Commerce is an economic activity that makes goods circulate through buying and selling, and also refers to the national economic department that organizes the circulation of goods. Industry and commerce are the mainstream and leading force of the city, and advanced and developed commerce is the symbol of modern urban economic development. The rise of commerce originated from the Shang state in the pre-Shang period, and it was a social activity in the form of barter in the primary stage. Later, it developed into an economic activity in which money was used as a medium to exchange and realize the circulation of goods.
The ancient commerce in China originated in the pre-Shang period, initially developed in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and further developed in the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
The rise of commerce originated in the pre-Qin period.
People in China learned to do business long ago, and businessmen in Xia Dynasty started to do business. The seventh monarch of Shang Dynasty, Wang Hai, was the ancestor of commerce in China.
The money used by Shang people was shellfish, including seashells, bone shells, stone shells, jade shells and copper shells. The appearance of copper shell shows that there was a metal casting currency in Shang Dynasty. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, commerce became an indispensable social and economic sector. At that time, under the system of "industrial and commercial food officials", commerce was monopolized by the state.
Shellfish is still the main currency in commercial exchange, but copper is also used as a means of exchange. Copper itself is an important commodity, and it also bears the function of money, and later developed into casting copper coins. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the situation of government controlling commerce was broken, and many commodity markets and big businessmen appeared in various places.
Famous businessmen in the Spring and Autumn Period included Fan Li, who lived in seclusion in Song State, Gao Xian of Zheng State and Zi Gong, a disciple of Confucius. The famous merchants in the Warring States Period were Bai Gui and Lv Buwei of Wei. During the Warring States period, the types and shapes of copper coins cast and circulated in various countries increased, some imitated farm tools, some imitated various tools, and some imitated the shape of shells. The amount and variety of money reflect that commerce is more developed than in the past. The development of commodity exchange has promoted the prosperity of the city.
After Qin Shihuang unified China, in order to change the status quo of different currencies, degrees (lengths), volumes (volumes) and scales (weights) during the Warring States period, he decided to unify the currency, and the round square hole money originally circulated in Qin Dynasty was used as the national standard currency, commonly known as "Qin Banliang". He also returned to unified measurement and built the equator. These measures are conducive to the development of commerce and the reunification of the country. Especially the unified currency, has a far-reaching impact on future generations.