The Legend of the Eight Kings of Liushi in Yueqing: The Lost Generation
The same person who ordered the arrest of the "Eight Kings" back in the day was also the one who later exonerated them. His name is Yuan Fanglie. This Party Secretary, whose influence on Wenzhou has been profound, recalled 20 years later that at the time, he had arrested the "Eight Kings" with the intention of cutting off the capitalist tail but later discovered through practice that these individuals were not criminals and thus rehabilitated them. After retiring from his position as President of the Zhejiang Provincial Higher People's Court, he specially visited Wenzhou to arrange a 3-hour meeting with the "Eight Kings." "More than ten years ago, they were the nationally renowned 'Eight Kings,' personally approved by me for their arrests in a typical case, and it was also I who personally exonerated them. They gave me the most profound lesson at the beginning of the reform," he said.
Liu Dayuan, who began shuttling between Wenzhou and Shanghai at the end of the 1970s selling screws, had a booming business and was known as the "Screw King." At that time, in Liushi, there were also the "Electrical King" Hu Jinlin, the "Mine Lamp King" Cheng Buqing, the "Catalogue King" Ye Jianhua, the "Sand Casting King" Wu Shilian, the "Coil King" Zheng Xiangqing, the "Phenolic Resin King" Chen YinSong, and the "Second-hand Goods King" Wang Maiqian, collectively known as the "Eight Kings." These "Kings" became the first group of people in Wenzhou and even nationwide to taste the sweetness of the market economy.
In their prime, they were propelled by great societal changes but encountered severe setbacks. In January 1982, the central government issued an urgent notice to crack down on criminal activities in the economic field, and the Yueqing County Committee at the time listed the "Eight Kings'" commodity economic behavior as a major case for investigation.
In the bustling streets and alleys of Liushi Town, Liu Dayuan accepted a media interview and recounted his experience of fleeing for his life. On a day in August 1982, at the age of 35, Liu Dayuan woke up early and went out onto the street, only to find two people tailing him. When he saw the large poster on the wall stating "Severely Crack Down on Serious Criminal Activities in the Economic Field," he felt secretly alarmed. He made the fastest decision of his life, slipping into a small alley when no one was paying attention, returning home to fetch 70,000 yuan in cash, then heading to the riverbank where he boarded a small wooden motorboat to flee.
It is worth noting that among the "Eight Kings" of that year, all except "Second-hand Goods King" Wang Maiqian, who passed away in 1995, are still alive today. Compared to their past, however, most of them now lead ordinary lives.
"To understand the private economy of Wenzhou, the 'Eight Kings of Liushi' should not be forgotten; they can be considered pioneers," said Xie Jian, a director of the Zhejiang Economic Society and vice president of the Wenzhou Economic Society, who is well-versed in the development of Wenzhou's private economy.
Many experts and entrepreneurs familiar with the history of Wenzhou's private economy tell quite consistent stories. The "Eight Kings" should be regarded as the earliest civilian merchants in Wenzhou after 1978, and Liushi is the birthplace of Wenzhou's private economy. Their stories are filled with legendary colors, and through them, we can glimpse the glory and hardships of Wenzhou's private economy back then.
The development of the Liushi General Electrical Factory was unexpectedly fast. By 1979, the factory's output value had already reached 100 million yuan. Every year, the factory would select outstanding employees, honoring the top 10 stores with the best sales performance and crowning their leaders with the title of "King" based on their respective trades.
In 1969, just as family workshops with shops in front and factories in the back began to appear in Wenzhou, Shi JinKuan, the head of Liushi Town in Yueqing City under the jurisdiction of Wenzhou, established a street enterprise named Liushi General Electrical Factory under the name of the Residents' Committee to solve the employment problem for the youth supporting border areas. The electrical factory consisted of 32 storefronts (workshops), each operating various businesses independently. The General Electrical Factory was responsible for external sales and managing accounts, with each workshop paying a monthly management fee of 30 yuan to the factory. In reality, the relationship between the storefronts and the General Electrical Factory was merely a registration one.
In 1982, besides Liu Dayuan who fled, the other seven were arrested as major economic criminals until 1984 when they were retried, either released on bail or acquitted.