Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T08:12:24.626Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Partnering with your Pirate: Interdependent Sino-foreign rivalry in China's textbook market

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2019

FEI-HSIEN WANG
FEI-HSIEN WANG*
Affiliation:
Indiana University, Bloomington Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

As the Qing state launched its full-scale educational reform at the turn of the twentieth century, tens of thousands of new schools mushroomed all over China. Their urgent and enormous demand for textbooks created a thriving new market that attracted both Chinese and foreign publishing firms. Nurtured in China's traditional book trade, Chinese print capitalists had local knowledge of distribution networks and cultural politics, but not a real command of producing educational Western knowledge. To keep up with Chinese students’ increasing demand for Western knowledge, they pirated textbooks published by foreign companies. Meanwhile, leading American and British publishing corporations were expanding their international business by targeting developing countries that had recently established a modern general education system, like China. Drawing from government and company archives, as well as personal papers and legal documents, this article traces the multinational competition, copyright disputes, and business collaborations between a leading textbook provider in China and their Anglo-American competitors between the 1900s and the 1930s. It illustrates an unexpected and uneasy partnership some foreign publishers formed with Chinese pirates in order to gain better access to China's textbook market. Chinese publishers, on the other hand, used piracy and their local knowledge to bargain for better import credit and deals with their foreign rivals. Both sides were dependent on each other to gain the advantage in their transnational business operations in the globalizing Asian textbook business.

Type
Forum Article
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 54 , Issue 3 , May 2020 , pp. 1005 - 1040
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Edward Evans, ‘Petition to the International Mixed Court at Shanghai’, 28 February 1911; 893.544-G43; Box 10237; Decimal File, 1910–1929 (DF 1910–1929); General Records of the Department of State; Record Group 59 (RG 59); National Archives at College Park, MD (NACP hereafter).

2 For a brief overview of the revisionist scholarship in Chinese business history since the 1980s, see Yeh, Wen-hsin, Mühlhahn, K. and Frölch, H., ‘Introduction to “Rethinking Business in Modern China”’, Cross-Currents E-Journal, vol. 4 no. 2, 2015, pp. 1–12Google Scholar. For a discussion of the competitiveness of Chinese enterprises, see Cochran, S., Big Business in China: Sino-Foreign Rivalry in the Cigarette Industry, 1890–1930, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1980Google Scholar; Cochran, S., Encountering Chinese Networks: Western, Japanese, and Chinese Corporations in China, 1880–1937, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2000Google Scholar; Bergère, M., The Golden Age of the Chinese Bourgeoisie, 1911–1937, Lloyd, J. (trans.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989Google Scholar; Köll, E., From Cotton Mill to Business Empire: The Emergence of Regional Enterprise in Modern China, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2004Google Scholar.

3 Zelin, Madeleine, ‘Guest Editor's Introduction’, Enterprise and Society, Special issue ‘Business History in Modern China’, vol. 6 no. 3, 2005, pp. 357–363Google Scholar. Also see the articles in this special issue.

4 Cochran, Encountering Chinese Networks.

5 Late imperial China's lack of commercial codes, company law, intellectual property laws, etc. to regulate and protect private property and contracts were considered to be a main factor in hindering China's transformation into a modern capitalist system. For instance, see Kirby, William C., ‘China Unincorporated: Company Law and Business Enterprise in Twentieth-Century China’, The Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 54 no. 1, 1995, pp. 43–63CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Alford, W., To Steal a Book is an Elegant Offense: Intellectual Property Law in Chinese Civilization, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1995Google Scholar; Faure, D., China and Capitalism: A History of Business Enterprise in Modern China, Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong, 1994Google Scholar. Such narratives have been challenged by empirical researches on the complicity and development of Chinese enterprises and partnership in the absence of commercial codes. For instance, see Zelin, M., The Merchants of Zigong: Industrial Entrepreneurship in Early Modern China, Columbia University Press, New York, 2005Google Scholar. Teemu Ruskola also questions this convention by critically reconstructing its historical making. See Ruskola, T., Legal Orientalism: China, the United States, and Modern Law, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2013CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

6 Cassel, Pär K., Grounds of Judgment: Extraterritoriality and Imperial Power in Nineteenth-Century China and Japan, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2012CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

7 For instance, it was not uncommon for Chinese businesses to acquire extraterritorial privileges by registering their businesses with foreign consulates. See Goodman, Bryna and Goodman, David S. G., ‘Introduction: Colonialism and China’, in Goodman, B. and Goodman, David S. G. (eds), Twentieth Century Colonialism and China: Localities, the Everyday, and the World, Routledge, New York, 2012CrossRefGoogle Scholar; also see Ruskola, Legal Orientalism.

8 For a historiographical overview of Chinese legal history and the ‘third wave’ revisionist approaches, see Chen, Li and Zelin, Madeleine, ‘Rethinking Chinese Law and History: An Introduction’, in Chen, Li and Zelin, M. (eds), Chinese Law: Knowledge, Practice, and Transformation, 1530–1950s, Brill, Leiden, 2015, pp. 1–14CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

9 For an overview of late Qing education reform and textbook production, see Zarrow, P., Educating China: Knowledge, Society and Textbooks in a Modernizing World, 1902–1937, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2015, pp. 1–10CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Bastid, M., Educational Reform in Early 20th–Century China, Bailey, P. (trans.), Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1988Google Scholar.

10 See Xuebu Zongwusi [General Administration Department of the Ministry of Education], Guangxu san shi san nian fen diyici jiaoyu tongtong ji tubiao [The First Education Survey Statistical Charts of the Thirty-third Year of Guangxu (1907)], Zhongguo chubanshe, Taipei, 1973Google Scholar.

11 For a discussion on how publishers that specialized in textbooks became the leading force in China's publishing industry, see Reed, C. A., Gutenberg in Shanghai: Chinese Print Capitalism, 1876–1937, UBC Press, Toronto, 2003Google Scholar.

12 Hecheng, Liu and Renfen, Zhang (eds), Zhang Yuanji nianpu [A Chronicle of Zhang Yuanji's Life], Shangwu Yinshuguan, Beijing, 1991, pp. 49–50Google Scholar.

13 ‘Guangxu san shi yi nian Shangwu yinshuguan gudong changhui’ [Commercial Press Regular Board Meeting 31st year of Guangxu], in Yuanfang, Song (ed.), Zhongguo Chuban Shiliao Jindai Bufen [Primary Sources of Chinese Publishing History, Modern Section], Hebei Jiaoyu chubanshe, Wuhan, 2004, Vol. 3, p. 6Google Scholar.

14 Teruo, Tarumoto, Shoki Shōmu Inshokan kenkyū [A Study of Early Commercial Press], Shinmatsu Shōsetsu Kenkyūkai, Shiga-ken Ōtsu-shi, 2004, 2nd edn, pp. 45–78Google Scholar.

15 Brown, Arthur Judson, Chinese Revolution, Student Volunteer Movement, New York, 1912, p. 77Google Scholar.

16 ‘George A. Plimpton to Charles H. Thurber’, 31 July 1908; George A. Plimpton Papers; Box 13 Folder 8; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library (CUL hereafter).

17 ‘Meishang Jin gongsi zhi Shangwu Yinshuguan’ [American Merchant Ginn Company to Commercial Press], 22 January 1919, Shanghai Municipal Archive (SMA hereafter), S313-1-138.

18 ‘The Mixed Court Shanghai, March 29. Before Magistrate Pao and Mr. Jameson, American Assessor. Alleged Infringement of Copyright’, newspaper clipping from The North China Daily News, 30 March 1911; 893.544-G43; Box 10237; DF 1910–1929; RG 59; NACP.

19 Ibid.

20 ‘J. Paul Jameson, American Assessor, Shanghai, to W. J. Calhoun, American Minister, Peking; Report of Mixed Court Assessor on case of Ginn & Co. vs. Commercial Press, Limited’, 4 May 1911; 893.544-G43; Box 10237; DF 1910–1929; RG 59; NACP.

21 ‘Shanghai shuye shanghui cheng Shanghai Dao wen’ [Petition Submitted to Shanghai Daotai by Shanghai Booksellers’ Trade Association], 2 March 1911, in Zhongding fanyin waiguo shujie banquan jiaoshe ando (Documentations about Reprinting Foreign Books and Copyright Negotiation, second edition), SMA, S313-1-138.

22 ‘Amos P. Wilder, American Consul-General, Shanghai China, to the Secretary of State, Washington, Subject: Copyright in China’, 8 June 1911; 893.544-G43; Box 10237; DF 1910–1929; RG 59; NACP, p. 3.

23 T. R. Jernigan was a civil leader in the American community in Shanghai and a powerful player in the city's politics. He also authored several books that provided advice for foreigners on how to conduct business with the Chinese, for example, Jernigan, T. R., China in Law and Commerce, Macmillan Co., New York, 1905Google Scholar, and Jernigan, T. R., China's Business Methods and Policy, T. F. Unwin, London, 1904Google Scholar.

24 ‘The Mixed Court Shanghai, March 29’, NACP.

25 Ibid. Xia appeared in the North China Daily News report as ‘Mr. How’, which most probably reflects the pronunciation of Xia in the local dialect.

26 For a study of the Shanghai Mixed Court, see Stephens, T., Order and Discipline in China: The Shanghai Mixed Court 1911–1927, University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1992Google Scholar, and Cassel, P., Grounds of Judgment: Extraterritoriality and Imperial Power in Nineteenth-Century China and Japan, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2012, Chapter 3CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

27 The United States became a member of the Berne Convention in 1989, and China did not join it until 1992.

28 Alford, To Steal a Book, pp. 36–46.

29 ‘The Renewed Sino-American Treaty of Commercial and Navigation of 1903’, reprinted in MacMurray, J. (ed.), Treaties and Agreements with and Concerning China, 1894–1919, Oxford University Press, New York, 1921Google Scholar.

30 The American Boxer Indemnity Scholarship programme was initiated by the Theodore Roosevelt administration in 1907 to provide for Chinese students to study in the United States. It was funded by the indemnity the Americans received from China after the Boxer Rebellion. For a discussion of this scholarship scheme, see Bevis, T., A History of Higher Education Exchange: China and America, Routledge, New York, 2014, pp. 79–94Google Scholar.

31 Wu Lin-Chun, ‘Qingmo Minchu Zhong-Mei banquan zhi zheng’ [Chinese-U.S. Copyright Disputes in Late Qing and Early Republican China], Guoli Zhengzhi Daxue Lishi Xuebao [National Chengchi University Journal of History], vol. 38, November 2012, pp. 97–136.

32 ‘The Mixed Court Shanghai, March 29’, NACP.

33 Ting was introduced to Commercial Press by his brother-in-law who worked as an editor at the firm. He served as Commercial Press's legal adviser from 1910 and helped the firm to win many lawsuits throughout his career. He would later become a shareholder of Commercial Press and one of the most successful Chinese lawyers in Shanghai. For his relationship with Commercial Press, see Liu Hecheng, ‘Shangwu Yinshuguan falü guwen Ding Rong’ [Ding Rong, the Legal Advisor of Commercial Press], Chuban Shiliao [Sources for Publishing History], March 2003, pp. 86–92.

34 A copy of this pamphlet is preserved in the National Archives: Shangwu Yinshuguan bingqing lian fanyin yangwen shuji mulu [Books Registered and Approved by the Bureau of Education and Waiwupu for Reprint by the Commercial Press, Limited], 1905; 893.544-G43; Box 10237; DF 1910–1929; RG 59; NACP.

35 ‘Ding Feizhang lüshi bianhu ci’ [Statements by Attorney Ting Rong], in Zhongding fanyin waiguo shujie banquan jiaoshe ando, SMA, S313-1-138.

36 ‘J. Paul Jameson, American Assessor, Shanghai’, NACP.

37 W. S. Fleming, ‘Points and Authorities for Defendants’; 893.544-G43; Box 10237; DF 1910–1929; RG 59; NACP.

38 ‘Guangxuehui yianjin fanke sinzhu chuji gaoshi’ [The Society for the Diffusion of Christian and General Knowledge among the Chinese's Announcement: Reprinting New Publications is Strictly Forbidden], Wanguo Gongbao [A Review of Times], no. 97, February 1897, pp. 16699–16700.

39 ‘The Copyright Case’, newspaper clipping from the North China Daily News, 3 April 1911; 893.544-G43; Box 10237; DF 1910–1929; RG 59; NACP.

40 ‘J. Paul Jameson, American Assessor, Shanghai’, NACP. Thanks to the infighting between Jameson and Wilder, detailed records, documentation, and evidence in this case were sent by Jameson to the Peking Legation and then archived by the Department of States. Although the archives of the International Mixed Court at Shanghai were lost during the war, the records kept by Jameson and the Shanghai Booksellers’ Trade Association enable us to reconstruct the case.

41 ‘Memorandum, Office of the Solicitor, Department of State, to Far Eastern Division’, 8 August 1911; 893.544-G43; Box 10237; DF 1910–1929; RG 59; NACP.

42 Ibid.; ‘Knox to Amos P. Wilder’, 31 August 1911; 893.544-G43; Box 10237; DF 1910–1929; RG 59; NACP. ‘Waiwubu zhi Shanghai dao han’ [Letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Shanghai Daotai], 9 September 1911; ‘Shanghai dao zhi Shangwu Yinshuguan xin’ [Letter from Shanghai Daotai to Commercial Press], 11 September 1911; ‘Shanghai dao zhi Shangwu Yinshuguan xin’ [Letter from Shanghai Daotai to the Commercial Press], 12 October 1911, all in SMA, S313-1-138.

43 For example, Mingshan, Li (ed.) Zhongguo jindai banquan shi [Modern History of Copyright in China], Henan daxue chubanshe, Kaifeng, 2003, pp. 149–155Google Scholar; Yufeng, Li, Qiangkou xia de falü: Zhongguo banquan shi yanjiu [Learning the Law at Gunpoint: A Study of the History of Copyright in China], Zhishi chanquan chubanshe, Beijing, 2010Google Scholar; Wu Lin-Chun, ‘Qingmo Minchu Zhong-Mei banquan zhi zheng’, pp. 97–136.

44 ‘Meishang Jin gongsi zhi Shangwu Yinshuguan’, SMA.

45 Renfeng, Zhang and Hecheng, Liu (eds), Zhang Yuanji nianpu changbian [The Chronicle of Zhang Yuanji's Life], Shanghai Jiaotong Daxue chubanshe, Shanghai, 2011, Vol. 1Google Scholar.

46 ‘Philander C. Knox, Acting Secretary of State, to George A. Plimpton’, 28 September 1911; George A. Plimpton Papers; Box 22 Folder 14; CUL.

47 Wu Lin-Chun, ‘Qingmo Minchu Zhong-Mei banquan zhi zheng’, pp. 122–123, 130.

48 ‘Amos P. Wilder, American Consul-General’, NACP.

49 ‘Shangwu Yinshuguan bingqing lian fanyin yangwen shuji mulu’, NACP.

50 ‘George A. Plimpton to Lewis Parkhurst, Boston Office’, 16 August 1911, and ‘Evelyn W. Hughan to Lewis Parkhurst’, 6 October 1911, both in George A. Plimpton Papers; Box 22 Folder 14; CUL.

51 ‘George A. Plimpton to Lewis Parkhurst, Boston Office’, 28 September 1911, and ‘Lewis Parkhurst to George A. Plimpton’, 29 September 1911, both in ‘George A. Plimpton Papers; Box 22 Folder 14; CUL. ‘Charles H. Thurber to George A. Plimpton’, 1 October 1913; George A. Plimpton Papers; Box 24 Folder 11; CUL.

52 ‘George A. Plimpton to C. H. Thurber’, 26 September 1911; George A. Plimpton Papers; Box 22 Folder 17; CUL.

53 ‘C. H. Thurber to George A. Plimpton’, 2 October 1911; George A. Plimpton Papers; Box 22 Folder 17; CUL.

54 For example, Nathaniel Gist Gee, an American biologist who taught at universities in China for decades, helped Ginn and Co. to adapt several textbooks and advised Plimpton on how to best approach the Chinese book market. See ‘Evelyn W. Hughan to George A. Plimpton’, 21 September 1915; George A. Plimpton Papers; Box 27 Folder 8; CUL. ‘Evelyn W. Hughan to Gist Gee’, 26 July 1916, and ‘George A. Plimpton to Gist Gee’, 27 January 1916, both George A. Plimpton Papers; Box 26 Folder 13; CUL.

55 ‘George A. Plimpton to the Members of the Firm of Ginn and Company’, 23 June 1920; George A. Plimpton Papers; Box 13 Folder 9; CUL.

56 ‘Evelyn W. Hughan to George A. Plimpton’, 27 November 1915; George A. Plimpton Papers; Box 27 Folder 8; CUL.

57 ‘George A. Plimpton to the Members of the Firm of Ginn and Company’, CUL.

58 Li Mingshan (ed.), Zhongguo jindai banquan shi, pp. 155–164. Wu Lin-Chun, ‘Qingmo Minchu Zhong-Mei banquan zhi zheng’, pp. 111–114.

59 For a history of the Shanghai Booksellers’ Guild and their copyright regime, see Fei-Hsien Wang, ‘Creating New Order in the Knowledge Economy: The Curious Journey of “Copyright” in China, 1868–1937’, PhD thesis, University of Chicago, 2012, Chapters 5 and 6.

60 ‘The International Publishers’ Association: Prospectus’, 03-43-013-04-006; Waijiao bu Dangan [Ministry of Foreign Affairs Archives], Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, Taipei [MFA hereafter].

61 ‘A Synopsis of the Work of the Association’, 03-43-013-04-006, MFA.

62 Ibid.

63 Ibid.

64 ‘Shanghai Shuye Shanghui huitong bing yi jian: waiguo shushang yaoqiu xiangyou banquan fanghai jiaoyu gongshang qiantu kenqing boju yo’ [Petition from the Shanghai Bookseller's Trade Association Directorates: Foreign Booksellers’ Request for Copyright Protection is Harmful to the Future of Education and Commerce, Please Reject their Request], 27 July 1914, 03-43-013-04-001, MFA.

65 ‘J. J. Evans to George A. Plimpton’, 7 September 1916; George A. Plimpton Papers; Box 27 Folder 13; CUL.

66 Zhang Yuanji, Zhang Yuanji riji [Zhang Yuanji Diary], Hebei jiaoyu chubanshe, Shi jiazhuang, 2001, pp. 80, 85, 87, 90, 114,117, 120–121, 150.

67 Ibid., pp. 247, 252, 260, 296, 306, 356.

68 ‘George A. Plimpton to J. J. Evans’, 9 April 1918; George A. Plimpton Papers; Box 13 Folder 8; CUL.

69 ‘British Chamber of Commerce to Messrs. Macmillan and Co. Ltd.’, 23 May 1918, MS 55271, British Library, pp. 87–89.

70 It seems that Macmillan and Co. and Commercial Press reached an agreement during this period, and Commercial Press agreed to give up pirating their books in exchange for a better discount for the books they imported from Macmillan. However, I am yet to locate the actual documentation of this agreement.

71 Zhang Yuanji, Zhang Yuanji riji, p. 252.

72 Ibid., p. 306.

73 Ibid., p. 662.

74 ‘Shanghai Shangwu Yinshuguan cheng yi jian yangshang meng qing banquan kenqi juyue bo ju you’ [Shanghai Commercial Press Petition: Please Dismiss Foreign Merchants’ Equivocating Request for Copyright Protection], April 1919, 03-43-014-02-001, MFA; ‘Shanghai Shuye shanghui cheng yi jian yangshang meng qing banquan kenqi juyue bo ju you’ [Shanghai Booksellers’ Trade Association petition: Please Dismiss Foreign Merchants’ Equivocating Request for Copyright Protection], April 1919, 03-43-014-02-002, MFA.

75 Liu Hecheng, ‘Shangwu Yinshuguan falü guwen Ding Rong’, p. 90.

76 ‘Shanghai Shangwu Yinshuguan cheng yi jian yangshang meng qing banquan kenqi juyue bo ju you’, MFA. ‘Shanghai Shuye shanghui cheng yi jian yangshang meng qing banquan kenqi juyue bo ju you’, MFA.

77 Zhang Yuanji, Zhang Yuanji riji, pp. 752, 763, 798, 799–803.

78 ‘J. J. Evans to George A. Plimpton’, 20 September 1919; George A. Plimpton Papers; Box 13 Folder 8; CUL.

79 ‘George A. Plimpton to Hugo Miller’, 15 November 1919; George A. Plimpton Papers; Box 13 Folder 8; CUL.

80 ‘Gist Gee to George A. Plimpton’, 26 January 1916; ‘George A. Plimpton to Gist Gee’, 29 January 1916; ‘Evelyn W. Hughan to Edward Evans cc. Plimpton’, 26 July 1916; all in George A. Plimpton Papers; Box 27 Folder 13; CUL.

81 ‘George A. Plimpton to the Members of the Firm of Ginn and Company’, CUL.

82 Due to the increasing infighting between Zhang Yuanji and Gao Fengchi, the firm's co-founder and general manager, over personnel matters, he resigned the post in mid-1920, but remained as the key figure in Commercial Press deciding major business deals and publishing projects.

83 Francis Taylor Pearsons Plimpton, ‘China Journal’, Plimpton Family Papers; Series II writings, 1913–1992; Box 15 Folder 6; CUL, p. 59. Francis Plimpton was a college student at the time; he kept a travel diary and left a detailed journal of his trip to the Far East.

84 Zhang Yuanji, Zhang Yuanji riji, pp. 962–964. F. Plimpton, ‘China Journal’, CUL, pp. 59–60, 63–64, 68–69, 84.

85 F. Plimpton, ‘China Journal’, CUL, p. 85.

86 ‘George A. Plimpton to the Members of the Firm of Ginn and Company’, CUL.

87 F. Plimpton, ‘China Journal’, CUL, pp. 90–91. Zhang Yuanji, Zhang Yuanji riji, p. 965.

88 F. Plimpton, ‘China Journal’, CUL, p. 69.

89 ‘George A. Plimpton to the Members of the Firm of Ginn and Company’, CUL.

90 Zhang Yuanji, Zhang Yuanji riji, pp. 968–969.

91 Ibid., p. 969.

92 ‘George A. Plimpton to the Members of the Firm of Ginn and Company’, CUL.

93 ‘Chang Yuanji to George A. Plimpton’, 7 April, 21 April, and 24 April 1920; George A. Plimpton Papers; Box 13 Folder 8; CUL.

94 ‘Chang Yuanji to George A. Plimpton’, 21 April 1920, CUL.

95 ‘George A. Plimpton to the Members of the Firm of Ginn and Company’, CUL.

96 ‘Chang Yuanji to George A. Plimpton’, 21 April 1920, CUL; Zhang Yuanji, Zhang Yuanji riji, p. 977.

97 ‘Tougoo C. Woo [Wu Dongchu] to George A. Plimpton’, 9 July 1920; George A. Plimpton Papers; Box 13 Folder 8; CUL. ‘Tonzoo C. Woo to George A. Plimpton’, 18 July 1920, and ‘George A. Plimpton to Woo’, 1 September 1920, both in George A. Plimpton Papers; Box 29 Folder 2; CUL.

98 ‘Chang Yuanji to George A. Plimpton’, 28 October 1921; George A. Plimpton Papers; Box 13 Folder 8; CUL.

99 For example, Alford, To Steal a Book, pp. 30–55.

100 Cochran, Encountering Chinese Networks.

101 For example, a similar deal was reached between Commercial Press and MacMillan and Co.

102 ‘Chinese are Stealing Our School Books’, Boston Global Sunday Magazine, 16 November 1924, pp. 15–16.

103 ‘A. L. Priddy to George A. Plimpton’, 12 December 1924; George A. Plimpton Papers; Box 30 Folder 28; CUL.

104 Qiaodan Sportswear Co. is a Chinese firm that uses the Chinese transliteration of Jordan as its brand. Michael Jordan and Qiaodan have been suing each other for trademark infringements since 2012. During the years of lawsuits, the local Chinese courts have ruled several times in favour of Qiaodan, despite Jordan's global fame and recognition.