If china's business is judged from both the perspective of population and policy, then the Qing Dynasty must be a big brother. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the emergence of capitalism sprouted, and countless merchant gangs emerged in various places, among which Huishang, Jinshang and Chaoshang were called the three major shanggangs in China. Huishang was active in the Song Dynasty, and in its heyday it was from the late Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty. The Jin merchants can be traced back to the Sui and Tang dynasties, and the usual meaning of the Jin merchants refers to the Shanxi merchants during the 500 years of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Huishang and Jinshang were the two leading bosses who dominated the business world in the Ming and Qing dynasties, but a mountain cannot tolerate two tigers, and the comprehensive strength will always be a little gap, so which will be stronger?
Emblem merchants
Huishang merchants, huizhou merchants, Xin'an merchants, commonly known as "shang gang", began in the Southern Song Dynasty, developed in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, formed in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and flourished in the middle and early Qing Dynasty to the middle and late period of decline.
After the Tang and Song dynasties, due to the southward shift of economic center of gravity, the economy and culture of Huizhou region developed rapidly, becoming one of the most economically and culturally developed areas in Jiangnan. Huishang began in poor mountainous areas, because there is no way to survive by farming, so Huishang was the first to deal in mountain goods and grain from other places, of which Wang Zhihe is a typical representative of Huishang. After the Qing Dynasty established the capital of Beijing, it urgently needed money and grain from Jiangnan to go north, and Huishang provided a large amount of money and grain to the Qing court, occupying an important position in the Qing Dynasty merchant gang.
Jinshang
The Jin merchants, commonly known as the "Shanxi merchants", can be traced back to the Sui and Tang dynasties between the samurai (jue), the father of Wu Zetian. Jinshang is the earliest shang gang in China, interpreting a legendary story that has gone through 500 years of commercial glory. The Ming and Qing dynasties were the heyday of Jin merchants, and the exaggeration can be said to be that the wealth of individuals is invincible, and once monopolized the Chinese ticket number exchange industry, which is the originator of today's banks. The bank is the place to save money and make money, when it comes to the bank, the two words "have money" can immediately come out of the brain, as the originator of the bank, it is obvious that Jinshang is not generally rich. However, due to various reasons, Jin merchants began to decline gradually in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, and Even Shanxi, the birthplace of Jin merchants, began to gradually become flat on the historical economic stage.
What is the difference between Huishang and Jinshang?
What are the differences between the same commercial giants of the Qing Dynasty, Huishang and Jinshang? First, the geographical location is different, Huishang is close to the rich Jiangnan region, while Jinshang is in the northern Shanxi area. Second, the scope is different, Huishang only refers to Huizhou merchants, other parts of Anhui become Anhui merchants, and Jin merchants refer to merchants throughout Shanxi, and Jin merchants are broader than Huishang merchants. Third, the history of development is different, although the Jin merchants were formed earlier than the Huishang merchants, but the Huishang originated earlier than the Jin merchants. Huishang has formed a scale in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, began to enter the heyday, and continued until the Qing Dynasty, for a long time. Jin merchants did not begin to really develop until the Qing Dynasty, and did not flourish until the middle of the Qing Dynasty. Third, the tutors are different, and the Huishang respects Confucianism, regards the imperial examination as the top priority, and "learns and excels." Jin merchants are heavy on money and not on officials, "learning and excellent are businessmen", and obey the townspeople Guan Gong. Fourth, the business is different, the large households in the Jin merchants basically started by selling salt, and later after the accumulation of capital, they began to get involved in the grain, cotton, tea and other businesses needed in the north. After the formation of the scale, the ticket number business began to be the first card. Huishang mainly engaged in money houses, but also engaged in salt, timber, silk and other businesses.
As far as the Qing Dynasty was concerned, Huishang was slightly superior
Huishang and Jinshang are individually considered to be the big brothers in the Shang gang, but if they are really compared together, I personally think that Huishang may be slightly better. Huishang is more dominant in geographical location, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Jiangnan region is the richest place in China, Huishang is entrenched in Jiangnan, occupying the center of economic and commercial development, Huishang as if it has a protagonist aura, the development will be more powerful. The early accumulation of Huishang was richer, Huishang originated earlier than Jinshang, because of the earlier origin, Huishang earned a lot of money earlier than Jinshang, and even by the time when Jinshang began to show their grand plans in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, Huishang did not slump, but from the beginning of the Ming Dynasty has continued to be brilliant, which also makes the wealth accumulated by Huishang more points, the Qianlong Emperor also sighed: "Huishang is richer than the royal family." ”
It can be seen that huishang is indeed very rich. After the Qing Dynasty set the capital of Beijing, it was in urgent need of money and grain from the south of the jiangnan to go north, and the Hui merchants could provide a large amount of money and grain to the imperial court, so the relationship between the Hui merchants and the official government was very good, plus the Hui merchants originally attached great importance to the career path, so there was no shortage of people who were officials in the dynasty from the Shang family, and the imperial court had a dependence, and the status of the Hui merchants in the imperial court would be slightly higher than that of the Jin merchants, and the emblem merchants in the official merchants had the right to speak than the Jin merchants. In short, the two groups of Huishang and Jinshang are very strong, but for various reasons, the development of Huishang may be slightly better than that of Jinshang, and it can be called the hegemon of the Qing Dynasty Shang gang.