Who are the famous businessmen since ancient times? Chinese and foreign will do!

Famous business gangs and merchant spirit in the history of China

In recent years, historical film and television dramas such as Shanxi Merchants, Qian Wang, Hu Xueyan, Changjinyuan Bank, Tuodao, etc. All of them were shot in the background of the commercial activities of famous business gangs and businessmen since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Understanding the history of business gangs and the traditional spirit of businessmen will help us to grasp the spirit of the Chinese nation more completely.

The rise of commercial gangs in Ming and Qing Dynasties added a touch of bright color to the historical picture of China.

(Editor-in-Chief of Research on Chinese Economic History, Institute of Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, hereinafter referred to as Liu):

China has a long history. As a member of "intellectuals, farmers, workers and businessmen", "businessmen" have always been an indispensable force to promote social and economic development. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the rise of business gangs centered on regions and linked by blood ties and nostalgia added a touch of bright color to the historical picture of China.

Feng (Researcher, Institute of Economics, China Academy of Social Sciences, hereinafter referred to as Feng):

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, a very striking phenomenon appeared in China's social economy, that is, the rise of local business gangs and big merchant capital. Among them, the top ten famous business gangs are Shanxi, Huizhou (now Huangshan in Anhui), Shaanxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangyou (Jiangxi), Dongting (now Dongshan and Xishan in Dongting Lake in southwest Suzhou), Ningbo, Longyou (central Zhejiang) and Shandong. The traditional market system network initially formed in the Ming and Qing Dynasties depends on the connection and composition of local business gangs as the market main body. From the perspective of China's modernization history, Mr. Wu, an economic historian, thinks that the rise of big merchant capital was one of the factors of China's modernization in 16 and 17 centuries.

Liu: Among the top ten business gangs in Ming and Qing Dynasties, Shanxi Merchants and Shanxi Merchants are the most famous. They are a merchant group that plays an important role in the national business circles and have accumulated a lot of merchant capital. The so-called "the master of the rich room, Jiangnan pushes Xin 'an, Jiangbei pushes the mountain right" (Xie's Five Miscellanies) refers to Huizhou merchants and Shanxi merchants. Shanxi merchants, in particular, are well-funded and have a wide range of activities, ranking first among gangs.

Zhu (Researcher, Institute of Economics, China Academy of Social Sciences, hereinafter referred to as Zhu):

I visited the Shanxi Merchants Courtyard some time ago. As economic historians, we certainly know the position of Shanxi merchants in the history of China's economic development. Prosperous for 500 years; Traces of trade routes spread all over the country, as far away as Russia, Japan, Mongolia and other places; The financial institution bank, which originated from Shanxi merchants, has been occupying the leading position in China's finance for more than a hundred years in the late Qing Dynasty, and is known as "Huitong World". However, this visit still shocked me. The cultural atmosphere conveyed by the Shanxi Merchants Courtyard is far beyond my imagination. And unexpectedly, most of the Shanxi merchants who owned these courtyards were born in poverty: the Qu family started as a hawker, and the Wang family started as a tofu seller; Chang's family began with a "businessman" who bought and sold small things with his wallet on his back. According to records, other Shanxi merchants are basically the same.

Feng: Among the top ten business gangs, Shanxi and Shaanxi businessmen are the first to rise. In the early years of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1368- 1398), the grain supply in the northern frontier was "opened to China and France", which made Shanxi and Shaanxi businessmen rise rapidly by virtue of geography. The main activities of Shanxi merchants in Ming Dynasty were in the Yellow River basin, the main saltworks and Sichuan area. With the unification of the country and the expansion of its territory in the Qing Dynasty, Shanxi merchants expanded their activities and became the main merchant forces in Northeast China, Mongolia and Xinjiang, even reaching as far as Tibet. Shanxi merchants also monopolized the trade with Russian Chaktu and engaged in long-distance trafficking trade from southeast to northwest. Shanxi merchants not only manage salt industry, but also manage tea, grain, cotton, cloth, silk and usury. The pawnbroking industry and usury of Shanxi merchants are very famous, and they are called "western debts". Merchants in Ming and Qing Dynasties accumulated huge wealth. It is said that the assets of Huizhou merchants in the Ming Dynasty reached two million, and the wealth of Shanxi merchants exceeded that of Huizhou merchants. In the Qing Dynasty, Shanxi not only invested 100,000 yuan, but also many people with assets reaching 2 million yuan. During the Daoguang period, Shanxi merchants created a draft bank to operate the exchange industry, which was famous all over the world. Banks were almost unique in Shanxi merchants in the late Qing Dynasty. However, due to the constant financial default in the late Qing Dynasty, banks lacked the spirit of keeping pace with the times, and the influence of the war after the Revolution of 1911, they soon embarked on the road of decline.

Liu: The growth of Chinese businessmen and the growth of their ranks can be described as twists and turns. It is generally believed that the development of China's commodity economy experienced three climaxes: Qin and Han Dynasties, Tang and Song Dynasties and Ming and Qing Dynasties. Correspondingly, the growth of businessmen has three periods of vigorous development. As early as the Qin and Han dynasties, there were "wealthy businessmen who lived all over the world"; The social and economic changes in the Tang and Song Dynasties promoted the development of commodity economy at that time, and also created a generation of businessmen. There are titles such as "Southern Merchants" and "Northern Merchants" in the literature of the Song Dynasty, but there is no description similar to that of the merchant groups in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and there is no description of the merchant guild hall, that is, the place where businessmen help activities.

Seal: Huizhou Commercial Gang was formed in Chenghua and Hongzhi in Ming Dynasty (1465— 1505), mainly engaged in salt, grain, tea, cloth, pawn, wood and other industries. In the Ming Dynasty, Huizhou merchants traveled all over the world, claiming "mountains, sea, land and seclusion" everywhere, but in the Qing Dynasty, the scope of activities of Huizhou merchants narrowed and concentrated in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and a few big cities such as Beijing. The wealth of Huizhou merchants in the Ming Dynasty reached millions, and the number of merchants in the Qing Dynasty was tens of millions. After the end of Qianlong period, due to the serious business crisis of Huizhou merchants in Guangdong, Huai and Huai salt areas, and the salt law reform carried out by Qing Ye government during Daoguang period, salt merchants went bankrupt one after another due to the loss of monopoly rights, and the salt industry as the leading industry of Huizhou merchants declined completely. Tea became the pillar industry of Huizhou merchants in the late Qing Dynasty. In the late Guangxu period, Huizhou tea merchants were impacted by foreign tea and suppressed by foreign prices, which quickly turned from prosperity to decline, marking the complete decline of Huizhou merchants.

Zhu: However, judging from the history of social development, the development of business gangs in Ming and Qing Dynasties, especially the long-distance trafficking activities carried out by business gangs, promoted the changes of social and economic structure and the emergence of new economic factors. For example, commercial activities, especially specialized commercial trafficking activities, are conducive to the development of rural sideline and the division of labor between cities; It is beneficial to the development of workshop handicraft industry, thus further promoting the reform of tax system, law and property rights, the commercialization of agriculture, the formation of labor market and so on. In the past, when discussing the germination of capitalism, the viewpoint that the germination began in the late Ming Dynasty and the late Middle Dynasty appeared more intensively, which should not be accidental.

"Learning to be an official is excellent" and "Jia is good at Confucianism" form different spiritual and cultural temperament between Shanxi merchants and Huizhou merchants.

Zhu: What is the basis of such a large scale, such a long time and such a wide business field of Shanxi merchants? Some people say that the development of Shanxi merchants depends on geographical conditions. Shanxi is dry and rainy, which is not suitable for farming. However, it extends in all directions and is suitable for business. Some people say that Shanxi people are born with commercial talent and are known for their honesty. They believe in "the legacy of Guan Bao" and regard business activities as "the cause of Tao Zhu" ... Of course, it is by no means one or two factors that Shanxi merchants can develop to this point, but I think that "learning to be excellent is good" is an important factor for Shanxi merchants to develop and last for hundreds of years, and it can also be said to be a decisive factor. An important tradition of the Shanxi merchants' family is "learning to be excellent and being an official". It is said that the first-rate and second-rate children of Shanxi merchants go into business, and the third-rate and fourth-rate children take the imperial examination. There have even been literati who went into business without being an official after becoming famous. There is a local saying that "it is better to sit in a magistrate's county if you have a son to open a shop". "If you have a son who can do business, you don't envy seven products; Well written, use your abacus and live in the tea ticket village in the future. This is different from China's well-known feudal tradition of "learning to be an official" and "everything is inferior, only learning to be an official", and it is different from Wanli! During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Bai Gui, who became rich in business, was later honored as the "business ancestor" of China. The core of his success in business is "people abandon me and take it", which is, in today's words, reverse thinking, or "surprise victory" and "escape from danger" This is also the way for Shanxi merchants to "learn to be excellent and be an official". Just imagine, when smart children all over the country spend their intelligence on studying and being officials, desperately trying to board the "single-plank bridge" of the imperial examination, Shanxi merchants are constantly sending outstanding talents with high cultural quality to the business community, doing business with ease, fighting in the business sea from generation to generation, and conceiving the development of business roads, the improvement of management, the transportation of goods, and the training and selection of business talents with their first-class minds. They have knowledge, vision and countermeasures. Can they learn from their own strengths and fall into their own shortcomings, and can't they emerge as a new force?

Liu: From the perspective of social history, profound changes have taken place in China's social structure and social value system since the middle of the Ming Dynasty. The "business" in the traditional "scholar, agriculture, industry and commerce" is no longer at the bottom. "Scholars and businessmen often mix", and businessmen are also Confucian, and even abandon Confucianism and go into business. It seems to be the general trend in some places where business gangs rise. Even in Huizhou, where Confucianism is exclusive, the folk customs are "taking business as the first-class business, and second-class business as the second-class business" (Surprise, 2nd edition of Chongzhen, volume 37, quoted from Yu Yingshi: Religious Ethics and Businessman Spirit in Modern China, page 2 10). When talking about the reasons for this change, Mr. Yu Yingshi emphasized two points that are particularly noteworthy: 1, from the early Ming Dynasty to1the middle of the 9th century, the population of China increased several times, but the number of candidates and Jinshi did not increase correspondingly, so the chances of success in the exam became smaller and smaller; 2. The success of businessmen in Ming and Qing Dynasties was a great temptation to scholars, and the donation system in Ming and Qing Dynasties opened the way for businessmen to be officials (see page 2 13 above).

Feng: During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, business gangs all over the country formed their own business culture and ethical spirit. They are all * * * and have their own characteristics. For example, Huizhou merchants are "good at Confucianism", and their business operations are influenced by Confucianism, which is manifested in: 1, "treat others with sincerity"; 2. Connect things with letters; 3. Take righteousness as benefit. Huizhou merchants' "Jia is good at Confucianism" urged them to directly climb the feudal political forces and combine with the feudal clan forces, and regarded "Jia Fuli, a famous Confucian businessman" as a means to "encourage my Sect" and "expand my door".

Liu: Huizhou merchants' "home is like home" has its unique social and cultural soil. Huizhou, the hometown of Zhu, a great Confucian scholar in the Southern Song Dynasty, has a Confucian tradition that cannot be compared with other places. Hui people widely build academies and worship Confucianism, forming a local style of "respecting Confucianism alone". In this cultural atmosphere, Huizhou merchants either "Confucianism first", "Confucianism first" or "Confucianism later", or Jia, Jia and Confucianism "overlap for use", and doing business with Confucianism and Taoism has become the essence of Huizhou merchants' spirit.

Which of the merchant spirits in Ming and Qing Dynasties still contributed to today's economic development?

Zhu: Undoubtedly, the ethical spirit that dominates the traditional businessmen in China is the traditional culture of China with Confucianism as its core. Under the influence of this cultural thought, the commercial culture formed among traditional businessmen in China not only follows the same laws of commercial activities such as honesty and quality, but also shows some special characteristics among successful or high-level businessmen: such as paying attention to people's trust; Doing business pays attention to the plain and humble realm, and it is permeated with a kind of compassion that "doing business is also saving the world and saving people". Zhang Jian, the top scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, took the Confucian famous saying "Heaven and earth are great virtues, life is better" as his creed, and paid attention to the moral self-discipline of personal integrity, which embodied the historical mission of taking the world as his own responsibility and the thought of caring about the national economy and people's livelihood, which is a typical example. Obviously, the spiritual principles contained in these behaviors and cultural ethics are applicable to all ages and are worth popularizing. This spirit is also of positive significance to today's economic construction and business ethics construction.

Liu: In the books of merchants in Ming and Qing Dynasties, we often see the ethical precepts that German sociologist Weber thought were helpful to the development of capitalism. "Honesty" is the cultural spirit of various business groups. These ethical precepts are not tailored for capitalism. As a cultural tradition in China, they not only created the brilliance of commercial gangs in Ming and Qing Dynasties, but also have great significance for developing market economy today.

Zhu: Yes. In addition, there is an intriguing phenomenon in economic history, that is, "capital always plays its greatest role in the most scarce places." Knowledge is a kind of capital, and knowledge can create value. This concept has been recognized by more and more people today. It is the same truth that Shanxi merchants "learn to be excellent and become officials". They regard the acquired knowledge as "capital", do business from the innate and acquired conditions, and "play the greatest role in the most scarce places". From these examples, we can still learn a lot from traditional businessmen and business culture, which deserves our further attention.