Trust in Troubled Times

Brett Sheehan is Associate Professor of History at the University of Southern California.

Drawing in an extensive archival work and theoretical studies on trust, money, and banking, Brett Sheehan’s book breaks new ground in the history of modern China by providing a comprehensive account of Tianjin’s financial, social, and political history in Republican China… [S]tudies of Tianjin’s banking history are largely absent from the historiography of modern China. Sheehan’s work is the first to fill this void… [Trust in Troubled Times lends a] valuable new perspective on the social and political history of modern China. Sheehan’s innovative look at state–society relations and the role of elites will certainly be an important resource for sociologists and political scientists who are eager to incorporate a comparative dimension in their work… Not the least value of this book is its unique style of narration… Sheehan draws stories from contemporary newspapers, journals, folk songs, and official documents and makes various players in this book true to life. He turns an ordinarily dull subject into a fascinating one and makes this book a truly enjoyable read.

• Acknowledgments A Note on Currency Values Introduction 1. Personal Networks and State Needs 2. The 1916 Moratorium on Exchange in Tianjin 3. Local Regulators, Paper Tigers, and Good Citizens 4. The Rules of the Game under Warlord Governments 5. Early Nationalist Rule and a New Environment 6. Trust at a Time of International Crisis Conclusion Appendixes A. Currency Circulation of Tianjin's Modern Banks B. English and Chinese Names of Banks C. The Money Scare Vernacular Song D. Tianjin Bank of China Loans to Governments, 1927 Notes Glossary of Selected Chinese Terms Bibliography Index