6
as a model worthy of replicating in other parts of the country. In fact, the word “model” (moshi)
became so politically charged in the 1980s that less controversial terms like “style/pattern” (geju)
and “representative case” (dianxing) came to replace “model” in official discussions of
Wenzhou. Since Deng's 1992 Southern Tour, broad political and ideological consensus at the
national level for continued reform has tempered the stigma associated with its reputation for
being unapologetically capitalist, opportunistic, and well-off.
11
Nonetheless, care in employing
politically neutral (or correct) terminology continues in analytic works by Chinese scholars.
Generally speaking, Chinese explanations for the dynamism of Wenzhou's private sector
tend to combine cultural, geographic, economic survival, and political explanations that point to
the locality’s unique qualities. Most accounts of Wenzhou start out by noting that Wenzhou has
always possessed a rich commercial tradition, which was never fully suppressed under
communism. Present-day city maps and publications proudly describe Wenzhou people as the
“Jews of China.”
12
An additional popular explanation is that Wenzhou people have had no
choice but to engage in petty commerce due to its paucity of arable land, and as discussed above,
low levels of industrial and infrastructural investment during the Mao era kept the locality
relatively undeveloped and isolated. For all of these reasons, the typical narrative goes,
Wenzhou people have always been willing to work extremely hard, suffer (“eat bitter” or chiku),
and travel far to make a living. They have had to do so.
11
Deng’s tour of the southern coastal provinces in 1992 served an important signaling function to those engaged in
the private economic and privately-run collective sectors by reaffirming the party-state’s commitment to continuing
economic reform. During the official mourning period over Deng’s death in 1997, the significance of his tour was
highlighted in biographical documentaries, as well as in the formal eulogy.
12
The appellation is not employed by locals in an anti-Semitic or derogatory fashion. On the contrary, in the course
of fieldwork, I have found that people in areas with dynamic commercial markets often identify themselves in a
positive manner with Jewish business people. For example, people in Chang Le call themselves, “the Jews of Fujian
Province,” while those in Kaifeng claim to be the “Jews of Henan Province.”
Convention