Chen Yixi and Xinning Railway

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During the years of the reign of Qing Emperor Guangxu, Xinning county (now Taishan) had a trans-county railway linking itself to Xinhui county and to the North Street of Jiangmen, which was the second merchant-operated railway after the Chaoshan railway built in 1906 in the railway history of China. The founder of the Xinning railway was chen yixi, an American Chinese, who devoted his entire life to the course of communication and won the admiration of later generations.

Chen Yixi was born on June 22, 1844 (24th year of the reign of Qing Emperor Guangxu in a poor family in Liucun Langmei village of Doushan. He sold needlework and button to earn a living when he was young. He got to know an overseas Chinese by chance and with the help of whom he went to Seattle, America.

From 1863 to 1869, America was constructing the western railway on a large scale and most of the workers were Chinese. Chen Yixi became one of them and he rose to the director of the staff in a few years. When America carried out its anti-Chinese movement, Chen Yixi had the courage to step forward to help the suffered overseas Chinese. Once the Chinese railway workers were attacked by the natives and their temporary residences were burn down. In order to protect theinterest of the Chinese workers, Chen Yixi took the plunge and claimed for compensation from the American government. On the other hand, he sent a telegraph to Li Hongzhang, the Chinese ambassador and asked him to negotiate with the American government. Finally they won and the Chinese workers got the money in compensation. From then on, Chen Yixi was highly recognized among the overseas Chinese and became the popular leader of the overseas Chinese.

Chen Yixi was engaged in railway construction for forty years and accumulated a lot of experience. The America built the western railway driving the development of the construction and economy of the cities on the route. Chen Yixi derived inspiration from it and had the ambition of building a railway for his own motherland. In 1904 ( 30th year of the Qing Emperor of Guangxu), Chen Yixi in the age of 60 went back to his hometown and suggested the plan of building xinning railway which was greatly supported by people of the county. A preparatory committee was set up in June and Chen Yixi became the director general and Yu Zhuo became the assistant general. The next year, Chen Yixi went to America at his own expense. He went around the major cities and called for the overseas Chinese of Xinning county to invest in the railway construction. In half a year, he had collected share capital of 1.5 million yuan, among which 1 million were deposited in HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank and the rest were used to buy equipment. Meanwhile, Yu Zhuo, the assistant general, had also collected share capital of over 270 thousand yuan. In October, Xin Ning Railway Corporation was officially set up. Chen Yixi was elected as the general manager and Yu Zhuo as the deputy general manager. Unfortunately, Yu Zhuo was dead of disease. All the pressure was put on Chen Yixi’s shoulder.

Construction of Xin Ning railway is characterized by patriotism. Chen Yixi declared seriously to the Qing government in the proposed requisition that ‘ No foreign share, no foreign money, no foreign worker in case the right of the railway were taken by the foreigners.’ In the preparation of the construction they had met with a great deal of obstacles. The county magistrate withheld the requisition vainly attempting to get the right of the railway. Then the commerce bureau appointed Yu Qianyao to scramble for the right of the railway. Chen Yixi appealed to the commerce bureau. Luckily Wang Qingmu, the officer of the commerce ministry came to Guangdong to investigate. He met Chen Yixi and was greatly touched by Chen’s patriotism and loyalty. He decided to try his best to help Chen. In the 31st of the reign of Qing Emperor Guangxu the commerce ministry submitted the proposed requisition to the imperial court and the requisition was approved by the emperor the next year.

After the construction started, the local feudal forces kept raising difficulties over the construction. However, Chen solved the problems one by one. Chen Yixi often went to the building site to supervise and worked with the workers shoulder to shoulder. He also told them things about the western development of America and encouraged them to build a good railway for their homeland.

On March 1909，the trans-county Xinning railway which was totally 50 plus kilometers long was officially open to traffic. All the railroad tracks, sleepers and iron plates were imported from America. The loco and carriages were made in Germany. The railroad was planed and constructed by Chinese. It was the second merchant-operated railway after the Chao Shan railway built in 1906 in the railway history of China. They built the railroad with their own funds and technology, writing a brilliant chapter in the railway construction for our country.