"Guoyu" Chu Ce: records the merchant ships of Chu in Shang Dynasty (Chen) and Wuyi (Bi). Chen and Bi are in Zixing and Chen counties in Chenzhou today.
According to county records, people in Jinning, Chenzhou like to "leave" and often go out to do business. During the Qi and Liang Dynasties, Jinning people wandered around the rivers and lakes and became Jia dealers. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, in addition to bamboo, wood, porcelain clay and other local products, Chenzhou promoted the development of Chen merchants.
"E Festival" records that during the Warring States period, Chu merchant ships traveled between Chen and Chen.
On the Dragon Boat Festival, it was said, "Sima Zhaoyang was born in Xiangling, Xia Yue and Yihai, and was defeated by the Jin family, and the king lived in the palace. Yin Xixi, a great craftsman, cast gold festival. Take a trip by three boats, take a trip by fifty boats, and return at the age of fifty. From Hubei to Hubei, only Han, Geng Yong, Geng Yong, Guo Han, Geng Yong, Guo Xia, Guo Jiang, Geng Yong (Peng), Geng and so on crossed the lake. See its golden festival without sign, don't give up feeding; I signed it without seeing its golden festival. If you go out of Neiguan with horses, cows and errands, you have to collect them from the mansion, not the customs.
Note: Bibi is located in the lower reaches of Dongjiang River Basin in Chenzhou and in Yongxing County. Ancient Chenzhou is located in "the south of Chu, the head of Guangdong and the tail of Wu", which belongs to the marginal zone, with high mountains and dense forests, changeable terrain and little influence by social war. People lived in the Neolithic Age, and the Shang Dynasty traded with the Central Plains in Xuyi and Lin Yi. The population of Han dynasty was small. However, three waves of immigrants in history, namely, the three waves of immigrants in the late Jin Dynasty, the late Song Dynasty, the late Tang Dynasty and China, brought a large population to Chenzhou in the south of Chu. What shall we do? Going out to do business is a way out.
Abundant resources promote business development. Businessman Chen's earliest business was grain from mountain products and other places. If abundant wood resources are used for construction, ink making, painting, tung oil and paper making, these are all bulk commodities for external transportation. Going out to do business mainly deals in salt, cotton (cloth) and grain.
Chen Wenhua shaped the character of Chen merchants and guided their management with Confucian culture.
The Ming and Qing Dynasties were a period when China's commodity economy was relatively developed, and capitalism sprouted in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which was the heyday of Chen merchants.