On The Family Life Of The Tang Dynasty's Merchant

In the history of China, there was no other social class like the merchant class whose interior classification was so violent and the extent being controlledwas so powerful. This was specifically manifested in the Tang Dynasty--aperiod of great economic prosperity of ancient feudal China. The families of Tang Dynasty merchants were the miniature of the society, which was widely embodied from economic basis to upper structure. Therefore, the study of it is a peculiar angle for us to further clarify the relationship among all classes of society.In the first part, this article roughly sketches the outline of the business prosperity in the Tang Dynasty and point out the limit ness of development of commodity economy at that time, explaining the background of Tang Dynasty merchants. Then it decides the merchant group into several types and defines the range of merchants who we will discuss.In part two, it mainly present the marital state of Tang Dynasty merchants. After making an rough study of its decisive factor, the social status of Tang Dynasty merchants, it lists the social classes related by marriage with merchants, painting out that their status having a corresponding relation to the changing social status of Tang Dynasty merchants. At last it describes the spiritual life of the wives of Tang Dynasty merchants by using the data of poems of Tang Dynasty.Part three is the main body of the thesis, which explores the family state ofthe thesis, which explores the family state of Tang dynasty merchants. It can be further analyzed on the following six aspects. On family ethics, it study the ethical phenomena of Tang Dynasty merchants and their causes. On family income and expenditure, it divides them into two parts, the richest merchants and the intermediate and small merchants, and points out that the farmer's income is generous and stable, while the latter mostly make a poor living. On family education, I maintain that the education of their children by merchant family in the Tang Dynasty actually have many negative functions. On family belief, it lists several types of merchants' believes. On family property-inheriting, it discuss the ways by which their family components inherit their property through four aspects.In the concluding part, the chief, the chief character of Tang Dynasty merchants' family, the instability, is summed up. It is embodied on three aspects, property, emotion and social status.In a word, there are wide and profound influences between the family of Tang Dynasty merchants and the Tang society only by studying then in detail can they play a referential role in the social construction today.