news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

Five hundred years ago, without developed Internet and convenient transportation, merchants from Shanxi, Anhui, Guangdong, Fujian and other places were able to do business vigorously. What was the secret of their success? How did they break through the restrictions and create business miracles in the context of the era of "focusing on agriculture and suppressing commerce"? What kind of intricate relationship existed between the government and the merchants? When the traditional society came to an end, why did most of the merchants withdraw from the stage of history except for a few who successfully transformed?

Recently, economist Liang Xiaomin visited the Capital Library with his new book "Looking Back at the Merchant Gangs". With the theme of "Entering the Merchant Gangs and Looking at Traditions", he led the readers on site to enter the business world of 500 years ago, appreciate the management methods, business wisdom, rise and fall of major merchant gangs, and understand the development context of modern commercial society.

Liang Xiaomin at the "Visiting the Business Community and Exploring Traditions" event (photo provided by the organizer).

Shanxi merchants have occupied an important position in the history of Chinese commerce with their unique business strategies and business wisdom. Looking Back at the Merchants depicts the glorious history of Shanxi merchants, the "No. 1 Merchants in the World". Shanxi merchants implemented the shareholding system during the Jiaqing and Daoguang years of the Qing Dynasty. This system regards the capital of investors as "silver shares" and the labor and skills of managers as "personal shares", realizing the separation of ownership and management rights and promoting the rapid development of enterprises. "Personal shares" regard the labor and skills of employees as shares, and participate in the profit distribution of the enterprise, which effectively motivates the work enthusiasm of employees. When funds are insufficient, Shanxi merchants also adopt the "loan system", that is, borrowing other people's money to do business. Later, it developed into the "partner system", that is, multiple people jointly invest, jointly operate, share benefits, and share risks, which is similar to the modern partnership system.

Shanxi merchants also established a complete internal management system, including employment principles, incentive mechanisms and strict financial systems, to ensure the efficient operation of the enterprise. In addition, Shanxi merchants obtained business convenience and protection by establishing good relations with government officials. However, the combination of officials and businessmen also planted the seeds of failure for the decline of Shanxi merchants, "success by officials, and failure by officials". This was first reflected in the fact that after the Qing government was overthrown, the seven million taels of silver owed to the bill exchange by governments at all levels could not be recovered, which was a fatal blow to the bill exchange. More importantly, relying on the government made Shanxi merchants lose the motivation for innovation and transformation, and lost opportunities again and again at the threshold of transformation into modern banks. Taking Shanxi merchants as the starting point, Liang Xiaomin deeply analyzed the business characteristics and management methods of various business groups in the book, which still has important enlightenment and reference significance for contemporary entrepreneurs and managers.

"Looking Back at the Business Gang", written by Liang Xiaomin, published by Sanlian Bookstore, July 2024.

How to Understand Chinese Culture through Business Associations

At the event, Liang Xiaomin first explained what a "business gang" is. The term "business gang" may seem unfamiliar to us, but we have come across it before. For example, the Cao Family Courtyard in "Bright Sword" is the largest Cao family house among Shanxi merchants. And Zheng Chenggong is a representative figure of Fujian merchants.

"In the Ming and Qing dynasties in Chinese history, there were a total of ten merchant groups: the first was the Shanxi merchants, known as the world's number one merchant group; the second was the Huizhou merchants - the Huizhou merchants were not the merchants from Anhui, but the merchants from Huizhou. Ancient Huizhou consisted of six counties, so the merchants from Huizhou were called Huizhou merchants; the third was the Guangdong merchants, and the main body of the Guangdong merchants was the Thirteen Hongs. Everyone remembers the Opium War, when Lin Zexu forced British merchants to hand over opium through the Thirteen Hongs. These were the Guangdong merchants; the fourth was the Fujian merchants, which were the merchants represented by Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Chenggong; the fifth and sixth were the two merchant groups in Zhejiang, one was Ning There are four merchant groups besides Ningbo and Longyou, namely Jiangyou Merchant Group in Jiangxi, Shanshang in Shaanxi, Lushang in Shandong, and Dongting Merchant Group, which is Wuzhong District in Wuzhong County of Suzhou City, and was called Wu County in history. There are two islands in this place, Dongshan Island and Xishan Island. The merchants of these two islands are called Dongting Merchant Group, because there is a mountain called Dongting Mountain over there, so it is called Dongting Merchant Group. These are the ten major merchant groups. "Liang Xiaomin introduced.

Still from "Qiao Family Courtyard" (2007).

The ten major business groups are all historical events. What is the significance of studying the "business groups" today? Liang Xiaomin said that there are three meanings:

First, the Ming and Qing dynasties were the most developed eras for Chinese commerce, and this period of commercial development is very important in Chinese history. If we want to thoroughly study the commercial conditions of the Ming and Qing dynasties, we must study the business groups, what the merchants of these business groups did, and how they contributed to the development of commerce in the Ming Dynasty? The study of the commercial history of the Ming and Qing dynasties and the study of Chinese history cannot be separated from the history of the business groups. Second, the business groups created many systems and established a commercial ethical culture in the process of operation, which promoted the development of commerce at that time. From today's perspective, it is also very instructive and inspiring for today's enterprises. Third, through the business groups, we can learn and understand Chinese culture. The Four Books and the Five Classics do reflect Chinese culture, or give a general introduction to Chinese culture, but Chinese culture is reflected in all aspects of our economic activities and life, and also in commercial activities.

So, how can we understand Chinese culture through business groups? Liang Xiaomin took Shanxi merchants as an example and said that Shanxi is the original birthplace of Chinese culture. Where is the core area of ​​Chinese culture? The core area of ​​Chinese culture is the southern part of Shanxi, the western part of Henan and the eastern part of Shaanxi. This triangle of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River is the core area of ​​Chinese civilization. Deeply influenced by traditional culture, the Shanxi people have established business ethics with Chinese traditional culture as the core. "Business ethics guide business. Therefore, their business activities reflect Chinese culture, and their success is the result of Chinese culture guiding their business."

"Shanxi merchants 'control profit with righteousness', that is, 'control profit with righteousness', and regard 'profit' as the highest business principle. It is not only a necessity for business success and making money, but also a noble concept. Once they encounter a situation that conflicts with benevolence and righteousness, they would rather lose money than do it, which embodies this spirit." Liang Xiaomin said that the word "righteousness" has many aspects, and there is a characteristic of Shanxi merchants competing with others: that is, they must leave a way out for others and not force others into a desperate situation. "Qiao Zhiyong, the third generation of the Qiao family of Shanxi merchants, advocated that he would never dominate the market. What is domination? It means monopolizing the business of a certain industry." Liang Xiaomin said that there are many examples of this kind of thing in the management of the business group. "The boss calls his subordinates 'don't employ those who are suspicious, and don't doubt those who are employed', which is benevolence and righteousness. The subordinates call their superiors 'be loyal to the trust of others'. The management of Shanxi merchants is reflected in these points."

Stills from "Beginning of Autumn" (2021).

Why did the Shanxi merchants finally perish? How can a business group transform from a merchant of the old era to an entrepreneur of the new era? Liang Xiaomin said that this requires transformation: first, from the past commercial capital to modern industrial capital. In modern society, merchants are only subordinate to industry, so capital must be transformed from commercial capital to industrial capital; second, the finance in the feudal society in the past was called a ticket number, but a ticket number is different from a modern bank, so it is necessary to transform from a ticket number to a modern bank. Because of conservatism and closedness, the Shanxi merchants did not succeed in the transformation.

Ningbo merchants became the founders of China's first national industries

Are there any merchants who are not closed and conservative? In response to this question, Liang Xiaomin said, "Yes. For example, Guangdong merchants, who have been doing business with Westerners for a long time, have become open-minded. Dongting merchants are different from merchants from other places. Shanxi merchants are poor and have no choice but to go on the business road. The Dongting merchant group is rich people doing business. Before the Opium War, they did not rely on the combination of officials and businessmen, but relied entirely on their own efforts. They are educated and aware of the direction of world development. Therefore, they entered Shanghai after the Opium War and became the first batch of compradors in China." In addition, Liang Xiaomin said that there are also Ningbo merchants who accumulated capital and business management experience in the process of being compradors, opened their eyes, and became the founders of the first batch of national industries in China. "

Before the Opium War, the Ningbo business group had formed a business system that was supported by money banks, shipping, credit, fish, salt, and other industries. The Ningbo business group had a large number of merchants and a wide range of business areas. They lacked extremely wealthy and monopolistic giants like the Shanxi merchants, Anhui merchants, and Guangdong merchants. In addition, most of the industries they operated had little to do with the government, so they did not take the path of combining government and business, and maintained their grassroots nature. Ningbo merchants' self-struggle and continuous innovation were important reasons for their successful transformation.

Stills from "Eastward to the Sea" (2012).

Becoming a comprador for foreign merchants was the first step in the overall transformation of Ningbo merchants. After the Opium War, foreign merchants entered Shanghai in large numbers and opened foreign companies, shipping companies and banks. The different languages, cultures and business systems between China and the West made foreign merchants in urgent need of help from Chinese merchants, which became the background for the emergence of compradors. In the process of serving foreign merchants, they learned about the changing trends of the world, the rules and habits of modern trade, and the management methods of modern enterprises, thus changing their values ​​and behaviors, and integrating the concept of modern market economy into traditional Chinese operations. The income of being a comprador is very generous, but they do not use all their money to buy land, houses or even cellars like Shanxi merchants. In addition to satisfying some luxury enjoyment, Ningbo merchants mainly use their property to invest in new industries and transform existing industries, such as import and export trade, modern shipping industry, modern industry and finance. They have been very successful in these industries. It can even be said that the prosperity of modern Shanghai was largely created and shaped by the Ningbo business group.

Reporter/He Anan

Editor/Luo Dong

Proofreading/Yang Li