and workers, though the same calculation method was used for both except that a
wage of $10 a month was used to calculate the compensation for workers who earned
less than $10 per month and a separate coffin benefit of $10 was paid to the family.^^
For less than three year's service, the employee's dependents received five month's
salary, for three or more years six months, for five or more years eight months, and
for more than 10 year's service compensation was paid up to a maximum of 12
" SHA 457/255. Dismissal of employees with an opium habit, 1932-34.
SHA 457/249. Hospital investigation of employees' opium habit, 1935-37.
" Luzhengbian, Pt. 2, pp. 935-37. The benefits paid before 1920 were lower that those shown here.
The revised scheme of 1920 was adopted by both the Beijing-Hankou and Beijing-Suiyuan
railways.
The quality of life
month's salary. The Beijing-Suiyuan Railway scheme of the same period was
38
modelled on that of the Beijing-Hankou line.
Old-age pension and savings schemes were similarly diverse, and had a hard time winning official approval.^' Nothing came of the first scheme put forward by the Department of Railways within the Qing Government's Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs. In 1914, the Beiping-Hankou Railway proposed a special labor fund
{tebie laojin) to which all workers with more than three years' service would contribute 5% of their salary which would be saved in a special railway account and paid out as a pension on their retirement. The Ministry of Communications did not approve the scheme, and for several years doubted the viability of pension savings schemes such as this, as they did also a similar Daokou-Qinghua Railway scheme proposed in 1918. Three years later, in 1921, the ministry issued a discussion document which proposed a national compensation and pension scheme. Soon after the Beijing-Fengtian Railway requested approval for a 24-clause old-age pension savings regulation. The ministry not only approved the scheme, but issued a set of national regulations and ordered the other state-run lines to comply. However, only the Beijing-Fengtian Railway implemented the scheme. Subsequent efforts in 1925 to set up a national railway pension scheme also failed. Schemes that were in operation at the end of the 1920s were ad hoc and without uniformity, and in some cases their funds had been plundered during the civil wars of the 1920s.
In 1930 the Nanjing Government took steps to standardise compensation and pension scheme benefits.'*® The Ministry of Railway's employees service ordinance issued in March 1930 laid down the guidelines for employees' rights and conditions.'*' Pensions were provided for in Clause 26 of the ordinance which stated: "An employee with continuous service of 25 years and upward who has attained the age of 60 sui will be allowed to retire on a monthly pension for the remainder of his life at a rate equivalent to half his final salary."'*^ This was an improvement on previously mooted schemes other than that of the Beiping-Liaoning Railway. The original ministry scheme was to provide a quarter-salary pension after 30 years of service which would rise to a half salary pension for service of 35 years, the effect of which would be to deny a pension to most manual grades as few would ever work long enough to qualify.
Death and injury compensation were covered by Clause 19 of the March 1930 employees' service ordinance. It provided that the family of an employee who died on the job would be paid a $50 fimeral benefit (zangfei) and compensation (fuxufei)
ibid., Pt 2, pp. 936, 1662-64. Xu Xiehua, Tielu laogong wenti (The Railway Labor Problem), (Beiping, 1931), pp. 135-37.
" ibid., pp. 141-42. Luzhengbian, Pt. 1, pp. 403-04. ibid., pp. 138-40, 142-44.
Tiedaofagui (1933), remhi (personnel), pp. 93-102.
ibid., p. 97.
Chapter 6
of between one and two year's average salary. A permanently disabled worker was entitled to a lump sum payment of three month's salary and a benefit for the rest of his life at half his previous monthly salary. A worker who became ill or injured, and was temporarily unable to work, was entitled to free medical treatment and full pay for three months, followed by half pay for up to 12 months.
These benefits were detailed in national regulations of May 1930.'*^ Three classes of benefit were detailed in the regulation's schedule: death, permanent disability, and temporary incapacity arising from injury or illness on the job. The death benefit paid to the family of the deceased worker for "An act of God" ranged from 12 months' average salary for less than two year's service, increasing in increments of half a months' salary for each year of service, to 24 months' pay for more than 25 years of service.'^'* If death arose from exhaustion or illness, the minimum qualifying period for compensation was three year's of service. The compensation payment increased in increments of a half-month salary from one month's average pay for three year's of service to 12 month's pay for 25 or more years service."^^ For the many other ways a person might die or be injured on the railways there were covering clauses and qualifications, and a separate section detailing the standard application form for the worker or his dependents claiming compensation and the instructions that should appear on such forms.'*^
What is striking about these compensation and pension regulations is not that they were issued, but that they appear to have worked during a period of considerable political chaos and civil strife. Or at least they did on the Beiping-Liaoning Railway. Examples from 1931-32 and 1937-39 illustrate the operation of the regulations. Each application for compensation would be investigated closely and if found legitimate, the payout followed the rules of service. Watchman Liu Fengyou died at age 65 after 31 years service, the last three years at 54 cents a day ($16.20 a month). Liu's service of more than 25 years entitled his wife to the maximum payout for death from overwork and illness of 12 months' pay, $194.40."*^ Driver Wu Enzhao fulfilled the same conditions, having worked 26 years — the last three years at $38 a month — which gave his wife a $456 payout on Wu's death from rheumatic heart disease.''^ Only the regulation minimum was paid to the father of the 29-year-old Yang Shichun, a permanent hand who had died from TB after three and half years' service. Yang senior received one month's salary, $12.'*'
ibid., pp. 105-21, "National railways employees compensation general regulations" {Guoyou tielu
yuangong fuxu tongze).
^ i b i d . , pp. 105-06. Clause 3. ' ' ibid., pp. 109-11. Clause 9.
ibid., pp. 115-18.
SHA 215/1726. Application for compensation by the wife of Liu Fengyou, June 1938. SHA 215/1726. Application for compensation by the wife of Wu Enzhao, August 1938. SHA 215/1726. Application for compensation by the father of Yang Shichun, September 1938.
The quality of life
Work injuries {gongshang) were paid at a higher rate (12 months salary for the first two years of service and half a month for each subsequent year of service). The brakeman Zhang Xijian had an epileptic seizure at work, fell on rails and died from injuries in his ninth year of service. This was classed a work injury, so that his wife obtained the higher payout: 15.5 months salary. She received a $50 funeral benefit and $263.50 compensation, based on a final monthly salary of $17.^° The rules were tough. Coupler Xu Changzuo's widow was denied compensation despite four dependent children as he had not the minimum service of three years.^'
The September 18 Incident in 1931 when the Japanese army garrisoned in the railway zone of the South Manchurian Railway provoked the Manchurian Incident and annexed Northeast China gave rise to various claims which illustrate the operation of the compensation and pension system. During the campaign to secure the area north of Shanhaiguan, bombers from the Japanese airbase at Changchun on 8 October attacked railway installations and the county seat of Mianxian. Several dozen civilians were killed in the attacks. Six Beiping-Liaoning Railway employees were among the dead and another 16 were injured."
Locomotive department section chief Zhang Yunhan secured promptly a funeral benefit of $100 for each of the five permanent employees killed and $50 for the killed casual coal loader Zhang Chunyou^^, and a temporary support benefit of $50 or $20 for each wounded worker. The wounded permanent employees were also given a pay rise and received full pay during their recuperation. Special instructions were issued to provide compensation for the casual laborers usually not covered by the regulations: Zhang Chunyou, Ma Gui and Liu Fengrong.^"^ Zhang Chunyou's family received a $100 lump sum pay out in addition to the funeral benefit of $50 already paid. Ma Gui was treated without charge at the railway hospital and after his death a lump sum compensation of $50 was paid in addition to the previously issued support benefit of $50. Liu Fengrong, who was paid a $20 support benefit shortly after the incident, later received a $20 injury compensation.
Despite the extraordinary situation, established procedures which required rigorous checking of each claim were followed. Some cases were not settled until late 1933.^^ Chief driver of the Shanhaiguan-Mianxian section, Yang Yun, was another casualty of the bombing. He suffered "fright-induced palpitation symptoms"
(jingxia zhengzhong zhi zheng), took to his sick bed and passed away eight months
SHA 215/1729. Application for compensation by the wife of Zhang Xijian, July 1939. " SHA 215/1730. Application for compensation by the wife of Xu Changzuo, August 1939.
" Tiedao nianjian, 3, p. 490-94. SHA 215/1966. Mianxian be ri ji zhashang zhiyuangong fuxu deng
(Compensation of employees bombed by Japanese planes at Mianxian). Only eight workers are listed as injured in the original list of dead and injured prepared on 20 October 1931.
" Zhang Chunyou and the other coal coolies were identified as "non-railway workers" (fei lugong). ^^ SHA 215/1966/49. General Affairs Department, personnel directive no. 2751, 14 December 1931. SHA 215/1967. The second file relating to the Mianxian incident holds mostly testimonials and the
records of the audit department's checking of the bona fides of the claimants.
Chapter 6
later on 15 June 1932. The railway provided his wife with a wagon to transport the body to Tangshan for burial at his native village in Zunhua county along with their household affects valued at $400. Although only part of his file has survived — the final compensation determination is missing — the pay out for a chief driver on $92 a month with more than 30 year's service should have been in excess of $2200.^^
For the retired mechanical supervisor Sun Ruizhou the September 18 Incident had an unforeseen outcome." His pension was stopped. For five years following his retirement in July 1927 from the Goubangzi locomotive shed, north of Shanhaiguan, Sun had each month presented his pension card at the shed and collected $49.50, half his former monthly wage. During the months after the incident Sun had continued to collect his pension. He thought the incident would be short-lived and the control of the line quickly resolved, and that he was unaffected by the Beiping-Liaoning administration order that all railway workers in occupied areas were to report to Tangshan if they were to retain their entitlements. In July 1932 his pension ceased. The newly set up Japanese-controlled administration for the railway north of Shanhaiguan reftised to honour the pension cards of the former administration.
Old Sun, who had worked 36 years for the railways, indignantly petitioned the locomotive department at Tangshan for reinstatement of his pension which the "puppet administration" (weiju) had reftised him. Had he not for more than 30 years wholly devoted his life to diligent service for the railway?, he petitioned. Had he not lived through the Boxer Uprising, the Russo-Japanese War, and battles between rival warlords Zhang Zuolin, Wu Peifti and Feng Yuxiang when the administration had temporarily lost control of parts of the line? Why then should a devoted servant such as he be denied his pension. Sun pleaded. After many letters, testimonials and months of enquires, the administration on 12 January 1933 decided in Sun's favour and instructed the chief of the Tangshan locomotive section to resume the pension.
Sun died on 23 January before he was able to visit Tangshan to complete arrangements for the resumption of his pension. That was not the end. Sun's eldest son. Sun Shaomian, who was then a Beiping college student, petitioned the
58
administration for the pension arrears owed his deceased father. In late February the administration agreed that the arrears could be paid provided that Sun Shaomian proved he was the legitimate son of Old Sun. This began another cycle of letters, testimonials and enquires. On 12 April the accounts department issued a directive in the name of the administration chief that they were satisfied on the evidence of the
^^ The estimate is based on Clause 9, death from illness, of the 1930 national compensation regulations. SHA 215/2053. Application for compensation by wife of Yang Yun. 1 July 1932. " SHA 215/2096. 1932-1933. "Fengtai Yingkou deng di tuizhi yuangong qing ling xujin yanglaojin"
(Requests for compensation and pensions from retired workers at Fengtai, Yingkou and other places). Sun Ruizhou, a Cantonese mechanic, joined the Tangshan Works in 1891, was transferred to the Fengtai loco shed in 1896, and in 1910 was transferred and promoted to mechanical supervisor at the Goubangzi loco shed where he worked until he retired on 19 July
1927.
'' SHA 215/2096/32, 5 February 1933.
The quality of life
Younger Sun's identity and that the arrears were indeed owed. "However", the directive continued, "at no time has any effort been made to confirm that Sun Ruizhou did in fact die on 23 January 1933. Once the date of death has been verified the payment of arrears will be authorised."^^ The chief of the Tangshan locomotive section responded in a tone almost tartly, obviously tired with the procedures, in which he confirmed the date of death, and asked that the arrears be paid without further fuss. The administration in May 1933 finally agreed that Sun Shaomian had proved his relationship to Sun Ruizhou, that Old Sun's death had occurred on 23 January, and accordingly authorised the payment of the pension arrears for the period of six months and 23 days, a sum totalling $334.95.®°
While Old Sun did not live to enjoy his recovered pension, some workers who were caught up in the September 18 Incident lost their entitlements forever. The foreman Liu Baozhen, who sought early retirement due to illness at 57 after 33 years on the railways, had his application rejected on the grounds that he had not complied with the instruction that all workers in occupied areas were to report to Tangshan before 31 January 1932. "Liu Baozhen's failure to report constitutes a break in his service record and the request cannot be approved," the determination report noted.®' Shao Danian, a 60-year-old brakeman with 20 years of service, had his request for sickness benefit denied largely on discipline grounds. He had not complied with a transfer instruction in February 1914 and had in addition deserted his duties during the September 18 Incident."
If the treatment in these two instances seemed harsh, the Beiping-Liaoning Railway also looked after those for whom it felt responsible. When the fireman Zhao Zhenfu was killed in a train collision on 26 December 1921 the railway issued a life compensation pension {zhongsheng xujin) of $15 a month, equivalent to Zhao's full monthly wage, to be shared jointly by his dependent wife and mother. On the death of Zhao's wife in May 1932 the mother was only entitled to half the pension according to the regulation, but the transport department decided that this amount was insufficient and instructed that the mother should continue to receive $15 a month.®^ Similarly the railway looked kindly upon the request of retired coupler Si De's request that his pension be issued at Guye Station instead of Tangshan. He explained that his health made travelling to Tangshan on pension day difficult and the expense of travel cut deeply into his meagre pension of $6 a month. After much a
' ' SHA 215/2096. General Affairs Department, directive no. 821, 12 April 1933. SHA 215/2096. General Affairs Department, directive no. 1201, 26 May 1933. SHA 215/2096. Transport Department, determination no. 1528, 1933.
" SHA 215/2094. "Shanhaiguan qu tuizhi yuangong qing fa yanglaojin deng" (Requests for the issue of pensions by retired workers in the Shanhaiguan district), 1932-34.
" SHA 215/2096. Transport Department, directive no. 255, 1933.
Chapter 6
do about which date the new arrangements would come into effect, the accounts department finally agreed.^
Education and literacy
Chinese railwaymen in the 1930s were well educated by the standards of the day. Surveys showed that from half to almost three-quarters of the permanent workforce had some degree of literacy. The level among most manual grades was probably inadequate to read a novel, let alone modem newspapers with their many newly coined and loan words from abroad, but it was probably sufficient to make sense of signs, railway notices and various common uses of Chinese script at work and in the community. The salaried staff — among whom would be included conductors, station masters, section chiefs and other supervisory level employees — could be expected to have had a fair command of written Chinese and many also may have had a working knowledge of English, French or Japanese, depending upon which railway administration employed them.
Literacy is a key indicator of the progress of education among a population. The Chinese National Railways was a major investor in the provision of education. In developing the human capital of its workforce the state-run railways contributed to the development of all levels of education in the prewar period. It ran the main engineering colleges of the period, provided technical training schools for tradesmen, after-hours schools for workers, and a system of primary and secondary schools for the children of railway employees. The formative role of railways' contribution to education which assisted later economic development of China has been neglected. This section will discuss the level of literacy and education among railway workers, the institutional framework of railway education, and how the educational attainment of railwaymen compared with other industrial workers in China.
Surveys of literacy among railway workers. Surveys carried out by the railway administration from the 1920s tell us much about the level of literacy among railwaymen, the changes in educational levels over time, and the extent to which railway workers were educated before they began work or acquired education on the job. The most comprehensive survey results before 1937 are the labor statistics for 1934 which were compiled on the basis of returns from the personnel departments of
54
SHA 215/2099. "Tangshan chewuduan tuixiu goufti Si De" (Tangshan traffic section retired coupler Si De), 1934-35. Collection of a life age pension or compensation pension by dependents required the presentation in person of a pension book to the issuing office each