A Study Of The Pawnbroking In Hangzhou During The Republic Of China

The pawnshop which was one of the major financial organizations played a signicant role in the old society of China .The pawnbroking in Hangzhou which has a long history. However, there has been no scholar engaged in studying it so far at present. According to the archive of Hangzhou historical archive and the survey of the Republic of China, this thesis will attempt to discuss it on the process of its rise and fall,organization and business conditions,characteristics and social significance and so on. I hope to prveal the entire history of the formation and characteristics about the Pawnbroking in Hangzhou during the Republic of China, which can make us know it deeply.The first part of this paper describes the history of the rise and fall about the pawnshop in Hangzhou related mainly to the rengional economy. In the Song Dynasty, it developed preliminarily owing to development of commerce ,and prospered in the mid-stage of the Qing dynasty. This paper holds that the Pawnbroking in Hangzhou is still in its prosperity in early stage of the Republic of China. However, this industry has been waned later due to the influence of the ponding of factors, such as the declining rural economy, business slump, unstable financial situation and so on.The second part, aimed at probing into the characteristics of the Pawnbroking and the unique characteristics of Hangzhou private Pawnbroking , centers on its organization and operation .For example, the pawnbroking in Hangzhou are nearly all of the joint venture; the majority of its staff are from Anhui,and local people are few; staff have much additional revenue although their wange is very low .The third part of this paper is involved in its characteristics which are formed during the Republic of China, contains three aspects: seting up the clothing stores extensively; bounding of its bank; unique programs of the apprenticeship . This article preliminarily analyse the relationship between the three aspects and the pawnbroking development in Hangzhou.The fifth part is this article's conclusion. The author mainly centers on its social function and the significance pawning in this part to attempte to make an objective evaluation to it.