Song Hanzhang

Name in Chinese
宋漢章
Name in Wade-Giles
Sung Han-chang
Related People

Biography in English

Sung Han-chang (1872-), banker who devoted almost 50 years of his working life to the Bank of China, many of them as its general manager. Although his native place was Yuyao, Chekiang, Sung Han-chang was born in Chienning hsien, Fukien, where his father was a merchant. He received his early education at a local private school and then went to Shanghai for study at the Anglo-Chinese Academy. After being graduated in 1889, he obtained a job in the accounts department of the Chinese telegraph service. In 1895 he passed a competitive examination for entrance into the Chinese Maritime Customs Service at Shanghai, and the following year he was transferred to the customs service at Ningpo. In 1898 Sung Han-chang left the customs service to embark on a banking career. He joined the Commercial Bank of China, which had been established a year earlier at Shanghai under the sponsorship of Sheng Hsuan-huai (q.v.) and which was China's first modern bank. It had two managers, an Englishman who had been a professional banker in his own country and a Chinese who had been important in native banking. British administrative practices were combined with the better features of native banking at this institution, and Sung Han-chang thus gained rich experience during his ten years of service there.

The Hu-pu (Board of Revenue) Bank of the Ch'ing government decided in 1908 to establish a savings department at Peking, and Sung Han-chang was appointed to organize and head it. After the Hu-pu Bank became the Ta Ch'ing Bank, Sung was transferred to Shanghai as branch manager. In 1912, with the establishment of republican government in China, the Shanghai branch of the Ta Ch'ing Bank was reorganized as the Bank of China. The head office of the Ta Ch'ing Bank at Peking later was made the head office of the Bank of China. Sung Han-chang was made assistant manager of the Shanghai branch, and in 1913 he was promoted to be manager, with Chang Kia-ngau (Chang Chia-ao, q.v.) as assistant manager. Sung Han-chang was mainly responsible for building up the prestige of the Bank of China in Shanghai. Although in later years the Bank of China was to become the virtual leader of Chinese banks, it confronted many difficulties in the early stages of its development. Competition came from foreign banks, native banks, and three modern Chinese banks: the Commercial Bank of China, the Ningpo Commercial Bank, and the National Commercial Bank. Moreover, the Bank of China was a government-operated institution, and the public, because of past experience, had little confidence in it. To overcome these difficulties, Sung Han-chang scrupulously adhered to sound banking practices as followed in Western countries. He rejected, for example, applications for loans, even from government organs, without security. He also resisted the transfer of funds from the Shanghai office of the bank to other areas. Through these and other measures, he gradually won public confidence. This process was accelerated in 1916 when the Bank of China in Shanghai refused to carry out an order from Peking to effect a moratorium on withdrawal against deposits and the cashing of its note issue. At that time, Yuan Shih-k'ai urgently needed funds for his monarchical plans, and he issued the moratorium order to the Bank of China and the Bank of Communications. Chang Kia-ngau strongly advocated the rejection of the order, and Sung Han-chang agreed to the proposal.

At that time, the various branches of the Bank of China handled note issue independently, and the banknotes were identified with the place name of the issuing branch of the bank. This identification system immediately caused a rise of public confidence in the notes issued at Shanghai. In 1922 the branches of the Bank of China in Kiangsu, Chekiang, and Anhwei placed their issues under the control of the Shanghai branch. All their cash reserves against issue were transferred to Shanghai, and the Shanghai notes were circulated throughout these provinces, a clear indication that the Shanghai issue enjoyed greater confidence than the provincial issues. In 1928 the Shanghai branch organized a committee for the inspection of its note issue which included representatives of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, the Shanghai Bankers Association, and the Shanghai Native Bankers Association. By that time the total Shanghai issue was nearly 60 percent of the aggregate national issue of the Bank of China. By 1935, when the currency reform program was introduced and the managed paper currency known as fapi was introduced, the issue of the Bank of China had risen to become about 20 percent of the aggregate issue of all the banks in China.

Sung Han-chang's banking acumen was demonstrated by the policy he used in handling the reserve against note issue. When interest rates rose in the money market, Sung issued the greater part of his reserve in short-term credit loans, against suitable collateral, to the Shanghai banking community. He made use of the bank's reserve of silver dollars to ease prices when dollars were in demand for the purchase of agricultural crops in rural areas after the harvest. From 1915 on, he also made available supplies of the Bank of China's notes to other Chinese banks against security after depositing 40 percent of the value in cash, a system under which the other banks came to share in the benefits from the note issue. That measure greatly promoted the development of the Chinese banking industry and encouraged cooperation among Chinese banks.

The Bank of China was reorganized as a foreign-exchange bank in 1928, and Sung Han-chang was promoted to membership in the standing committee of the board of directors. Soon afterwards, Sung organized the Chinese Insurance Company as a subsidiary of the bank, with a nominal capital of China $5 million. He obtained the services of British insurance experts to organize the new enterprise and to train Chinese personnel. Sung himself soon acquired a solid grasp of the principles and practices of the insurance business. Although the China Insurance Company could not claim to be the largest insurance company in China, it nevertheless enjoyed great prestige. When the Bank of China was reorganized in 1934-35, with T. V. Soong (q.v.) as its governor, Chang Kia-ngau relinquished his post as general manager to become minister of railways. Sung Han-chang, retaining his seat on the standing committee of the board of directors, again became general manager. He promoted the further development of the bank as a foreign-exchange bank, and he also initiated a savings department. The Bank of China contributed to the economic development of China through extensive help to industrial enterprises manufacturing consumer goods, railways, and cooperative agricultural credit services.

After the Sino-Japanese war began in 1937, the Bank of China moved its head office to Chungking for the duration. Sung Han-chang helped implement the National Government's fiscal policies, established new offices in west China, and operated industrial enterprises. He was named chairman of the board of the Bank of China in 1948, but retired to Hong Kong when the Chinese Communists won control of the mainland in 1949. He went to the United States in 1950, but moved on to Brazil in 1951. There, at the age of 79, he began to build a new life. In 1960, however, he returned to Hong Kong, where he made his home with his youngest son, K. N. Sung, a dental surgeon.

The career of Sung Han-chang was remarkable both for its longevity and for the fact that it was spent entirely in China. He devoted almost 50 years of his working life to the Bank of China and worked assiduously to foster its growth into China's leading banking house. Sung also took part in civic activities : he served on the advisory committee of the Shanghai Municipal Council; helped support the China Foreign Famine Relief Committee of Shanghai, serving as its chairman for more than ten years; and sponsored the Yang-ming Hospital in his native Yuyao, Chekiang.

Biography in Chinese

宋汉章

宋汉章(1872年—),银行家,在中国银行工作几达五十年之久,多年任该银行总经理。
宋汉章原籍浙江余姚,生在福建建宁,父亲是商人。早年在本地私塾读书,后去上海进英华学院,1889年毕业后,当了中国电报局一名会计,1895年考进上海海关,第二年调往宁波海关工作。
1898年,宋汉章离海关进银行界,进入了盛宣怀前一年在上海创办的国内第一家新式银行中国通商银行。该行有两名经理,一名是英国的职业银行家,一名是中国钱庄业中的重要人物。该行将英国的管理经验同中国钱庄经营中的优点结合在一起,因此宋汉章在该行服务的十年间,学到了银行工作的丰富经验。
1908年,清政府的户部银行决定在北京开设储蓄部,要宋汉章主持经办。户部银行改为大清银行后,宋汉章调任上海分行任经理。1912年民国政府成立,大清银行上海分行改组为中国银行。尔后大清银行北京总行成为中国银行的总行,宋汉章任上海分行协理,1913年升为经理,张嘉璈为协理。
宋汉章竭力设法提高上海中国银行的信誉,虽然中国银行后来实际成为中国银行界的首领,但在初期发展中曾遇到不少困难,既有外商银行、本地钱庄、三家新式银行(中国通商银行、宁波商业银行、全国商业银行)的竞争,而且中国银行又是官方银行,公众根据过去经验,对它很不信任。为了克服这些困难,宋汉章依从西方各国的经营方法谨慎从事,例如,他不发放无抵押贷款,即使对政府机关也是这样。他也不准将上海分行的资金转移到其他地区。经此种种努力,他逐渐取得了公众信任。1916年提高公众信任的进程加快了,当时中国银行上海分行拒绝执行北京下达的延期支付存款和停止银行券兑现的命令,那时袁世凯为复辟帝制急需经费,乃向中国银行、交通银行下达上述命令。张嘉璈对此竭力反对,宋汉章也同意张的意见。
当时中国银行各个分行独自发行货币,纸币上印有该行名称,使人便于确认发行单位,这种办法很快使公众提高了对上海分行纸币的信用。1922年,江苏、浙江、安徽各分行将发行纸币事宜都交由上海分行控制,发行纸币所需的储备金也都转到上海,上海分行发行的纸币通行上述各省,这说明其信用高于这些省的分行。1928年,上海分行组织了有上海商会、上海银行公会、上海钱业公会的代表参加的委员会查核纸币发行情况,当时上海分行发行的纸币约占中国银行纸币总额的百分之六十。1935年实施货币改革采用统一的纸币法币时,中国银行的发行额约占全国各银行发行总额的百分之二十。
宋汉章在银行界处事敏捷表现在他对发行纸币所需储备金的处置上,当货币市场利率上升时,他就把大部分储备金向上海银行界发放短期抵押贷款,当秋收时需用银元采购农产品时,他用银行储备的银元平抑市价。自1915年起,他在储存百分之四十的币值以后,也把中国银行掌握的货币供应其他银行,这使其他银行也从纸币的发行中分享到利益。这个措施大大促进了中国银行业的发展和银行界的合作。
1928年,中国银行改组为外汇银行,宋汉章被提升为常设董事会董事。不久,他又以五百万元法币筹办了中国保险公司作为中国银行的辅助机构。他聘请英国保险业专家创办这个新机构并训练中国职员,他自己也很快掌握了保险行业的经营之道和实际业务知识。中国保险公司在国内虽非最大的保险公司,但信誉很高。
1934年—35年,中国银行改组,宋子文任行长,张嘉璈辞去总经理之职任铁道部长,宋汉章保留常任董事之职,并再次出任总经理,他使中国银行进一步发展成为外汇银行,同时又创办了储蓄部。中国银行通过大量资助生产消费品的工业企业、铁路和发放农业合作信用贷款,对发展中国经济作出了贡献。
1937年中日战争爆发后,中国银行总行在整个战争期间迁在重庆。宋汉章协助国民政府实施其财经政策,在中国西部建立新的办事机构,并开办一些工业企业。1948年他出任中国银行董事长。1949年中国共产党人掌管大陆时,他退职去香港,1950年他去美国,1951年去巴西。他在七十九岁时又开始了新的生活。1960年,他回到香港,和他当牙科医生的小儿子住在一起。
宋汉章一生的特点在于他活动时间很长,而且全部都在中国国内,为时达五十年之久,他勤勤恳恳为中国银行工作,使其成为首屈一指的银行。他又从事社会活动,任上海市工部局顾问,支持华洋赈灾会的工作,任该会主席十多年,又在余姚家乡创办了阳明医院。

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