987, Lao Pan launched the woolen "Flying Dragon Shirt" and "Agaric Shirt";
Later, Lao Pan launched a new product every month, one new product every day, and now more than three new products a day...
"The little tailor in Changshu is too good!" A Shanghai clothing merchant who fought with Lao Pan many times and finally didn't know how to start the clothing business said so.In fact, the reason why the Chinese and foreign clothing circles, including those in Shanghai, are no match for Changshu's "little tailors" is that they don't know that the current Changshu little tailors are no longer the small craftsmen who eat a lot of food in the past. The brands behind the small tailors are all big entrepreneurs.The reason why they gallop freely in the market is because they are all experts. They can design styles by themselves, decide production by themselves, and enter the market by themselves.Faced with such an opponent, it is no wonder that all clothing manufacturers in the general sense are unwilling to bow down!
What's more, Changshu's "little tailors" have one more powerful feature, that is, their spirit of daring to be the first in the world.Speaking of this, I have to introduce another Changshu "little tailor" to readers.
He is Mr. Gao Dekang, President of Jiangsu Kangbo Group, which is well-known in the international clothing industry with the "Bosideng" brand.
You may not be able to imagine that a clothing brand produced by a farmer with a small tailor background is worth 158 million yuan, but this is a fact-the evaluation of the "Bosideng" brand value is the Jiangsu Provincial Intangible Assets Appraisal Office, which is a government agency. Authorities.
Changshu's "little tailor" Gao Dekang's Kangbo Group is a national large-scale clothing enterprise mainly producing down, denim and other products. It has 125 million yuan in fixed assets and has introduced a full set of advanced clothing production lines from the United States, Japan, and France. , its "Bosideng" series products are not only best-selling in China, but also exported to more than a dozen countries such as the United States, Germany, Japan, and Russia. It is the only inspection-free product among national down products. In 1995, the annual output value of Kangbo Group exceeded 200 million yuan, and the profits and taxes were 28.5 million yuan, ranking among the top ten in the national sewing industry.In the eyes of Westerners, the textile industry is a "sunset industry" that is about to enter its twilight years. However, it is in such a "sunset industry" that a farmer in China has revitalized it so brilliantly.
Gao Dekang is from Baimao Town, Changshu.Don't underestimate this small town of Baimao, it has a lot of places that we Chinese can be proud of.The well-known "Bai Mao Folk Song" is not only one of the birthplaces of Soochow culture in my country, but also the originator of Japanese folk songs.The "Baimaotang" named after the town is an important spillway from Taihu Lake to the Yangtze River and an important waterway in southern Jiangsu. "Baimao rice" was a delicacy in the imperial palace in the past.Today's Baimao is still rich in products and celebrities. "Bosideng" brand and owner Gao Dekang is one of the best.The little tailor started his career in 1975, but soon he was deeply impressed by the ultra-leftist trend of "cutting the tail of capitalism".At that time, after Deng Xiaoping presided over the daily work of the central government, the dead land of China began to have some vitality again.At this moment, Gao Dekang, our little tailor, was not willing to be lonely, and led his 11 brothers and sisters to form the predecessor of "Kangbo" - the sewing team of Baimao Shanjing Village, all of which belonged to their own 8 sewing machines.In the first few years, like all the "little tailors" in Changshu, Gao Dekang and the others either processed supplied materials or did work for others.But then the situation quickly changed qualitatively.
Changshu is very close to Shanghai, so many brand-name clothing in Shanghai used to be designed in Shanghai - made by "little tailors" in Changshu - and sold in the Shanghai market.The clothing production industry in southern my country, centered on Shanghai, has been using this method for decades, and it is still the case now.There are special regional reasons why Changshu's garment industry remains invincible today.As mentioned above, Changshu itself is a cotton-producing area, and has a long history of homemade cloth trading and clothing self-made industry. There are many small tailors, which will inevitably lead to continuous refinement and improvement of uniform craftsmanship.Later, coupled with the continuous input of new technologies, new styles, and new ideas from a country as civilized and modern as Shanghai and even a world-class big city, the quality of Changshu's small tailors improved extremely fast.And because of Changshu’s small tailors’ diligence and willingness to study, their relationship with big clothing manufacturers is also constantly changing, and soon the relationship between the past “master and servant” and the later cooperation relationship (you are the boss of design and marketing in Shanghai, I am Changshu I was the boss of processing and raw materials), and then my small tailor in Changshu became a big boss who mastered raw materials, design, craftsmanship, and of course high profits. You Shanghainese can only be small bosses in marketing.
Gao Dekang took this path.
The time he and his sewing team "work" for others is not short.Later, two things made Gao Dekang change from a small tailor who "worked" for others to a big boss who entered the market.One thing is that he once brought the knitted polyester garments produced by his own factory to the Kaifeng market for sale, and because of the excellent quality of the products, he sold them all at once.Gao Dekang, who has tasted the sweetness, has a belief since then: he should launch his own products as soon as possible and end the situation of "working" for others as soon as possible. In 1989, Gao Dekang's "Sewing Group" had already been changed to "Baimao Garment Factory" three years ago. In this year, they jointly operated with Shanghai Tiangong Garment Factory and Gao Dekang and the others played the leading roles in the "Xiushideng" down jacket. After being put into the market, it became popular in East China and was rated as "Shanghai Famous Brand Product". The factories of both sides have obtained huge economic benefits.However, starting from the development of his own enterprise, Gao Dekang began to think more prudently: if his own enterprise has been adopting joint ventures with others, it is others who hit the market and get the brand, and from an economic point of view, he is also a "small head". "Big head".No, this history of making "wedding dresses" for others can no longer continue!
In 1990, Gao Dekang launched his first brand "Bosideng" which was entirely his own. The shrewd "little tailor" went to the industrial and commercial department to register this brand name from the very beginning.What he thought at the time was just like what he is doing today: let the truly native Changshu "Bosideng" become a famous brand product with Chinese national characteristics, world-class quality and craftsmanship, and boldly occupy the world market!
The "little tailor" Gao Dekang knows that the success of "Xiu Shideng" does not mean that "Bosideng" can also have a famous brand effect. Quality is undoubtedly the key to a brand's success or failure.And quality is not empty talk, it covers a lot of content such as the overall quality of an enterprise's personnel, raw material control and advanced technology and equipment.For this reason, our "little tailor" made a big deal as soon as he made a move, raising 30 million yuan, and introduced a batch of the world's most advanced equipment controlled by computers to replace the old-fashioned sewing machines with two feet on his feet. Of course, the "little tailor" in Changshu The unique sleight of hand cannot be lost, and can only be strengthened.The second step is to determine the corporate strategy, and to package "Bosideng" as a future international famous brand from the inside to the outside.Gao Dekang knows that he cooperated with the Shanghainese to launch the "Xiu Shideng" brand because the quality and craftsmanship are superior to others, but now his "Bosideng" is going to surpass "Xiu Shideng", and the goal is to put it on a world-class level. It's not going to work at all without being scrupulously exacting in the production process.For this reason, our "little tailors" put forward such harsh requirements to all employees: "Products that do not meet the standards promulgated by the Ministry of Textiles will not leave the factory, products that do not meet the international first-class level in craftsmanship will not enter the market, products that do not meet the best design will not to consumers." Later, Gao Dekang's requirements were realized in his own factory, so his "Bosideng" quickly won the nickname of "Oriental Dark Horse in the Garment Industry" in the domestic and international markets——
In 1993, "Kangbo Group", a "small tailor", was awarded the title of "Top Ten Enterprises in the National Sewing Industry" by the Information Center of the National Bureau of Statistics;
In November 1994, "Bosideng" down jacket and down quilt were recognized as the top of the list of "China Down Famous Brand" in the "First China Down Famous Brand Product Recommendation Activity";
In June 1995, "Bosideng" down jacket was recognized as "Jiangsu Province inspection-free product";
In August of the same year, "Bosideng" down jacket was awarded "China Recognized Famous Brand Product" by the state;
In September of the same year, "Bosideng" down jacket won the "Famous Brand Gold Award" at the St. Petersburg International Famous Brand Clothing and Accessories Fair in Russia.
In October of the same year, "Bosideng" down jacket was recognized as "product supervised by China Down Products Professional Committee" and "tracked product by National Garment Quality Supervision Center";
Also in November of this year, "Bosideng" clothing was recognized as "National Apparel Market Recognized Brand-name Products";
In February 1996, "Bosideng" down garments were awarded the acceptance certificate of international standards for products adopted by Jiangsu Province;
In May of the same year, "Bosideng" entered the Atlanta Olympic Games as the only down jacket licensed product.
...
In more than 10 years, the brand of "Bosideng" has jumped to the top of the national counterparts, and firmly holds the top spot, and is well-known both at home and abroad.
After reading this, have you learned the true power of Changshu's "little tailor" as deeply as I have?是的，任何一个国家的某一先进性，常常最有力的就是它的民族技术先进性。我说常熟不败讲的就是它在服装行业中那种具有我们中华民族的传统优势，恐怕是任何一个别的地区、别的国家都难以战胜的，而且这种状况可能会持续几十年甚至几个世纪。
常熟“小裁缝”掀起的“波司登”浪潮，我想我和许多北京的男士女士们都会有深刻印象。那冬日里无论你走到哪里，“波司登”会带着御寒的丝丝暖意迎面而来；即使是炎热的夏季，“波司登”那秀丽逼人的广告宣传也会随时传入你的感官。
常熟“小裁缝”就是这么厉害！其实，这种厉害仅仅只是常熟市场经济特征的表象，真正厉害的地方既非一传十、十传百的季根仙，也非制造一竿子捅出去就让全世界人都为之震惊的“秋艳”现象和“波司登”飓风的那些“小裁缝”，真正厉害的是由女性为主体的“季根仙”们与男性为主体的“小裁缝”们联手结成的产销组合力量！
还有一个常熟人的故事不得不讲：
这个人现在的北京办事处就与我家的街道相对着——我是从《北京晚报》上接二连三的广告上看到的。这个常熟人什么都不是，他仅是个“捕蛇者”。人们都不会认识他本人是何等尊容——凡是蛇都怕他！但我们却可能都知道他所创造的那个教你明白“健康的皮肤从哪里来”（广告语）的营养食品——蛇粉“隆力奇”。
“隆力奇”的主人叫徐之伟。我们一起来听听他的那篇充满传奇色彩的“捕蛇者说”吧！
徐之伟的家在常熟与苏州之间的“常熟南大门”辛庄镇界善村。这位被人冠名“中国蛇王”的捕蛇者，现在拥有的“中华东方蛇园”资产达6000万元、年产1.58亿、年利税2000多万元，可在10年前这里还是个连蛇都不易见到的一片水乡沃土。“蛇王”开始并不与蛇打交道，因为是“富农”子女，他读小学成绩年年全班第一却没能跨进中学大门。13岁他就跟大人一起翻地、挑担；16岁开始就已经干起农活中最繁重的罱河泥、摇船、拉纤等活。也许为了改变一下命运，18岁时他干起了吃百家饭的木匠。3年出师后，因手艺高超，一连带了8个徒弟。这之后，师徒9人走南闯北，生意越做越红火。党的十一届三中全会给这位昔日只有干活的份、不能抬头看人的“小富农”，恢复了真正意义上的生命。当时界善村因附近有个乐器厂需要大量蛇皮，结果不少农民就在农闲时当起了“捕蛇者”。徐之伟也就在这时候加入了“捕蛇者”的行列。
干就得干出个样子。徐之伟兄弟4人在1981年一开春，穿着荷花布鞋，两脚绑着布条，身背竹篓，手提钩棒，从江苏到浙江，又辗转到江西和湖南洞庭湖。他们披星戴月，时而穿草丛，时而钻芦苇，常常为逮一条蛇要蹲在湿地里数小时……那是一种真正的艰辛、真正的困苦、真正的危险，但徐之伟感到苦中有乐，这种乐是当他在与恶劣环境和毒蛇猛兽的较量中成为胜利者时才有的。
后来他不再当小“捕蛇者”了，他开设了店铺，成为专门经销和收购蛇类，并经营蛇皮、蛇肉、蛇胆等蛇生意的大“捕蛇者”。他因此也开始扬眉吐气地穿上西服革履，又用了没几年时间，成了一个名声显赫的“蛇王”。
穿西服革履的“蛇王”，依然是一副当年头戴草帽、肩背竹篓、目光敏捷的“捕蛇者”的模样。他细细读着《本草纲目·蛇篇》上说的：“蛇，能内走脏腑，外切皮肤，清热于肌之内，克毒于皮肤之外。然蝮蛇以治身痒癣风见长，乌梢蛇以祛风湿、舒筋血见长，水蛇以散疮毒、治恶疮见长也……”“有了！我要生产独一无二的蛇粉保健品，以治国人之多种顽疾！”
“蛇王”把自己的想法，告诉了原沈阳药科大学生化教研室主任、蛇药专家陈建智。陈教授连连称其好，并提出将蝮蛇、乌梢蛇、水蛇这3种优良蛇种合为一体，制出一种全新的蛇粉保健品。于是，1992年在常熟蛇业公司、苏州苏华实业公司和香港星辰公司共同努力下，“蛇王”徐之伟的“东方蛇园”宣告成立。随之他推出的“隆力奇”系列蛇粉保健食品、蛇粉珍珠粉、蛇皮制品、蛇药……迅速占据市场，成为全国同行业中首屈一指的名牌产品和百姓信得过保健食品与药物。1993年“隆力奇”荣获印度尼西亚“中国医药卫生科技成就展览会”大奖，1994年又获国家林业部名特优新产品银奖，1995年被上海评为“上海市场放心产品”。与此同时，“蛇王”的蛇皮产品更是大打出手，远销美国和西欧市场的年出口量就达5000多万元。
1986年8月28日这一天，我们的“蛇王”异常兴奋，这一天正是他的“江苏隆力奇集团”成立十周年之日。听一听这回“蛇王”又是怎么说的——
“过去10年，我们'隆力奇'从一个乡镇企业发展成在全国同行业中市场占有量和产品质量都为第一的企业。在第二个10年起步之时，我们'隆力奇'已经确定了战略方向，那就是——总部设上海、驻足在香港、左右东南亚、影响全世界……”
“隆力奇”现在的年销售额超过20亿！
听听，这就是来自常熟的声音、常熟的威力。
这就是有无数男女老少参与的那种宜工则工、宜农则农、宜种则种、宜养则养、宜大则大、宜小则小的广泛植根于民众之中的常熟大市场。
在为共和国原子弹、氢弹的研制作出重要贡献的著名科学家王淦昌的家乡常熟支塘镇，我耳闻目睹了一个几乎是在瞬间形成的华东第一大副食品市场，其实目前还没听说其他地方也有类似的副食品批发和交易的市场，所以这个在并不为人所知的小镇边迅速崛起的副食品市场，也可能是全国最大的和唯一的呢！
支塘是个乡级小镇，只是因它紧挨着204国道和支塘镇边有个闻名全国的“阿里山”瓜子厂，所以造就了这个小镇汽车站前那么一块可以做些小买卖的黄金地段。这个市场的形成过程跟常熟“中国服装城”很相似，由开始的马路地摊小贩，到后来的万户商贾云集。但它发展的形式和内容却与服装城不尽相同。常熟服装市场从初期到现今的成熟阶段用了10年时间，而且仿佛是人们一觉醒来形成了现在这么规模宏大的市场。这主要得益于常熟本身就是个“纺织之乡”和具有成千上万的国有、集体、私营服装厂以及几十万农民服装加工者的直接参与。支塘副食品市场则不同，从速度而言，它的今天可以说就是常熟“中国服装城”的昨天，从发展前途看，常熟“中国服装城”的今天可能就是支塘副食品市场的明天。但支塘形成的这个新市场，其经销的形式与内容除了最初的一些“炒品业”与本地优势有些联系外，如今这儿市场上销售交易的物品几乎与当地产品无任何关系。譬如香烟、酒类，譬如饮料、糖果，譬如保健食品、旅游方便餐这些东西，都不是本地货但在这儿应有尽有，你在京城或上海、广州见得到的“可口可乐”、“健力宝”、“维维豆奶”、“康师傅方便面”、“上海大白兔奶糖”、“红塔山”等等这样的名牌，在支塘这儿都有。而且这个市场上你见不到这些名牌产品的假货，因为所有这些厂家都在这儿有直接的代理商或办事处。这里的货品还有个特点：一律都是出厂价。那些千里之外的名牌厂家不惜长途跋涉将货品运达在地图上都找不到的小镇上，与客户进行出厂价交易本身，就说明支塘市场具有非同一般的影响力。
支塘副食品市场目前年营业额已达30亿元，而且每年正以40％的速度在递增。它靠的是什么？一不靠自我优势，二不靠天时地利，而是靠常熟这块土地上独有的人和与商旺！是的，探究福地常熟大地今天之所以能出现如此无处不商、无处不市的一派繁荣景象的原因，归结一点：就是这儿的人们遵循了邓小平建设有中国特色社会主义的理论，结合本地实际，富有创造性地营造出了一个人和与商旺的新天地。
然而“人和商旺”的繁荣景象，并不是所有的地方和谁都能创造得了的。也许我们看一看常熟的干部们、企业家们和广大从事经营的农民们那种务实、求实、实干的精神后，会得出更准确的结论。
常熟常熟，熟了你就常来。
你常来了就知道这块热土真的越显成熟，她成熟于科学发展，成熟于社会和谐……