The activities of Shanxi merchants were recorded in many ancient documents, and by the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), they had enjoyed a high reputation throughout the country. In the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1840), the financial capital of Shanxi merchants gradually formed, which not only monopolized the trade and capital dispatch in northern China, but also set foot in the whole Asian region and even extended its reach to the European market, reaching Hong Kong and Kolkata in the south, Irkutsk, Siberia, Moscow and Petersburg in the north, and Osaka and Kobe in the east.
At that time, the land trade between China and Russia started from Shanxi, and in more than ten Russian cities such as Moscow and Petersburg, there were firms or semicolons operated by Shanxi people. In Korea and Japan, Shanxi businessmen are also active in trade.
In the old days, where there were sparrows, there were Shanxi merchants. They traveled all over the country. For more than five centuries, they have been active in the business community in the form of groups. Their business scope is very wide, from silks and satins to green onions. They founded Qianzhuang, the earliest bank in China, in the early Qing Dynasty, which was a leader in the financial circles in China. Today we collectively call them Shanxi merchants.
Shanxi Shanxi merchants have the characteristics of official merchants, and the prevalence of imperial merchants also developed in that period and region. Shanxi is close to Beijing. At that time, it was very convenient to enter and leave the customs, and tea, private grain and salt grain all had unique trading facilities. That is, at that time, Shanxi realized convenient logistics. Shanxi businessmen are also very distinctive. Even if they are earth-shattering, they are people from this dirt land. They are honest with others and have many simple characteristics. The main characters in "Qiao Family Courtyard" have many interesting things and are representatives of Shanxi merchants. For example, no matter how rich they are, they are also rustic, stingy and simple. They follow the spirit of Confucianism, serve people with virtue, and handle the relationship between business and family.
There are many places worthy of expression in Shanxi merchant culture. The success of Shanxi merchants lies in the spirit of Confucian merchants. At that time, Shanxi merchants, deeply influenced by Confucian culture, made great progress in their business philosophy. The essence of the spirit of Confucian businessmen lies in the word honesty, which may also be a kind of value concept that is relatively lacking in society now. Shanxi merchants spirit
Shanxi merchants in the Ming and Qing Dynasties dominated the domestic business community for more than five centuries, and their business was booming all over the world, and their financial resources reached three rivers, which was their self-portrayal. Their success is remarkable. How they succeeded is a question worth studying. We know that every social practice has a special spirit as its soul, and this inner soul is the most active driving force in practice, and the people who engage in this activity are the creators and practitioners of this special spirit. The success of Shanxi merchants in Ming and Qing Dynasties lies in that they consciously or unconsciously carried forward a special spirit under certain historical conditions, which includes enterprising spirit, professionalism and group spirit, which we can call Shanxi merchants spirit. This spirit also runs through the business consciousness, organizational management and spiritual cultivation of Shanxi merchants, which can be described as the soul of Shanxi merchants.
First, enterprising spirit
Confucius said: wealth can be self-seeking. Although you are a whipping man, you can do it. The so-called world is full of benefits, and all the land in the world is full of benefits. The king of thousands of people, the king of thousands of households and the king of hundreds of rooms are still suffering from poverty, but the situation is that people form families. The enterprising spirit based on interests is the spiritual motive force for Shanxi businessmen to fight fiercely in the shopping malls in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Xi Ming (148 1- 1542), a native of Pingyang Prefecture, Shanxi Province, didn't learn how to raise children at first, and didn't like farming. He said: if a husband can't contribute to the world, he can't be a sweaty couple, and he can't build a family! So he crossed wuyue, traveled to Chu, Wei and Pan-Jianghu, recovered his residence, and became a very rich man. Everyone in Pu would say "South". Ji Xiaolan, a Qing native, said: Shaanxi people are doing business abroad. When they were teenagers, they began to learn trade. Once they have accumulated wealth, they begin to generalize about women. This is > >
Question 2: Reasons for the development of Shanxi merchants. Usually, Shanxi merchants refer to Shanxi merchants, especially banks, who operated salt industry and banking business during the five hundred years of Ming and Qing Dynasties. Shanxi merchants also left a rich architectural heritage for China, including the famous Qiao Family Courtyard, Changjia Manor and Cao Family Sanduo Hall. Eight-Nation Alliance demanded compensation from China, and the Qing Dynasty, ruled by Empress Dowager Cixi, borrowed money from the Shanxi merchants' jstars to repay the national debt. The economic strength of Shanxi merchants.
The interesting Shanxi merchants can be traced back to the warrior of Sui and Tang Dynasties, the father of Wu Zetian. When Li Yuan and his son set out from Taiyuan, the timber merchant Wu gave great financial support. With the financial resources of the most elite Taiyuan Army and Wu Shi, Li Yuan and his son began to seize the national political power. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), Wu initiated a frenzy, and his position was equal to that of He Cheng. You can imagine how much property Li Yuan and his son got from Wu Shi at that time. And Wu Shi also got it from his initial clever political investment.
The success of Shanxi merchants lies in "honesty" and the policy of joint business assistance.
The brilliant figures of Shanxi merchants include Qiao Zhiyong.
Shanxi merchants declined in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China for various reasons, and Shanxi began to become relatively dull on the economic stage in China. It can almost be said that Shanxi merchants can only speak Kong Xiangxi and Li Yanhong. The culture of Shanxi merchants has not been well preserved, and Shanxi is still in a backward state nationwide.
Question 3: Why did Shanxi merchants decline? Together with Guangdong merchants, Huizhou merchants, Shanxi merchants, Zhejiang merchants and Jiangsu merchants, they are called the "five major business gangs" in history. Among them, Chaozhou merchants, Huizhou merchants and Shanxi merchants are the "three big business gangs" in the history of China.
Shanxi merchants can be traced back to the warrior of Sui and Tang Dynasties, the father of Wu Zetian. When Li Yuan and his son set out from Taiyuan, the timber merchant Wu gave great financial support. It was with the financial resources of the most elite Taiyuan Army and Wu Shi that Li Yuan and his son began to seize the national political power. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), the Wu family was named lord protector, which was equal to that of Cheng. You can imagine how much property Li Yuan and his son got from Wu Shi at that time, and Wu Shi also got huge returns from his original ingenious political investment. Later, an unprecedented Empress Wu Zetian was born in the history of China. Of course, this is another story.
The root of the success of Shanxi merchants lies in the business gang policy of "honesty" and "unity".
The brilliant figure of Shanxi merchants is Qiao Zhiyong.
Shanxi merchants declined in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China for various reasons, and Shanxi began to become relatively dull on the economic stage in China. It can almost be said that Shanxi businessmen can only talk about Kong Xiangxi, Li Yanhong, Chen Nian and Guo Taiming. The culture of Shanxi merchants has not been well preserved, so that Shanxi is still in a backward state in the whole country.
As early as the end of the Ming Dynasty, some Shanxi businessmen took Zhangjiakou as their base, traveled to and from Shanhaiguan, engaged in trade activities, delivered materials for the Manchu regime, and even delivered documents and information. According to the records of the Qing Dynasty, the mandate of heaven lasted for three years (16 18), and there were 16 businessmen from Shandong, Shanxi, Hedong, Hexi, Suzhou and Hangzhou in Fushun. Nurhachi "generously paid and repatriated". Shanxi merchants' trade activities inside and outside Shanhaiguan gave great support to the post-Jin regime in terms of materials, and the post-Jin regime also gave courtesy and attention to Shanxi merchants. Shanxi merchants played a cooperative role in strengthening the rule of Qing rulers over Mongolia.
In the third year of Jin Chongde (1637), Huang Taiji ordered the Manchu nobles to lead 100 mainland Han businessmen to carry goods to Guihua City for trade. The Qing army entered the customs, the military expenditure soared, and the finance was very difficult. In this regard, Zu Kefa and Zhang Cunren, political councilors of Duchayuan, once said: "Shandong is the way of grain transportation, and Shanxi is the way of merchants, so it is urgent to please. If the soldiers and civilians of the two provinces belong to our territory, then the money will come out and the country will not need it. " Therefore, the post-Jin regime mostly adopted the policy of wooing Shanxi businessmen.
In the early years of Shunzhi, the Qing Dynasty named Fan, a wealthy businessman in Shaanxi, as an imperial envoy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He gave birth to Zhangjiakou in the interior office. Entrusted by the imperial court, he traveled inside and outside Shanhaiguan. At the age of 18, he lost his match in the government. In the process of unifying the whole country and the large-scale military operations in the past dynasties, in the middle of Kangxi, during the period of pacifying the feudal lords in Junggar, Qing organized some Han businessmen to trade with the army. They followed the Qing army, went deep into Mongolian grasslands, trafficked military supplies such as rations and horses, and did business with Mongols. Most of these "traveling Mongolians" were Shanxi merchants named as "imperial merchants" by the Qing court, and some of them were Han businessmen from Zhili (Hebei) and other places. They ensured the logistics needs of the military operations of the Qing army. Of course, the Qing dynasty also gave these businessmen the privilege of monopolizing profits, which made them gain a lot. The unusual relationship between the Qing Dynasty and businessmen naturally had a considerable impact on the formulation of political and economic policies in the Qing Dynasty.
Fading process
First, the decline of the country frustrated Shanxi merchants in the Russian tea war.
In the fifth year of Yongzheng in Qing Dynasty (1727), the Qing Dynasty * * * and Russia * * * decided to use Chaktu near Kulun (Ulaanbaatar) as their trading point. Since then, the trade of Chaktu has become increasingly prosperous. Since Jiaqing and Daoguang (1796―― 1850), China's commodities exported from Chaktu to Russia are mainly tea, and its business is monopolized by Shanxi merchants. According to statistics, from the 17th to 19th year of Daoguang (1837―― 1839), China exported 807 1880 Russian pounds of tea to Russia every year, with a value of 8 million rubles. After the Second Opium War, Russia coerced Qing to sign the unequal Sino-Russian Tianjin Treaty and Sino-Russian Beijing Treaty. Russia * * * opened the passage of aggression against China and Mongolia without a single soldier, and obtained the trading rights of seven coastal ports (Shanghai, Ningbo, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Taiwan Province Province and Qiongzhou). In the first year of Tongzhi (1862), Russia * * * also obtained the Tianjin trade privilege with a tax rate one-third lower than that of other countries according to the Sino-Russian Land Trade Charter. Since then, Russian businessmen have been lucky enough to go deep into China to grab products and promote their own products. In the five years of Tongzhi (1866), Russia * * * forced Tianjin Customs to cancel the re-import tax, that is, tea was exempted from semi-tax, which greatly reduced the trafficking cost of Russian businessmen.
According to the records of Tianjin Customs, Xianfeng eleven years (18...> & gt
Question 4: What are the reasons why Shanxi businessmen can achieve great success? In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, we continued to support running schools, especially for talented high school students. Many North Korean officials were born in institutions funded by Shanxi businessmen, and they reciprocated when they became officials, giving them the green light in business and taxation. Anyone who wants to transfer them is faced with a huge network of contacts.
In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, smuggled goods, especially strategic goods, were continuously imported into Mongolia, and border crossings were set up to make huge profits by betraying the country, which caused irreparable losses to Daming.
In particular, the support for the pseudo-Qing dynasty is almost the bright pulse of the pseudo-Qing economy. It can be said that without them, there would be no puppet Qing occupation of China.
Because of the political umbrella mentioned above, the next generation failed to dig out this cancer, and the disaster will continue.
Therefore, after the puppet Manchuria stole the country, they got great rewards, became imperial businessmen, and gave them various privileges. Before the end of the Puppet Manchu Dynasty, they owned all the national finance and grass-roots banks, and two-thirds of the silver in the Puppet Manchu Treasury was in Shanxi.
The traitor sold it for a good price.
The management system is strict and employers are eclectic. Even people with foreign surnames were able to control the power of their own families, which was very rare in China business circles at that time.
Good credit in business conduct, it's a deal.
Question 5: One of the reasons for the decline of Shanxi merchants: Shanxi merchants flourished because of Qing Xing and declined because of Qing Forgetting.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Shanxi merchants were promoted by the rulers of the Ming Dynasty, and raised salaries for northern border towns. After entering the Qing Dynasty, they were granted commercial privileges as imperial merchants. In the Qing dynasty, they also because.
Qing * * * generation pad and exchange military association reimbursement. And hold the financial industry. In short, Shanxi merchants in Ming and Qing Dynasties always relied on feudal politics.
Government service and prosperity. However, when the feudal system is declining, Shanxi merchants will inevitably bring disaster to themselves. If you are sincere and honest, after the Boxer Rebellion incident, you once
Capital was sent to the southern province for borrowing, but most of the funds sent to the southern province were lost during the Revolution of 1911. The Qing court was in a hurry to withdraw money, and as a result, there was a cashier on the books.
4 million taels, and 2 million taels to deal with silver, but in fact it has been unable to turn around and was forced to close down. In the early years of the Republic of China, creditors were mostly in Pingtaigu, Shanxi.
Yao and Qixian defaulted, and they were unable to repay because of the heavy losses of the banks. He could only sell his house and land, even fled to other places, and some even became beggars.
Beggar.
Second, the traditional concept of "relying on the end to be rich and keeping the foundation" has bound the development of Shanxi merchants.
It is not uncommon for Shanxi merchants' capital to flow to the land in the Ming Dynasty. After the Qing Dynasty, it was very common for Shanxi merchants to buy land. A folk song said: "Shanxi People's Congress.
Mattress covers provide less land for the elderly when they get rich and build houses in their hometowns. "This' big mattress cover' refers to a cloth cover that looks like a mattress and can also be put on the back of an animal for people to ride.
This ballad reflects the traditional idea that Shanxi businessmen go out to do business and get rich, and then build houses and farm for the elderly. Under the control of this traditional concept, their commercial capital
This is not conducive to the development of modern capital.
Third, stick to the rules and be conservative.
With the invasion of foreign capitalism, the old business model was broken. Accelerating reform and conforming to the trend is the way to seek self-development.
Diameter. However, due to the stubbornness of some influential financiers and general managers in Shanxi merchants, they lost the opportunity of banking reform four times.
Finally lost its former glory.
Fourth, the validity period of modern enterprise investment is too long.
At the beginning of the 20th century, some people of insight in Shanxi merchants invested in the modern industry of national capital with high enthusiasm, but due to the influence of the mine protection movement at that time, it
Capital is mainly invested in the coal industry with large investment, long validity period, high management requirements and restricted by transportation conditions, rather than less investment and less turnover.
Cotton spinning, flour, cigarettes and other fast-profitable textile industries have caused a large backlog of funds and are in trouble.
Shanxi merchants were once brilliant in the history of China. Although there are various reasons for their decline, whether external or internal, their decline is a deep regret for future generations.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, at the end of the feudal society in China, a group of businessmen-business gangs emerged all over the country, which were closely, loosely and spontaneously formed, centered on the region, linked by blood ties and nostalgia, and aimed at mutual assistance. There are ten famous business gangs in Shaanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong and Ningbo, among which Shanxi Business Group is the largest and most powerful. It has been operating for 500 years, and almost all industries are ready for the business project "from silks and satins to onions and garlic"; Footprints all over China and surrounding major countries; The clients are the imperial court, the officials, the countryside and the border. Trade routes as far away as Wan Li, money remitted to the world. After the mid-Qing Dynasty, its capital controlled the trade and capital dispatch in northern China, and intervened in the finance and trade of some Asian countries. It played an important role in the financial system of the Ming and Qing Dynasties and became a powerful economic force in China's social and economic life.
However, it is such a business gang that is beneficial to the ruling and opposition parties, but it declined with the demise of the Qing Dynasty in modern times. What caused the Jingang businessmen to step into poverty in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, and finally recovered? What forces washed it out completely, defeated it, plunged into the abyss of decline and disappeared on the historical stage of China's economic development?
Since China society entered modern times, its social development and changes, in the words of social historian Chen Xulu, are "different from the static and solidified society in ancient China, modern China is a dynamic and rapid metabolic society; Different from western countries, from the Middle Ages to modern times, social change was realized through self-renewal mechanism. The metabolism of modern China society was largely due to the influence of external forces, which changed from the outside to the inside through a unique social mechanism, which promoted ethnic conflicts and class confrontation, and manifested itself as one wave after another ...
Question 6: What are the specific reasons for the rise of Shanxi merchants? Is it related to * *? First, the objective reason for the success of Shanxi merchants is to obtain natural transportation advantages and geographical advantages.
Second, the narrow land and dense population in the south of Shanxi in the Ming Dynasty were the fundamental reasons for pushing Shanxi people into the commercial field.
Third, the opening-up system of salary increase for northern border towns in Ming Dynasty provided an important opportunity for the rise of Shanxi merchants.
Fourthly, the business-oriented atmosphere is another important reason for the success of Shanxi merchants.
5. The industriousness, honesty and trustworthiness and sincere hospitality of Shanxi merchants are the humanistic factors for the rise of Shanxi merchants.
The rise of Shanxi merchants in the early Ming Dynasty was not accidental. Under certain historical and geographical conditions, Shanxi people used the opportunity of opening the China system to conduct economic exchanges, which was comprehensively promoted by their own cultural factors and personality characteristics.
Question 7: Is social factor the main reason for the disappearance of Shanxi merchants? Please see: Eight-Nation Alliance asked China for compensation, and the ruling Empress Dowager Cixi borrowed money from the Qiao family of Shanxi merchants to repay the national debt. The economic strength of Shanxi merchants can be reflected in this matter. The success of Shanxi merchants lies in the "good faith" policy and the unity of business groups. During the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, Shanxi merchants declined for various reasons, and Shanxi began to become relatively dull on the economic stage in China. It can almost be said that Shanxi merchants can only speak Kong Xiangxi and Li Yanhong. Shanxi merchants in Ming and Qing dynasties have three obvious characteristics: first, feudal * * * regarded them as tools for * * * to carry out financial policies and provide military support; Second, there is an unusual relationship between businessmen and feudalism; Shanxi merchants made great efforts to make friends with feudal officials and established a relationship of collusion and mutual use with them. As a result, Shanxi merchants have become the most conservative and backward representative group among businessmen. All business activities basically rely on * * * to engage in monopoly and privileged transactions, and the benefits obtained are not used for investment or reproduction, but are shipped back to their hometown to repair their homes and buy land. The third is the feudalization of profits. The feudalization of Shanxi merchants' profits in Ming and Qing Dynasties is mainly manifested in the following six aspects: 1 Donating money to help pay, which was mainly used for military pay and military supplies in Qing Dynasty, and played a role in supporting finance and maintaining feudal regime. 2 The development road of commercial capital in the late feudal society of buying land was generally transformed into industrial capital in Western Europe, but the capital of Shanxi merchants in Ming and Qing Dynasties still followed the traditional concept of "starting from the end and sticking to the end". 3 Transforming into usury capital 4 hoarding the land of Shanxi wealthy businessman Dolly to hoard his materials or silver 25 as clan activities and feudal charity expenses 6 Decline process of luxury consumption (reasons): 1 Decline of national strength 2 *** Corruption of Shanxi merchants in the tea war against Russia 3 The rut of Shanxi merchants' investment in mining, Shanxi merchants lost four opportunities and failed to recover in the end. There are four internal reasons for the decline of Shanxi merchants in Qing Dynasty. The traditional concept of "being rich depends on the end and keeping the foundation" has bound the development of Shanxi merchants. It is not uncommon for the capital of Shanxi merchants to flow to the land in the Ming Dynasty. The investment cycle of modern enterprises is too long. Its funds are mainly invested in coal mining industry, with large investment, long validity period, high management requirements and limited by transportation conditions.
Question 8: Lang Xianping said: Why did Shanxi merchants, the largest business group in China, succeed in the game of "the spectator sees the clear"?
Question 9: The history of Shanxi merchants In the Ming Dynasty, Shanxi merchants were already well-known wealthy businessmen. "Rich businessmen are the best in the world, not hundreds of thousands who are not rich." The Qing dynasty was extremely rich. Taigu, Qixian County, Pingyao, Shanxi, was once the national financial center, where the total number of national banks gathered, and was called "Wall Street in China". According to the wealth statistics in Tsui Hark's Clearing Banknotes in Qing Dynasty, the top 20 are basically Shanxi businessmen. The history of 500 years can be summed up in twelve words: "taking righteousness as the benefit, taking virtue as the neighbor, and taking harmony as the most precious". Shanxi merchants pay attention to Confucianism and Taoism, make money from the avenue and emphasize social responsibility. Shanxi merchant culture needs to be promoted. At present, the channel for us to understand Shanxi businessmen is more through film and television works, a "Qiao Family Courtyard", which makes people re-examine Shanxi businessmen and won wide acclaim. "Silver Empire" and "Red Star over China" are also film and television works with the theme of Shanxi merchants. With the development of social civilization, the culture of Shanxi merchants will be re-recognized and re-interpreted by the public.