A core element of Confucian culture
If you carefully observe today's business news, you may find that the term "Confucian shang" is still widely used today, especially in The hometown of Confucius in Shandong, Where Confucian Shang is mentioned very frequently, not only are many enterprises directly named after Confucian Shang, but the Shandong Provincial Government also often holds the "Shandong Confucian Merchant Conference" to publicize Shandong's economic and cultural construction. Now we turn our attention to China more than 100 years ago, when Confucian merchants in the modern sense emerged, and made pioneering contributions to the accumulation of industrial and commercial capital and economic development in China.
The first Shandong Confucian Business Conference held in 2018
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the changes in the modern business world</h1>
Ancient China was an agrarian society, merchants were not a glorious profession, and the civil commerce in the Jiangnan region during the Ming and Qing dynasties was very prosperous, and the earliest batch of Confucian merchant groups in China appeared. Most of them are businessmen who have no meritorious name but have a strong interest in Confucianism, and hope that future generations will be able to obtain meritorious names, and some of them are famous businessmen, but whether they have meritorious names or not, they attach far more importance to Confucian morality than to their love for money.
Zhang Jiayi plays a Confucian businessman in the Republic of China
Since the beginning of modern times, Western countries have invaded China, the commercial environment has been greatly impacted by Western countries, in the face of the plundering of Chinese resources by various countries, the business community has appeared to fight a "business war" with Westerners, and society should change from agriculture to business to achieve "building a country with business". Some have even said that China should put its businessmen at the forefront so that it can confront the Western powers. In this social atmosphere, the social status of merchants was improved, and in modern times, a new gentry class of merchants who were also officials and merchants emerged, and their appearance also became the main components of the Confucian merchant group.
Zheng Guan should propose to engage in commercial warfare with Western countries
It is true that There is an overlap between Confucianism and gentry, but it cannot be said that they are completely equated, and among the gentry merchants, only those merchants who still have a strong interest in Confucian culture and regard Confucianism and shang as inseparable are considered Confucian merchants. Having said all this, we should give a few examples to talk about the characteristics of Confucianism.
Confucian shang in "A Generation of Great Merchants Meng Luochuan"
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > second, a typical representative of Confucian shang</h1>
Zhang Xiao, a native of Jiangsu, a well-known modern entrepreneur, and people who understand this period of history should also know that Zhang Xiao was the champion of Guangxu in the nineteenth year, and in the era of the imperial examination of ten thousand miles, those who could obtain the title were all first-class talents. But it was such a rising star in the officialdom who could rise step by step, but he resolutely gave up his position in the system, returned to his hometown to set up a dasheng yarn factory, became a businessman, and opened a local commerce bureau in Tongzhou.
The Dasheng Spinning Factory founded by Zhang Xiao
Zhang Jian founded more than 30 enterprises, involving various fields, such as cotton yarn, soap, flour, oil pressing, etc., and even the real estate industry, which can be said to be a large business group in the early days of China. Zhang Xiao also became a pivotal figure in the late Qing Dynasty across the official and business circles by virtue of his status and commercial achievements, and Zhang Xiao was a leading figure in the constitutional movement and the local autonomy movement in the late Qing Dynasty.
Hou Yong plays Zhang Xiao
Among the many titles and identities, the most suitable for Zhang Xiao is "Confucian Shang". Zhang Xiao once talked about his motives for doing business, saying that Song Ru talked too much about righteousness but too little practice, and that the people of the world despised shusheng because they talked too much about it, and that over time, the readers also passively despised the world's mundane affairs and no longer spoke up for the people. Although it was very painful to get along with the complicated official government, and it was quite unpleasant to get along with the merchants who valued profits and left the parting, he wanted to change Song Ru's "only talk and don't do" problem, hoping to make some achievements and fight for the readers. Zhang Xiao's own reading temperament is very discordant with businessmen fighting for profits and official corruption, and this ambivalent mentality accompanies Zhang Xiao's life.
Sculpture of Zhang Xiao
Another representative figure is Jing Yuanshan, who is different from Zhang Xiao, Jing Yuanshan's father was poor in his early years, and in desperation, he abandoned Confucianism and engaged in business, and worked hard with a pair of hands to produce thousands of family wealth, and the sand boat shops and money houses he opened were mostly traditional industries. After jing yuanshan was born, he followed his father in the business world, and in 1857, at the age of 17, Jing Yuanshan began to take over his father's business, and in 1864, he accepted the top flower plume from the imperial court, and since then he has had the status of an official.
But the most crucial step was in 1875, when a catastrophe occurred in the north that had not been encountered in a thousand years, and the Jiangnan gentry, who were mainly based on Jing Yuanshan, went to Shandong and other places to rescue many times, and this cross-regional large-scale rescue showed the strong ability of the Jiangnan business community, and also made Jing Yuanshan and others enter Li Hongzhang's vision. Since then, Jing Yuanshan has served as the leader of foreign enterprises many times, and is very active in the political and business circles of the late Qing Dynasty.
Jing Yuanshan
Although Jing Yuanshan and Zhang Xiao took a different path, they all had a "Confucian" temperament, and the large-scale rescue of the northern provinces was an excellent demonstration of Jing Yuanshan's "Confucian temperament". Since then, Jing Yuanshan has taken Shanghai as the center, and under the leadership of the Shanghai Xie Charity Office, charities have been set up in various places to build a non-governmental charity network that can radiate throughout the country. Philanthropy is accompanied by Jing Yuanshan's life, the temperament of "Da Ze and helping the world" is exerted to the extreme, and the character of righteousness and charity, so that Jing Yuanshan has been double appreciated by the people and the government, and he deserves to be called "Confucian businessman".
In the late Qing Dynasty, non-governmental charities such as nursery schools appeared
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > third, the characteristics of modern Confucianism</h1>
In fact, through the examples of Zhang and Jing, we can reach the characteristics of Confucian businessmen, specifically, Confucianism-based, Confucian-oriented business, and moral priority are the biggest characteristics of them. Whether it is Zhang Jianxing running an enterprise, striving to compete for the morale of readers, or the philanthropy of Jing Yuanshan's dedication of his life, although there are also commercial considerations, in the late Qing Dynasty when communication means were not developed and there was no "speculation and packaging", philanthropy was largely time-consuming and costly, if commercial interests were fully considered, Jing Yuanshan would not attach so much importance to charity. It can be said that the Confucian concept of relief for the world and benevolence and righteousness is of great importance to Confucian merchants.
Zhang Xiao's reading temperament is crucial to his business
Another quality of Confucian shang is that interests are sought for the world. Generally, merchants seek profits for themselves, but unlike Confucian merchants such as Zhang Xiao and Jing Yuanshan, they regard the interest of the world as the primary purpose of doing business. If Zhang Xiao was mixed in the official arena with the title of Yuanyuan, he had an absolute future, and Jing Yuanshan was also a typical "rich second generation" born with a golden spoon, who could have fully considered themselves and lived a "happy life". But both of them have chosen to "benefit the world", whether it is to relieve the victims of disasters or promote political reform, they are people who stand on the cusp of the times, and the slightest carelessness will lead to the disaster of killing. In this regard, they have brought into full play the confucian characteristics of "killing oneself and becoming benevolent".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Wen Shijun said</h1>
The modern Confucian shang groups are a very unique group in Chinese history, they are a mixture of Chinese and Western, ancient and modern groups, and they are also the first people to promote the modernization of China with a new perspective. Although they wandered the world as merchants, Confucianism was their first magic weapon for doing things. They are the forerunners of the times, and they are also the ancestors worthy of respect by future generations.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > resources</h1>
Ma Min, "Gentlemen and Merchants in the Late Qing Dynasty and Modern Economic Development", Journal of Chinese Economic History, No. 3, 1996.
Ma Min, "Modern Confucian And Shang Traditions and Their Contemporary Significance——— An Investigation Centered on Zhang Jian and Jing Yuanshan," Journal of Central China Normal University, No. 2, 2018.
(Author: Haoran Wenshi Little Sun)
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