The formation of Huizhou merchants has its profound historical roots and profound background of the times, among which Confucian merchants are pregnant.
After the Southern Song Dynasty moved its capital to Lin 'an (now Hangzhou), the political and economic center moved down, which promoted the corresponding economic development in its surrounding areas, and the Central Plains culture was introduced to the south of the Yangtze River. Huizhou is located in the center of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the southeast economic active zone and the north-south fortress. Huizhou's special geographical environment and the needs of its own economic development have promoted the transformation of Huizhou's landlord economy into a commercial economy. In the early Southern Song Dynasty, there was a record that Hui people were engaged in selling tea, ink, paper and wood. After Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, the number of Hui people increased from merchants to 70% of the total population. From the geographical and environmental factors, the five counties of Shexian County, Qimen County, Xiuning County, Jixi County and yi county, as well as the neighboring Wuxian County of Jiangxi Province, all belong to barren mountainous areas. Since ancient times, there have been many mountains and few fields, and the land is barren, and the agricultural income is not enough to support itself, so it turned to handicrafts and commerce to protect itself. "Huizhou Fuzhi" contains: "Huizhou Xiebao Valley, the mountains depend on the original foothills, the fields are barren, and the production is extremely thin ... most of them are enrolled at the age of one, and nothing can support them. Little men practice their skills more, or sell and eat in other counties, which is often nineteen. " Tongzhi in the south of the Yangtze River, also known as Huizhou, is salty, but the ravines are dangerous, the soil is barren, the water is swift, and there is little storage. It is easy to dry up without rain, and the showers are violent. Therefore, Gu said: Huizhou people "have no land and can only have families below average". "There are many merchants in Huizhou, and they cover nature." Lack of basic conditions for developing agriculture and increasing population factors are the basic reasons for forcing Huizhou people to go out to do business and make a living, while rich products and convenient external conditions for waterway transportation are another reason for the development of Huizhou merchants. In Huizhou, not only poor farmers who have no choice but to go out to do business, but also some wealthy families or literati with assets have discovered the rapidity of getting rich by doing business and have a very strong interest in investing in business. Lin said: in Huizhou, "people with assets are mostly doing business outside, and people in the countryside are better than half." Gui Youguang also said: Huizhou area "is the home of scholar-officials, and they all travel around with livestock.". It can be seen that Huizhou people's business is the result of people's customs and habits for thousands of years.
Then, since the birth and development of Huizhou merchants are all attributed to Huizhou's "harmony between the right time and the right place", why can it suddenly rise among dozens of business gangs in the country and then suddenly decline? There are both external reasons and profound political and cultural background behind business. First of all, a crucial reason why Huizhou merchants can rise rapidly in the southeast region is their profound cultural heritage based on Confucianism.
Huizhou is the hometown of Zhu, a master of Neo-Confucianism, with a unique Confucian style, which has been handed down from generation to generation. Although Zhu was born in Fujian and served as an official in Fujian, his writings often call himself "the grandson of the ninth Chayuan", also known as the "new", that is, he never forgets his past. Zhu returned to his hometown twice to give lectures and teach disciples, and trained a large number of Huizhou disciples. Zhu Zhixue, a link between the preceding and the following, was passed down from generation to generation, forming Xin 'an Neo-Confucianism and becoming an important branch of Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties. After Zhu Xi's death, he was named lord protector and renamed Hui lord protector during Shao Ding's reign. Zhao gave Wuyuan Zhu's former residence as "Wengong Queli". During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Shu, the grandson of Wuyuan Zhu, was appointed as a doctor of the Five Classics of the Hanlin Academy, and "the world shadow cannot be recorded". In the Qing Dynasty, Kangxi and Qianlong wrote inscriptions such as "Learning to Heaven" and "Biography of Daomai Salary" and hung them in Ziyang Academy in Shexian County. The praise and admiration of the rulers of past dynasties laid a solid cultural foundation for the Hui people to be good at Confucianism. Since the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Xi's books have been listed as compulsory books for imperial examinations, and scholars all over the world have to read them day and night. Reading Zhuzi's books, Huizhou people have a deeper feeling for mulberry. "Treat yourself with the wind of Zou Lu and pass on the wind of Zhuzi to your grandchildren." Therefore, Zhu's Neo-Confucianism had a far-reaching impact on Huizhou's politics, economy, academics and culture. Huizhou people, whether officials, businessmen or farmers, always follow Zhu Xi's family etiquette as their code of conduct. For hundreds of years, Huizhou's style of writing is flourishing, its culture is prosperous, celebrities come forth in large numbers, and its folk customs are simple. In such a local cultural atmosphere, it is not surprising that Huizhou merchants are good at Confucianism.
The good cultural atmosphere of Huizhou merchants who are good at Confucianism plays an important role in business activities. The early Huizhou merchants mainly engaged in "Four Treasures of the Study" and tea, wood and so on, which can be said to have an indissoluble bond with culture. This is unmatched by other business groups. Mr. Yu Yingshi pointed out in the article "Religious Ethics and Businessman Spirit in Modern China" that "not only the general trend of abandoning Confucianism since the Ming and Qing Dynasties has caused a large number of scholars to stagnate in the merchant class, but more importantly, business itself inevitably requires a certain level of knowledge. The larger the scale of enterprise operation, the higher the requirements for knowledge level. "
Huang Chongde, a Hui merchant in the Ming Dynasty, was a businessman who was well versed in classics. At first, he was very interested in starting a business. Later, when he had funds, he went to the sea to do business in Qidong. He made profits several times a year and became everyone. Min is a human being, lonely and poor, and dropped out of school at the age of nine. When I grow up, I am eager to teach myself and be proficient in literature and history. Read historical records one day? Cai Zechuan admired Cai Ze's deeds of grabbing wealth with his bare hands and decided to follow his example and go to Yangzhou alone to manage accounts for a salt merchant. In recent years, he has found out the market of salt industry, so he raised funds and operated independently, and finally became a big salt merchant with a family of millions. From this, it is not difficult to see the superiority of Huizhou merchants: they are good at drawing nutrition from the wisdom of the ancients and taking cultural knowledge as a magic weapon to win.
Secondly, in order to obtain social status commensurate with economic status, Huizhou merchants need to regulate their business behavior with Confucian constraints.
Huizhou merchants are rooted in the heavy cultural soil of Xin 'an. As a business gang with high overall cultural quality, most of them consciously use Confucianism to regulate their business activities, first Confucianism, then business, or Confucianism or business. In business, they pay attention to the way of righteousness and benefit, act according to righteousness, take advantage of righteousness, pay attention to integrity and business ethics, and do not bully or rape. They are real. They are good at grasping business opportunities, weighing avenues and being superior in business competition. After becoming rich, he paid attention to cultural construction, donated money to promote learning, carved books and collected books, revised local chronicles, invited lectures, trained his children to study and be officials, and sought to improve their political status. At the same time, he also promoted the prosperity of localism and trained a large number of outstanding talents in the country. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Huizhou merchants have created brilliant achievements-commercial prosperity and cultural achievements with their pioneering spirit, and at the same time formed the spirit of Confucian merchants and established the image of a generation of Confucian merchants.
One of the signs of the rise of Huizhou merchants is that they have been leading the salt industry for hundreds of years. The reason is the political factor of the integration of officials and businessmen, which is another reason for the prosperity of Huizhou merchants. Huizhou salt merchants must rely on salt officials, court officials and even emperors to obtain high profits. This kind of reciprocal emotional investment between officials and businessmen has made Huizhou businessmen get high returns. Huizhou merchants are good at making friends with the government and are "good at flattering powerful people". Many Huizhou merchants became Dandingxing merchants by this. Huizhou businessman Hu Xueyan is proof.
The third factor of the rise of Huizhou merchants is to form a group by using clan power and regional relations, so that they can play a strong cohesive force and group advantage in the fierce commercial war competition. Since the Jin Dynasty, 78 nationalities have migrated to Huizhou. The gentry who moved to Huizhou lost their original privileges, but found something to strengthen cohesion, that is, their clan spirit. Huizhou merchants have a strong clan concept. When they go out to do business, they always live together by blood and geography, often with their fathers, brothers and uncles. After Huizhou people went out to do business and settled in towns, the people in the clan immediately followed, and then the township party followed. This clan group linked by consanguinity and consanguinity, combined with the indomitable spirit of "Hui Camel" to participate in market competition, has strong advantages in gathering financial resources, material resources, manpower and unified action.
From this perspective, culture, regionality and clan are the essential characteristics of Huizhou merchants. This is very similar to the regional economy with obvious regional characteristics.
The decline of Huizhou merchants has a dramatic color. At the end of Qianlong period, Yizheng Salt Ship caught fire, and 130 Salt Ship was destroyed, killing 1400 people. This has become a sign that Huizhou merchants went from peak to trough: Huizhou merchants who started with salt industry and mainly engaged in salt industry went into decline. However, several major events in the late Qing Dynasty directly contributed to the downfall of Huizhou merchants. During the Daoguang period, in view of the extremely high salt price, the salt policy system in Huaibei changed. The Qing government abolished the franchise of salt merchants to sell salt in the past, and the transportation and marketing were separated. Since then, Huizhou merchants have lost the hereditary patent right to sell salt, so a large number of salt merchants in Huaibei area went bankrupt. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement spread to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, which were the main areas operated by Huizhou merchants and greatly affected their operations. After the Opium War, western powers opened their doors, and the entry of foreign businessmen led to the emergence of national capitalist groups. Huizhou merchants linked by patriarchal clan system were impacted and disintegrated, which also promoted Huizhou merchants to decline from the peak.
Second, the concrete expression of Huizhou merchants' kindness to Confucianism and the reference function of Confucian merchants' spirit to regional economic development.
There are three aspects in the management of Huizhou merchants: first, the business ethics of merchants attaching importance to honesty. Huizhou merchants respect promises and keep promises, treat people with sincerity and accept things with trust. No matter emphasizing "honesty" or "faith", it is a manifestation of respecting Confucian ethics. "Honesty" is the concrete application of Confucian ethics and moral concepts such as "honesty", "honesty" and "honesty" in business activities. Zhu said: "Honesty includes two meanings: truth and sincerity." "Honesty is truth", "Honesty is not deceiving the bottom", "Deception is dishonesty, and faith is what individuals do." The so-called "faith", benevolence, courtesy, wisdom and faith, among which benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom are faith. In fact, it is to integrate Confucian ethics and moral norms such as "faithfulness", "faithfulness", "trustworthiness" and "trustworthiness" into business practice. Integrity is used in business, that is, it requires operators to be genuine, honest and trustworthy, not fake, not fraudulent, not fake. This is the basic principle that Huizhou merchants obey in their commercial activities, which reflects the essence of "being good at Confucianism" in a concentrated and prominent way.
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