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The Ruifuxiang Silk Store () is a chain of silk stores in eastern China.
The Ruifuxiang stores were founded by Meng Hongsheng, a descendant of the Confucian philosopher
/ref> from Jiujun County to the north of Zhangqiu City, Shandong
/ref> In the beginning, Meng Hongsheng traded in a locally produced coarse cloth that was popular among peasants for its durability and low price.
Accordingly, the business strategy was based on large sales volumes and small profit margins. Later Meng Hongsheng set up chain stores in cities such as Shanghai, Qingdao, Tianjin and began to extend his business into the market for luxury items like silk, satin, tea, and furs). Most of the store names such as Ruifuxiang, Qianxiangyi, Quanxiang, Longxiang, Hongxiang, Ruishengxiang, Qingxiang contained the character "Xiang" () and were hence collectively known as the "Xiang stores". The name Ruifuxiang alludes to the "Qingfu" (), a legendary insect that could bring wealth, and also appears on some versions of the Rui Fu Xiang logo. In 1862, the Mengs opened the Ruifuxiang store in the western part of
official website
Companies based in Shandong Chinese brands Silk
The Ruifuxiang Silk Store () is a chain of silk stores in eastern China.
The Ruifuxiang stores were founded by Meng Hongsheng, a descendant of the Confucian philosopher Mencius
Mencius ( ); born Mèng Kē (); or Mèngzǐ (; 372–289 BC) was a Chinese Confucian philosopher who has often been described as the "second Sage", that is, second to Confucius himself. He is part of Confucius' fourth generation of disciple ...
(Chinese family name Meng)Ruifuxiang - online article by www.ebeijing.gov.cn/ref> from Jiujun County to the north of Zhangqiu City, Shandong
Province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...
.
The Meng family had been in the clothing business since the reign of the Kangxi Emperor
The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to ...
(1661-1722).Jinan Ruifuxiang - online article by www.vjourney.com/ref> In the beginning, Meng Hongsheng traded in a locally produced coarse cloth that was popular among peasants for its durability and low price.
Accordingly, the business strategy was based on large sales volumes and small profit margins. Later Meng Hongsheng set up chain stores in cities such as Shanghai, Qingdao, Tianjin and began to extend his business into the market for luxury items like silk, satin, tea, and furs). Most of the store names such as Ruifuxiang, Qianxiangyi, Quanxiang, Longxiang, Hongxiang, Ruishengxiang, Qingxiang contained the character "Xiang" () and were hence collectively known as the "Xiang stores". The name Ruifuxiang alludes to the "Qingfu" (), a legendary insect that could bring wealth, and also appears on some versions of the Rui Fu Xiang logo. In 1862, the Mengs opened the Ruifuxiang store in the western part of
Jinan
Jinan (), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Tsinan, is the Capital (political), capital of Shandong province in East China, Eastern China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is the second-largest city i ...
that traded mainly in silk and satins. A branch in Beijing followed one year later. This branch store was destroyed in 1900, when the
Eight-Nation Alliance
The Eight-Nation Alliance was a multinational military coalition that invaded northern China in 1900 with the stated aim of relieving the foreign legations in Beijing, then besieged by the popular Boxer militia, who were determined to remove f ...
invaded Beijing to put down the Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, b ...
. It was rebuilt shortly
thereafter.
Business peaked in the 1920s and 1930, when Meng Luochuan was at the helm of the family enterprise. By the 1940s, the Meng family business
was made up of more than 96 stores and other ventures. These included 50 silk and 20 tea stores as well as
pawnshops and banks. The Meng businesses were located in places such as Jinan
Jinan (), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Tsinan, is the Capital (political), capital of Shandong province in East China, Eastern China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is the second-largest city i ...
, Qingdao, Yantai
Yantai, formerly known as Chefoo, is a coastal prefecture-level city on the Shandong Peninsula in northeastern Shandong province of People's Republic of China. Lying on the southern coast of the Bohai Strait, Yantai borders Qingdao on the ...
,
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, Tianjin
Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...
, Baoding
Baoding (), formerly known as Baozhou and Qingyuan, is a prefecture-level city in central Hebei province, approximately southwest of Beijing. As of the 2010 census, Baoding City had 11,194,382 inhabitants out of which 2,176,857 lived in th ...
, Shenyang, Harbin, Suzhou
Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trad ...
, Hangzhou
Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, wh ...
, and Fujian
Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its c ...
Province.
The first flag of People's Republic of China raised in Beijing's Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square (; 天安门广场; Pinyin: ''Tiān'ānmén Guǎngchǎng''; Wade–Giles: ''Tʻien1-an1-mên2 Kuang3-chʻang3'') is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the eponymous Tiananme ...
on 1 October 1949 was made from Ruifuxiang silk.
The business concept and management philosophy of the Ruifuxiang stores have been cited as a source of inspiration that Sam Walton
Samuel Moore Walton (March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992)
was an American business magnate best known for founding the retailers Walmart and Sam's Club, which he started in 1962 and 1983 respectively. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. grew to be the world's ...
used in the establishment of Wal-Mart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarte ...
.
Stores
*215 Jinger Street, Jinan, Shandong (), *5 Dashilangjie, Qianmenwai, Beijing,See also
*List of sites in Jinan The following is a list of sites in Jinan. It contains sites of natural, cultural, economic, political, or historical significance in the City of Jinan, Shandong, China. The geographical area covered by this list includes all counties and distric ...
References
External links
{{commons categoryofficial website
Companies based in Shandong Chinese brands Silk