Guangfu Businessmen In The Middle Reaches Of Xijiang River In The Middle Qing Dynasty

Businessmen are active people in local society,which are closely related to both the peasant and working class and the gentry class at the political,economic,social and cultural levels.They are mobile,even across many regions,forming cross-regional economic,social and cultural exchanges.In Wuzhou,Guiping,Guigang and other areas in the middle reaches of Xijiang River,the proverb "no east can not become a city" is widely spread.A large number of Guangdong businessmen have set up clubhouses to this day,and people know Cantonese and build riding buildings.Behind this similarity should be closely related to Guangdong businessmen in Qing Dynasty.Therefore,this paper focuses on Guangdong businessmen to explore their business background,activities and influence in the middle reaches of Xijiang River.During the Ming and Qing dynasties,under the favorable natural geographical environment,mature navigation technology,developed transportation system,tax policy such as "one whip method","spreading into mu",donating gifts,making up for officials and other political measures,Guangdong businessmen rose rapidly under the impetus of the social trend of the blending of scholars and businessmen.From the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty,they began to enter Guangxi to do business.These businessmen operate almost the entire market,not only salt,iron,copper,wood,cloth,rice,oil,tea,medicine,sugar,fruit,tobacco,candles,etc.,but also engaged in pawn,usury and so on.Their trade network in the middle reaches of the Xijiang River is very broad,through the mainland market deep into the counties and cities,and through the dense transportation network to the overseas,reaching the point of "all five continents have the footprints of the Cantonese".Xijiang River Middle reaches so far has more than 100 Ming and Qing dynasties Guangdong Guild Hall.These clubhouses have a variety of functions,such as gathering,deliberating,storing goods,offering sacrifices and so on.We can not only see the economic activities of Guangdong businessmen at that time,but also see their social life.It was under the organization and adjustment of the Guild Hall in Eastern Guangdong that the contradiction between locals and customers was alleviated,which not only maintained the benign operation of the market,and formed a cross-regional and cross-class social culture in the middle reaches of the Xijiang River since the Qing Dynasty.