A Study Of Zezhou Merchants In The Ming And Qing Dynasties

During the Ming and Qing dynasties,with the rapid development of the Commodity,the regional economic ties were strengthened,the scale of commodity trade was expanded,and the regional merchant groups began to rise.Located in the southeastern border of Central Plain province and bordering on the so-called "Access to the world",the unique geographical location gives local businessmen an inherent advantage in commercial trade.On the other hand,although Zezhou is mountainous,barren,densely populated,and people have a difficult livelihood,there are rich coal and iron resources under the ground.In addition,there is a long history of local mulberry cultivation and sericulture,therefore,the folk iron handicraft industry and silk handicraft industry are very developed,which has laid a good material foundation for Zezhou merchants to carry out commercial activities.The implementation of the "Open China Law" in the early Ming dynasty provided a good opportunity for Zezhou merchants to make a fortune.Relying on the lucrative salt trade,Zezhou merchants continued to develop themselves and completed their original capital accumulation.Later,Zezhou merchants,relying on the local railway goods,silk and other high-quality handicraft products,carried out characteristic management and expanded the commodity market,and walked out of a unique commercial road,zezhou merchants to the peak,a leap and became the leader of Shanxi merchants.However,after the middle of Qing dynasty,the advantages of Zezhou merchants in the salt and iron industry and silk industry gradually disappeared,and finally in the late Qing dynasty,Zezhou merchants went into decline,completely withdrew from the stage of history.Through a long historical investigation of the rise of Zezhou merchants from the Ming dynasty to the final decline of the late Qing dynasty,we can find that the development mode of Zezhou merchants has strong regional characteristics,this pattern is not only the source of the local businessmen to gain advantage in the commercial competition,but also to a large extent limited their choice in the commercial development,laying a foreshadowing for its decline.If we combine the rise and fall of Zezhou merchants with the background of their times,regional environment and social culture,and proceed from the interactive perspective of regional society,during the 500 years of the Ming and Qing dynasties,there were many complicated factors,such as politics,society,economy and culture,behind the rise,development and withdrawal of the Zezhou merchants,generally speaking,the rise and fall of Zezhou merchants in the Ming and Qing dynasties had both internal and external causes.From the external point of view,the relevant commercial policies of the Ming and Qing dynasties had a direct and significant impact on the fate of Zezhou merchants The Western Capital Invasion and war disaster accelerated the decline of Zezhou merchants.As a group of merchants born from local farmers,the conservative business concept of Zezhou merchants leads to the lack of enterprising spirit and innovation motive in their business activities,the commercial glory created by Zezhou businessmen also vanished into thin air.The Ming and Qing dynasties were also the period of self-consciousness awakening of Zezhou merchants,who,with their abundant financial resources,made good friends with the government and took an active part in various social affairs such as building temples,repairing bridges and roads,relieving the victims,etc.,during the war,they actively maintained the local order and took on the heavy responsibility of protecting the environment and the people,and gradually became an important part of the local governance system.At the same time,the merchants of Zezhou vigorously carried out clan construction and strengthened the clan centripetal force,trying to build up the clan strength to succeed in the commercial competition.It is precisely because of the improvement of the economic and social status of businessmen,their sense of worth,moral ethics,behavior orientation on the local social customs have a broad and profound impact.