Analysis Of The Space Form Of The Typical Shanxi Merchant Houses In Jinzhong During The Ming And Qing Dynasties

Shanxi Merchants is the first of the top ten major businesses in the history of China.It not only created brilliant business in the financial sector from the Ming and QingDynasties to the era of Republic of China, but also created a living environment for itsown traditional settlement and residential patterns. These commercial town or small townand its shops as well as the workshops, were the places where the business people workand live. All of these pointed out the business model of the early stage of commercial riseand flourish, the business model epitomizes the characteristics of a commercial operation.The merchants’ village of ShangJia and its houses are the living places for thebusinessmen and their dependents; it also shows the daily life of these businessmen.Furthermore, it tells us how these wealthy Shanxi merchants lived in a high quality of life,which was far ahead of the people in their time. Moreover, it also reflects the familyrelationship in both a kinship and business sense.The focus of this study is based on these Shanxi settlement specifically the towns,villages and settlement houses, the researcher wants to analyze how Shanxi merchantsbecame the wealthiest people and what was their business model, which led to such rapidgrowth of business and a highly distinctive mode of living particularly in Jinzhong areaduring the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Firstly, trace the origin and development of Shanximerchants; summarize the impact of Shanxi merchants on the traditional residence inShanxi. The development of Shanxi merchants and businessmen behavior deeply affectedvillages, settlements and, later, the city’s planning and construction. Emphasize onsettlement and folk house of Shanxi Merchants formation factors and the developmentprocess.Firstly, the researcher will discuss the origin and development of the ShanxiMerchants, and then summarize the impact of Shanxi Merchants to Shanxi TraditionalHouse. Though the Shanxi Merchants had a major influence to Shanxi Traditional Houses,the later also had a big impact to the development of Shanxi merchants and their villages,settlements and, furthermore, it also affected the urban planning and infrastructure. The focus of the discussion will be mainly on the formation factors and development processof the Merchants settlements and their houses.Secondly, the researcher will also discuss the origin and development process of theShanxi merchants and their residential characteristics. After that, the researcher willclassify the Shanxi Merchants traditional houses of the Ming and Qing Dynasties inaccordance with the functional partitioning and spatial pattern formed at different stages ofdevelopment. They are classified as following three typical forms of Shanxi residentialhouses:(A) shop houses,(B) workshops,(C) houses and courtyard houses.Finally, the researcher will use the ancient city of Pingyao in Pingyao City as anexample; discuss how these three residential houses played its role in different locations,and how they have contributed to the formation of the city and the function of urbanplanning. Furthermore, the researcher will describe how these different types of housesgive the form of flexible adaptability, unique spatial patterns, and stunning localcharacteristics.