The Reseach Of The Modern Gentry-merchants’ Cultural Life

The gentry-merchant is a special transitional group in China’s modern history. This article takes ChuanPutang Ge’s family of PingHu as an example,and focuses on analyzing the features of modern Gentry-merchant’s cultural life from collection and touring and banquet.Collection is an important aspect of cultural life of Chuanputang G’s family. Since JinLang Ge and the next two generation, the collection has been a considerable number, including books, paintings and inscriptions three categories. And the collections come from purchase, gifts from friends and relatives and copy. These collections mostly created in Ming and Qing Dynasties, and have rich local characteristics of Jiangnan. As for the collections’ protection is also very thoughtful, they focus on cataloguing, establishing special store building, and taking effective measures into the collection conservation. The more commendable is Ge’s attach great importance to sharing the collections. The way of sharing is the editing and publishing of the collection, except traditional borrowing and copying. It makes the scope of collections’ share from the family extent to society, and makes the collection get rid of the traditional mode, have a modern library’s character, in a certain extent, greatly is enhanced the social value of collections.The touring and banquet is another important aspect of cultural life of Pinghu Chuanputang of Ge’s family. With the development of modern transportation, both scale and scope of banquet are more widespread than before. Compared with the general gentry-merchant’s banquet has strong commercial color, Ge’s pay attention to making friends, enhancing friendship, writing poetry, examining collections and other entertainment. So the goal is pure. But with the development of the times, Ge’s frequently travel between Shanghai and Pinghu because of business, have been influenced by western culture and civilization, some fashion elements, such as western-style food, photography, have been added into their touring and banquet. It is a bright spot for traditional touring and banquet.Ge’s collection and touring and banquet provide us a typical example to study cultural life of modern gentry-merchants. It is benefited from relatively stable environment advocating cultural atmosphere of Pinghu where several generations of Ge’s live, in addition to Ge’s generous economic conditions and elegant family culture. In fact, it is modern gentry-merchants like Pinghu Ge’s pursuit of the cultural life, that promote the development of modern culture industry. And it also has certain reference significance for new cultural life developing today.