Transition, Adaptation, and Transformation: Ningpo Customs During the Xinhai Revolution

Abstract Using primary sources from the Zhejiang Provincial Archives and records of local history, this article attempts to reconstruct the transition of Ningpo Customs from the Imperial to the Republican era during the Xinhai Revolution. In doing so, a pragmatic approach is adopted to uncover the reasons for the continuity and integrity of Ningpo Customs through the change in the regime. The largely smooth transition can be attributed, on the one hand, to the expertise, flexibility, and maneuvering of P. J. Grevedon, the Commissioner of Ningpo Customs at the time, and on the other, to the new government's mixed nature, connections with local merchants, and willingness to appease foreign powers. The transformation of Ningpo Customs during the Xinhai Revolution may, from a local perspective, broadly reflect the color-changing nature of the chameleon that is the Chinese Maritime Customs Service.