Transnational co-production of technology: Sino-Soviet cooperation in the construction of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, 1950–1957

ABSTRACT

Using the construction of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge as a case study, this paper explores transnational co-production of technology between the Soviet Union and China in the 1950s. Focusing on the invention of the non-caisson method, it argues that non-state actors played an important role in the process, because successful construction of the bridge could not be separated from reciprocal wills and long-term face-to-face interactions between Chinese and Soviet engineers. Moreover, by examining Chinese workers’ contribution, this paper enriches the idea of hybrid technology, including not only the mingling of national identities in the process of knowledge making but also the combining of knowledge of both elites and masses. As a core project of China’s First-Five-Year Plan, the cooperation boosted China’s confidence in technological development and the Chinese Communist Party started to re-evaluate the Soviet technical aid, which to some extent influenced China’s science and technology policies afterwards.

KEYWORDS:

• Caisson and non-caisson
• reciprocal wishes
• hybrid knowledge
• Soviet technical aid to China

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Mao, “Shui Diao Ge Tou.”

2. Mao Yisheng was known as the founder of Chinese modern bridge engineering. The Qiantang River Bridge he designed was China’s first combined highway and railroad steel bridge built in the 1930s. This bridge was constructed with caisson foundation, a watertight retaining structure which is sunk to the required level by excavating material from within the caisson and then filled with concrete thus forming a foundation. Non-caisson foundation was an invention in the construction of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge. In 1957, Mao Yisheng presented the new method at the fourth meeting of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering in London. In 1960 he presented it at the sixth meeting of the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering in Sweden. China Civil Engineering Society, Special Collection of the Ninetieth Anniversary of China Civil Engineering Society, 258–260.

3. Mao, Collected Works of Mao Yisheng, 263.

4. Wu, A Selected Collection of Documents on the Scientific Cooperation, 336–337.

5. Peng, Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, 55.

6. For discussion on co-production see, Jasanoff, States of Knowledge, 3.

7. The concept of co-production could be seen in a number of Krige’s works such as American Hegemony.

8. On Soviet chauvinism in China, Jersild, The Sino-Soviet Alliance.

9. Wang, “Transnational Science During the Cold War.”

10. China’s invitation to Soviet experts, see, Shen, “A Historical Examination.”

11. Zhang et al., “Technology Transfer.”

12. China’s changing attitude toward Soviet experts, see Kaple, “Agents of Change.” Bernstein, China Learns from the Soviet Union, 1–27, 275–359.

13. Jasanoff, States of Knowledge, 4. Factors of the Sino-Soviet split, see Lüthi, The Sino-Soviet Split, 1–14.

14. Krige, “Hybrid Knowledge.”

15. On hybrid knowledge in modern China, see Lei, Neither Donkey nor Horse. Yue, “Hybrid Science Versus Modernity.” On mass science and technology, see Schamlzer, Red Revolution, Green Revolution. Fan, “The People’s War against Earthquakes.”

16. On the Impact-Response paradigm in Sino-Soviet relations, see Goikhman, “Soviet-Chinese Academic Interactions in the 1950s.”

17. The first attempt was made in 1912 and 1913 by Zhan Tianyou, the so-named father of China’s railroad. The second time was in 1929 when J.A.L. Waddell helped the Ministry of Railways of the Nationalist government to create a design. The third time was in 1936 and 1937 and the Qiantang River Bridge Engineering Office was in charge. The fourth time was in 1946 and the Hubei province was in charge. China Railway Bridge Bureau, Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge.

18. Zhao, “The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge.”

19. Wuhan Local Chronicles Compilation Committee, Wuhan Chronicles.

20. Cai, “K.S. Silin.”

21. Peng and Yu, Peng Min’s Love for the Roads and the Bridges, 149–150.

22. Silin et al., Foundations of Bridge Supports, 4.

23. Peng and Yu, Peng Min’s Love for the Roads and the Bridges, 149.

24. Wu, A Selected Collection of Documents on the Scientific Cooperation, 222.

25. See note 18 above.

26. At a depth of 40 meters underwater, the pressure is about four to five times that of the surface and it will take caisson workers 12 minutes to enter the caisson, 15 minutes to ascend and decend, and 60 minutes to exit. Engineering Bureau of the Wuhan Bridge, Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, 158.

27. Ibid., 15–16.

28. Cao, “Decision on the Train.”

29. Teng, “My Father Deng Daiyuan and Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge.”

30. Zhao, “The First Director of the Bridge Engineering Bureau.”

31. See note 29 above.

32. Yu, Stories of Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, 82–84.

33. Ibid., 51.

34. Peng, “Peng Min and the Railroad Bridge on the Han River.”

35. Teng, “Father Teng Daiyuan and His Participation and Leadership.”

36. See note 28 above.

37. The committee consisted of 25 members and the director was Mao Yisheng. Their names could be seen in Lin， “The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge Technical Advisory Committee.”

38. See note 9 above.

39. Wu, A Selected Collection of Documents on the Scientific Cooperation, 224.

40. Peng, Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, 9.

41. Jersild, The Sino-Soviet Alliance.

42. Yu, Stories of Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, 93–94.

43. Peng and Yu, Peng Min’s Love for the Roads and the Bridges, 152–153.

44. Peng, Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, 9–11.

45. See note 35 above.

46. Ibid.

47. Luo, “Impression of Silin”. Peng and Yu, Peng Min’s Love for the Roads and the Bridges, 170.

48. See note 35 above.

49. Hanyang Arsenal was built in the late Qing dynasty and many of the machineries were imported from Germany.

50. Peng and Yu, Peng Min’s Love for the Roads and the Bridges, 167–170.

51. Cao, Let the Train Pass the Surging Yangtze River, 17.

52. Engineering Bureau of the Wuhan Bridge, Selected Papers of Soviet Experts, 34.

53. Rivets were all forged on the construction site and workers riveted when the rivets were hot.

54. Cao, “In Front of the New Problem.”

55. Peng and Yu, Peng Min’s Love for the Roads and the Bridges, 213.

56. Mao, “Celebrate the 40^th Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution.”

57. Luo, “Impression of Silin.”

58. See note 20 above.

59. See note 35 above.

60. See note 11 above.

61. Characteristics of Soviet scientific community see, Graham, Science in Russia and the Soviet Union, 191.

62. Peng and Yu, Peng Min’s Love for the Roads and the Bridges, 183.

63. Schmalzer, Red Revolution, Green Revolution, 100–128.

64. Lüthi, The Sino-Soviet Split, 111–112.

65. Peng and Yu, Peng Min’s Love for the Roads and the Bridges, 183. The twelve-year plan for scientific and technological developments in 1956 aimed to catch up with the advanced level in the world in a range of scientific and technological areas within twelve years. See, Wang, “The Chinese Developmental State During the Cold War.”

66. Editorial Team of Our Premier Zhou, Our Premier Zhou, 341.