Study On The Charity Thought And Practice Of Gentry And Merchants Social Stratum During Late Qing Dynasty And Early Republic In Shanghai

Since the late Qing dynasty, there are social natural disasters frequently and years of fighting in China, so, charity activities are particularly important to maintain social stability. The development of Shanghai charity makes great influence in the national scope, Shanghai gentlemen and businessmen’s class which produced in the late Qing dynasty is the main force of promoting its development. The gentry and merchants social stratum in this article referred to a special social class in modern China, which has the new and old times’characteristics. This class’s charity ideas not only has a transmutation process from traditional to modern times, but also show the change of the social function and the transformation of philanthropy in China modernization.This article from the angle of the thoughts of charity and the activities of some typical Shanghai gentry and merchants social stratum in late Qing dynasty, at the same time have a further analysis by using the sociology knowledge about the class’social function. The article is divided into four parts:The first section explores the overall situation of Shanghai and gentry and merchants social stratum’s in Shanghai. Respectively outlined the urbanization process which at the period of the open port and the beginning of the twentieth century in Shanghai from the political, economic and other aspects, then combined with the process of Shanghai gentlemen and businessmen’s class have a concrete analysis of the forming background, and the late Qing dynasty Shanghai the gentlemen and businessmen’s number, type, which including the scholar gentlemen businessmen, the comprador gentlemen and businessmen, bureaucratic gentlemen and businessmen, and summarizes the main social impact of characters and charity events, religion about the landed gentry business class.The second part discusses the development of the cause of the Shanghai’s charity and the formation of businessmen’s class charity thought. Shanghai charity had owned very good development before opium war. After open port the Shanghai charity added a lot of modernization element, with the influence of the western’s charity, both those are promoting the development of public welfare charity in modern Shanghai. The cause of the formation of the class charity thought of Shanghai’s gentlemen and businessmen included many aspects, like the traditional culture of the charity thought, growing environment, social reality, and western charity thought and so on.The third part explains the specific content and the landed gentry business class’s charity view of activities in details. First as the rich method for example, explained the good traditional charity view of landed gentry business class, including traditional wealth view advised people to do good, to the buddhist causes karma said heart to be better; then their charity activities for the research content of speech, introduce Shanghai local autonomy LiPingshu charity career and the formation of ideas, including a municipal engineering construction, opening the hospital, city fire, smoking, such as water and electricity company; open; The landed gentry business class public welfare charity containing education of speech and activities for the research content, from a light to pay equal attention to teach education development, such as YiShu run, the creation of the poor, women of the study process, developing vocational education, cultivate medical personnel.The fourth part analyzes the charity thought of gentlemen and businessmen’s class in Qing dynasty of Shanghai and the influence to the modern society. This class’s charity thought maintained the social stability and career orderly, rich the meaning of traditional charity thinking, carried forward the philanthropic charity spirit, promoted the formation of modern charitable cause and the development of the modern Chinese education.