Born into a prominent family in the south of the Yangtze River, Shen Qingyuan grew up under the constraints of ethics and education, but Shen Qingyuan wanted to live a life that others could not imagine.
The wave of Westernization swept across the south of the Yangtze River, and the ancestral dyeing factory was in danger. She abandoned her boudoir as a female worker, studied new Western knowledge, and improved the printing and dyeing technology single-handedly to support the Shen family's century-old foundation.
In Shanghai, I met Gu Yanzhou, a wealthy banker by chance. Industry and capital embraced each other. They knew each other deeply and worked hand in hand to navigate the turbulent times.
The late Qing Dynasty came to an end, the Republic of China was in chaos, the war continued, foreign goods were squeezed, bureaucrats made things difficult, and the Japanese invaders coveted... The tribulations came one after another.
She never escapes or retreats, can defend the dyeing shop, support a group of craftsmen, and protect her neighbors. She secretly supports the people who want to save the country in times of crisis. She would rather give up her temporary interests than become a traitor to her country.
After the late Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China, the founding of the People's Republic of China, and spanning the long years to the 1990s, the Shen family's printing and dyeing skills have become a cultural heritage of Jiangnan. The story of a generation of legendary businesswomen has been circulated in the Jiangnan water town for a long time.
