Modern Nan'an Merchants And Quanzhou Social Change (1840-1949)

Nan'an is the important city of Quanzhou and the famous hometown of overseas chinese.Nan'an businessmen were the nicole in the Quan-nan overseas chinese.Historically,land resources in coastal region of Quanzhou was meagre,while the other social mobility was little.The harsh natural environment and strong survival consciousness were pregnant with Quanzhou people's pragmatic spirit.Farmers who broke away from the land had privately joined the ranks of "take the business as the industry",or business,or go abroad to earn a living,etc.All these led to the phenomenon of "non-permanent capital rather than stick to the family business."As in the context of geographical environment,after in the mid-19th century of the late Qing period,counties in Quanzhou had become Overseas Chinese Villages one after another.According to annals of Nan'an County,"mountainous in north and washy in south,distance from Nan'an to Quanzhou-gun was some ten li, not directly under its authority but in fact there was."Its unique geographical environment formed relatively strong cultural color of Commerce and Industry. Historically,the culture of Commerce and Industry between Nan'an and counties in Quanzhou was all the same,Nan'an area formed the habits and customs of doing business very early.The article took Overseas Chinese (Nan'an) businessmen and Overseas Chinese Community as a study object,the late Qing period to the Republic of China as an entry point,used the methods of study which combined the documents and field survey.The article tries to impulse by investigating from the social history for describing and constructing.This article reveals the special evolutionary process of social-economic and cultural patterns by investigating the social interative relationship between Nan'an businessmen and Overseas Chinese Villages through analysis and historical research since modern times.This relationship was really and still affected the social-economic of Overseas Chinese,people's ideas,lifestyle,etc. Such as in the interactive process between Nan'an businessmen in modern times and social change of Quanzhou-Nan'an, they had a particularly apparent especially in promoting philanthropy in the Overseas Chinese and the modernization of education.Although the modern Nan'an businessmen was not much ideal in the investment,but their emergence was not just to make a living or for business activities,they,with country gentleman,used the advantage of social capital they have and the economic power they can mobilize to set up new school,organize charitable undertakings,do Physical Investment,etc.In particular,they used economic minds operating public welfare undertakings,and created a number of successful business operation mode and the further exlension of the progress of consciousness such as modern rational Economic Perspective and Education-cultural Perspective in the earth of Quanzhou-Nan'an, but also had provided valuable experience for the modern Nan'an businessmen as well as the operation of business.