Huo Matter

The term "Huo Zhi (goods multiplication)" means accumulating wealth to manage andget profits. Business and management can be done to gain profits by producing,accumulating and exchanging of goods. The term "Huo Zhi Ming Wu (The names anddescriptions of goods multiplication)" refers to matters and objects concerning wealth,treasure and business. This term also applies to nouns denoting material objects orentities in various Chinese ancient literatures. "Huo Zhi Ming Wu" was rooted in theeconomic cultural activities in ancient China. It is an independent cultural system thoughhaving close connections in some way with many other social activities. From the verybeginning, "Huo Zhi Ming Wu" has been endowed with abundant national culturalconnotation. It contains the various aspects of national material life and spiritual life; it isan important branch of the Chinese culture. The origins and development of such MingWu as field and garden, workshop, salt field, pottery, storage, cargo, market, store,pawnshop, mineral tax as well as contract almost reflected the history of ancient Chinesenational economy.This dissertation is a study on Huo Zhi Ming Wu in ancient China and some relatedissues.The whole dissertation falls into nine chapters.Chapterâ… is the "Introduction". In this chapter, based on a careful study of the variousancient Chinese literature and previous researches, the author offers a new definition ofthe term "Ming Wu (the Name and Description of a Thing)". The author holds that thestudy of Ming Wu, or "thingology", is a science dealing with the origin of the naming ofa thing, and the Wu in Ming Wu, does refer to an entity, or a thing, involved in any aspectof the ancient natural and social life, as seen in reality, or as recorded in many ancientChinese literature. The author intends this chapter to provide a theoretical basis for theresearch to be conducted in the subsequent chapters on the origins and development ofthe thingology in various fields, and on the discrimination of the varied names and descriptions of the things concerned. It is found that ancient Chinese thingologyoriginated from the discussion of Ming Wu in terms of phonesties, graphemics andsemantics. Since Wei and Jin Dynasties, thingology has shown a trend of incorporatingwith many other disciplines.Chapterâ…¡is "A Review of the Literature on Huo Zhi". This chapter first summarizes themain categories of ancient Huo Zhi Ming Wu: field and garden, workshop, salt field,pottery, storage, cargo, bazzar, store, hockshop, mine, taxation and contract; thenpresents the seven systemic sources of historical material in goods multiplicationresearch: letter interpretative and Ya system, ancient commentary system, special topicsystem, historical record system, encylopaedia system, regulation record system,archaeological and cultural relic system. The dissertation examines the types of Huo Zhiand their cultural connotations. It also analyses its relationship with the ancient Chineseagriculture in terms of economic system, geography, production, and with ancientmetallurgy, ancient mine geographical distribution, ancient handicraft industry, ancientsalt industry, ancient ceramics, ancient state storage system, ancient food reserve system,ancient state control, ancient market administration, ancient market management, ancientcommodity framework, ancient tax system, and ancient pawnbroking history. Thedissertation suggests that while popular researches on Huo Zhi Ming Wu have theirweaknesses, the study of this subject is practically significant. It is hoped by the authorthe present study will get a break-through.Chapterâ…¢is "Ming Wu concerning the Workshops and the Handicraft Industry inAncient China". The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the homology of the two terms"workshop" and "factory", and their respective archaic and current written forms; toexamine the origins and development of the names for the workshop, and its relationshipwith the handicraft industry in ancient China. A discussion is also made of the originalnames, including their differences, for alcohol mill, vinegar mill, dry works, and cocoonworkshop, forge workshop, tea field, grindery, sugarcane processor, copper family, toolprocessor, iron stove, crucible and reeling mill. Chapterâ…£is "Ming Wu concerning Salt Field and the Salt Industry in Ancient China". Itis found that "bittern", "salt", "salty", "bitter" and "alkali" have the same origin. In thischapter the author explores the source and development of the names for salt field, andthe relationship with the salt-making industry in ancient China. The chapter alsoexamines the main types of the naming of the salt field and the all the objects concerned:saltem, salt pool; salt well, kitchen steep, salt vehicle, salt kitchen, etc.Chapterâ…¤is "Ming Wu concerning Pottery and the Ceramic Industry in ancient China".It discusses the ancient and current words for "earthemware, pottery, and kiln" and pointsout that these names have the same sources with the addresses of the following objects:bottle, flask, urn, vase, basin, earthen jar, earthen bowl, utensil, cup, dish and pot". Theauthor discovers similarity in both the pronunciations and the meanings, in ancient times,among the words "earthemware", "pottery" and "kiln". The fact is that different writtenforms were produced by our ancestors at different time to refer to the same things. Forinstance, "pottery" was used to refer to not only the kiln itself, but also the stuff producedin kiln or even the making process. "Ware" and "kiln" actually mean the same thing."Bottle", "flask", "urn", "vase", "basin", "earthen jar", "earthen bowl", "utensil", "cup","dish" and "pot" all referred to the stuff made in kiln and stove. All of the words aredeveloped from dual labial and paronyms. In addition to explaining the source of thingsin pottery and the relationship between form and substance as well as the original changeof matter and ancient ceramics, the author conducts a textual research on the main typesof the naming and objects concerning pottery, the spread of pottery in past dynasties andthe relation between their different names.Chapterâ…¥is "Ming Wu concerning the Storehouse and the Storage System in AncientChina". The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the relationship between the granary andthe grain reserve system in ancient China, and to verify the origin and development of thenames and the objects, and the state control over them. After giving a summary of thetypes of the naming of each individual object concerning the storehouse, the authorexpounds the relationship between the names for government repository and the statestorage system in ancient China, including the formation of a mature and complete storage system in Zhou Dynasty. The author demonstrates that the naming of thegovemment repository corroborated with the recordings in Government Offices in ZhouDynasty (Zhou Guan). With the help of the names and descriptions of the governmentrepository, the royal control and the chief objectives of royal storage system are verified.Chapterâ…¦is "Ming Wu concerning the Country Fair and the Market Economy inAncient China". The purpose of this chapter is to make a textual research of the originand development of the varied naming of the country fair, and to discuss the relationshipbetween the naming of country fair and the formal system of ancient Chinese market.Included in the discussion of this chapter are the work and rest of the markets, thedistribution of the country fairs, the governmental planned investment-inviting activities,foreign trades, market structural system, and market management in ancient China.Chapterâ…§is "Ming Wu concerning the Shops and Stores and the Market Managementin Ancient China". The purpose of this chapter is to summarize the typology of eachindividual object concerning shops, to investigate the relationship between the naming ofthe shops and the market management, and to make a textual research on the origin anddevelopment of the varied naming of the shops, including pubs, restaurants, tea houses,inns and hotels.Chapterâ…¨is "Ming Wu concerning the Pawnshop and the Pawn Trade in Ancient China".This chapter mainly discusses the origin and development of Ming Wu concerning thepawnshop, the homology of the various names for the pawnshop, the relationshipbetween the naming of the pawnshop and the pawn trade in ancient China."Conclusion" is a sidewise summary of the methodology employed in this dissertation.As opposed to the traditional concept "field archaeology", the author of this paper, withthe hope to open up a new domain in the study of Huo Zhi Ming Wu, puts forward abrand-new approach "linguistic archaeology", in which the study of Huo Zhi Ming Wu,together with its origins and development, its relationships with the national economicsystem, the state control, and the market, is combined with the study of the histories ofrelevant fields, such as the history of science and culture, the history of trades and industries, and the history of ancient Chinese economy. It is believed by the author that,by using this new approach, which lays equal stress on literature and archaeology, ameticulous and scientific system can be established in the study of this field.