History of Bank of China: Archives, Artifacts and Interpretation

Abstract

再過兩年，中國銀行快將慶祝一百周歲。根據華商習惯，中國的公司、行號都軎歡在大慶時編纂周年史，中國銀行亦不例外。不過，荦者認爲，從勛機和內容來看，周年史不能等同行史。 作爲一個學術研究領域，企業史、銀行史，最早興起於歐洲，然後是美國和曰本。雖然不是新興學科，但在中國的發展時問不長，爲近二十年問的事：隨着：三十年來中國經濟改革開放，中國企業史備受學界關注。作爲百業之母的銀行業，更加惹人注目，因爲中國的銀行在近年來發展速度驚人，資產値增加，迅速躋身世界大銀行之列。 本文嘗試以中國銀行爲個案，從不同角度，包括中國銀行的歷史檔案、行史博物館所展出的文物、已刊的行史資料和行史，探I仲國銀行行史槪念的形成和對行史的詮釋方法。本文依據的是筆者於近年所捜集得來的約五十種與中國銀行行史相關的出版物，包括：行史、行史資料匯編、行志、周年特刊、紀念圓冊、硏究專著、銀行家的個人傅記、曰記、回憶錄、文集等等。本文嘗試指出，在不同時期推出的中國銀行行史，不僅缺乏統一的標準，且於撰寫和硏究方法各方面，都難與國際學術水平接軌。 About a couple of years later, Bank of China (hereafter abbreviated as BOC) will celebrate its hundredth anniversary. Chinese banks are used to take this opportunity to compile their anniversary history. It is already became a general practice. As judged by the objectives and contents of these 'in-house’ or 'official' histories, they cannot be counted as 'history by original research'. As a cognitive discipline, business history or banking history is not new. It first started in Europe and then in North America and Japan. It is quite new in China. The subject is now getting more and more attention since China had commenced its economic reform in more than thirty years ago. We are used to say that banking is the principal industry of an economy. China has no exception on this sense. Chinese banks had aroused the world attention particularly when BOC had been successfully transformed from a national bank into a national commercial bank within a short period of time. Based upon about fifty types of 'BOC history' related materials which included archives, artifacts, printed historical record, gazetteer, anniversary bulletin, picture album research monograph, and bankers' biography, personal diary, memoir as well as personal writing etc., this paper tried to show BOC which as a case study the following points: Firstly, how the concept of 'BOC history' took shape. Secondly, what is the method of interpreting 'BOC history’. Thirdly, how to access the standard of the current writing of the 'BOC history' as looked from the international perspective. It is still a long road to build up the research of 'BOC history'.