During the Ming and Qing dynasties, China's guilds were social organizations that followed the old system of the Tang and Song dynasties, developed and grew on this basis, and were perfected and formed day by day. "Guilds" are both civil and "semi-official" organizations. The imperial court drew up the rules for trade activities, and the details of the operation depended entirely on the guilds.
First, the origin of the guild
Guilds are "guilds" formed spontaneously by merchants and craftsmen, distinguished by trades. In the later period, there were also "hometown associations" formed for regional reasons. Guilds were originally an organization formed spontaneously by merchants to cope with difficulties in their business activities. In the later period, the official discovered the existence of such guilds, which was very convenient for the imperial court to manage, and recognized their legitimacy. In the Song Dynasty of China, the imperial court would even take the initiative to divide merchants into different industries to facilitate taxation.
As early as the origin of guilds can be traced back to the Shang Dynasty. However, there is a relatively clear decree, still in the Tang Dynasty, which was called "xing" at that time. According to the "Henan Chronicle", Luoyang in the Tang Dynasty had a total of "one hundred and twenty lines". The so-called "line" of "line out of shape" refers to this. In the Song Dynasty, the imperial court had adopted guilds as a form of social management. In the Ming Dynasty, the social economy was unprecedentedly prosperous. As the number of people doing business increases, the management of guilds becomes more important.
Because of the existence of guilds, the imperial court found that it was not necessary to add institutions below the state or county level, and it was very convenient to collect taxes through the "guild halls" of various industries. As a result, guilds and guild halls came into being.
Second, the function of the guild
Guilds were originally created to unite small business owners in the same industry in response to a complex and ever-changing market environment. In the later stages of development, a monopoly situation was formed. Guilds are responsible for setting industry standards and some access systems for the market. If a person wants to engage in a certain trade, he must report to the guild and abide by the rules of the guild before he can be allowed to do business.
Guilds had their own rules and regulations and operational details, and the rules and regulations they formulated were recognized by the Ming and Qing court as a supplement to the laws of commerce and trade. When encountering commercial disputes, officials will also refer to these rules when judging cases. In addition to taxation, the Ming and Qing dynasties would also directly entrust the procurement of some items to the local guilds. In this way, the quality of the goods purchased must be the best, and the price must be the lowest. If there is a problem with the product, it is also convenient to pursue responsibility.
In addition, if there are civil lawsuits involving commercial aspects, the guilds of the Ming and Qing dynasties can also be responsible for "arbitration". During the Ming and Qing dynasties, administrative organs at and above the county level rarely heard lawsuits from non-criminal litigation cases and non-major and important cases. It is generally left to the squire and Li Zheng to deal with. However, the squire and LiZheng, due to their own insights, it is difficult to deal with those disputes in business. With guilds, it's relatively easy to tell right from wrong.
Third, the pros and cons of the existence of guilds
The prosperity of guilds in the Ming and Qing dynasties was due to the prosperity of the commodity economy. The social status of merchants was greatly improved, and the number became more and more numerous. In order to facilitate the operation, the people first spontaneously organized "guilds", which were later recognized by the imperial court. The existence of guilds has solved the difficulties of small traders, formulated advanced rules for the industry, and maintained the stability of the business environment to a certain extent. In addition, it also undertook part of the task of market management for the imperial court.
The Ming government's way of managing guilds was to recognize their legal nature, collect taxes on traders through guilds, and incorporate the rules and operation details of the guild system into the adjudication of commercial disputes as special legislation. The existence of guilds also had obvious drawbacks, because the inability and laissez-faire of imperial court surveillance actually created a monopoly on the industry.
In the relatively closed ancient China, there was no stimulation from the external market, which in fact constrained the improvement and innovation of commodities. Some guild leaders colluded with officials, enriched themselves, manipulated market prices, sucked the blood of the imperial court's taxes, and eventually became local tyrants.