The historical evolution of the company

The word "company" was born and raised in China, and it originated from Confucius' Book of Great Harmony and Biography of Ci: "Public, several people's wealth, division and management." Zhuangzi said: "The way to combine disadvantages and high, small and large, and public is called' company'." Its meaning is roughly the same as that of a modern company, that is, a company gathers the wealth of many people and works together. But the word company in the modern sense comes from the west. Before the company appeared, the sole proprietorship enterprise was the most typical enterprise form; All kinds of partnership organizations coexist with sole proprietorship enterprises, and the most typical partnership organization at that time was family management group.

Before the company came into being, the partnership organization did not obtain the legal person status, but some other legal persons appeared. This situation can be traced back to ancient Rome. In ancient Rome, the state, local autonomous organizations, monasteries and other religious groups, nursing homes and other charitable organizations all obtained legal person status. In the Middle Ages, some trade groups obtained legal personality, especially those engaged in overseas trade. In medieval England, such organizations enjoyed greater independence than partnership organizations. The earliest company was Infinite Company. However, there is no essential difference between an unlimited company and a partnership enterprise, but a partnership organization with legal person status.

The first legislation on unlimited companies was 1673, the commercial regulations of Louis XIV of France, which was then called ordinary companies. In the French Commercial Code 1807, it was renamed as United Company. Japanese commercial law also stipulates that there are "joint associations". Infinite company has made great progress since it came into being, but with the emergence of joint-stock companies and limited liability companies, infinite company has retired to a secondary position. The limited liability company first appeared in Germany at the end of 19. Limited company basically absorbs the advantages of unlimited company and joint-stock company, and avoids their disadvantages, which is especially suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises. The earliest limited liability company legislation is the German limited liability company law of 1892. Later, France 19 19 and Japan 1938 also enacted the limited company law.