Ming And Qing Dynasties, Shaanxi Merchants To Process, And The Northwest Market

The rise of the businessmen in the provinces of Shanxi and Shannxi during Ming and Qing dynasties was the offspring of special economic policies carried out by the governments, which aimed to meet the needs of both administration and defensive constructions in the northwestern region.During Ming and Qing dynasties, the feudal economy in China came to its heyday, when the lower development level and lack of commercial concept and market consciousness offered historical opportunities for the entry of Shanxi and Shannxi businessmen into Northwest China, where its developed husbandry and abundance in natural resources cultivated the purchasing power on which the survival and development of those businessmen relied.Due to strategic importance and economic benefits, governments monopolized the trade of tea, clothes and salt for their economic interest and more efficient ruling,Attracted by the great benefits of northwestern market , the businessmen firmly penetrated into the government controlled market and challenged their status, As a result, those businessmen promoted the process of marketization in the northwestern region. Howerver, confined to their limitations as feudal merchants and restrictions of historical conditions, they eventually failed to fulfil their historical task by themselves.Through analyses of northwestern market, resources and market developments, this thesis makes a discussion about the impact of those businessmens economic activities on the evolution of northwestern market giving a comparatively clear description of those men?s functions on the process of rnarketization in Northwestern China.