Huizhou Merchants’ Charity In Jiangsu-Zhejiang Region In Ming-Qing Dynasties

In Ming-Qing Dynasties, Jiangsu-Zhejiang Region was regarded as the main merchandising area for Huizhou merchants. They had spared no efforts to actively participate in the charity activities in Jiangsu-Zhejiang Region. There were several reasons for them to take part in the charity activities in Jiangsu-Zhejiang Region, such as the thought factor of Confucian ethics of Huizhou merchants, the reality reason of combination into the emigration land and also the atmosphere catalysis of Jiangsu-Zhejiang Region. They had taken industrial power to the construction of sin tong benevolent society of Jiangsu-Zhejiang Region and provided solid support for the popularity of that; they had taken geography as the bond and built Fellow Hall in Jiangsu-Zhejiang Region which supplied charity rehabilitation relief for Huizhou personages; they had undertaken magnanimous act for the public good to participate in anti-disaster and disaster relief charity activities in Jiangsu-Zhejiang Region, which had formed a strong folk power in the anti-disaster and disaster relief career in Jiangsu-Zhejiang Region.As a strong contingent of merchants, Huizhou merchants have participated in the charity construction of merchandising migrant place. This historical activity has vivid historic features, it has embodied a cultural spirit of "Great Huizhou" and completed the charity interactivity of "Great and Small Huizhou". From the spatial distribution of Huizhou merchants’charity activities in Jiangsu-Zhejiang Region, this paper has focused on Yangzhou and Hangzhou areas, because this is the center area of salt economy in Huainan and Huaibei districts and in The eastern of Zhejiang and The west of Zhejiang districts; in the time distribution, taken the period from Kangxi to Daoguang as the main activity time, because this is the most flourishing period of Huizhou merchants’force in Jiangsu-Zhejiang Region; with the combination of both, it has manifested the rise and decline of Huizhou merchants’business force reflected by charity activities.The paper is divided into five parts:The first part is the introduction. It has introduced the theoretical and realistic meaning of selected topic, made an academic review and also the innovative part of this selected topic.The second part is the main body of this paper. Firstly, it has made brief introduction of Huizhou merchants’basic information, explored the historical reasons why Huizhou merchants entered into Jiangsu-Zhejiang society, summarized the management activities and industrial distribution of them in Jiangsu-Zhejiang Region and also made exploration of the Huizhou merchants’motivation to participate in the folk charity activities in Jiangsu-Zhejiang Region.The third part is the core one of this paper. Based on the detailed historical materials, it has discussed about the Huizhou merchants’charity activities of Jiangsu-Zhejiang Region in Ming-Qing Dynasties. According to the content, the charity events’participation can be divided into three parts:the first part is that Huizhou merchants participated in the construction of sin tong benevolent society in Jiangsu-Zhejiang Region and relying in the industrial power, they dedicated themselves into the cause; the second part is that Huizhou merchants constructed the charity activities of Fellow Hall in Jiangsu-Zhejiang Region. In the migrant area, taking geography as the bond, Huizhou merchants took fellow townsmen as the relief subjects as the charity activity; the third part is that Huizhou merchants participated in famine construction and disaster relief activities in Jiangsu-Zhejiang Region. Huizhou merchants have taken part in the series of charity constructions from disaster prevention and preparation against natural disasters to anti-disaster and relief disaster, they have become a strong power to prevent, fight and relieve disaster in the folk society of Jiangsu-Zhejiang.According to the series of Huizhou merchants’charity activities in Jiangsu-Zhejiang region, the fourth part has analyzed and discussed the characteristics and significance of this kind of charity activity.The fifth part is the conclusion, which has made a conclusion of the whole paper.