Mu Xiangyue 1876-1943

Mu Xiangyue, styled Ouchu, was a native of Shanghai whose family was in the cotton business. He was educated in the traditional manner, but started to learn English when he was almost twenty. Three years later he joined the Yangtze Customs Office. In 1906 he became an English teacher in a Shanghai teachers' training college. Mu went to the US to study in 1909. He received his Bachelor degree from the University of Illinois (1913) and his Master's degree from the Texas Agriculture and Mechanical College (1914). After his return to Shanghai in 1914, he set up a textile factory. Soon he was acknowledged as the leader in the field and was called 'The cotton king of China'. In late 1928 Mu was invited to join the Nationalist government. He served variously in the ministries of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture. He died in Chongqing in 1943. His writings include an autobiography and many books on improving the cotton plant and the textile industry in China.

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