Ancient businessmen had money, why didn't they have status?

In ancient times, the self-sufficient natural economy was the mainstay, and businessmen did not actually create real value under this economic system, so the ancient government also emphasized agriculture and suppressed business, which led to the low status of businessmen. At the same time, the closed-door policy in Ming and Qing dynasties restricted trade, which is also the reason why businessmen were not valued.

Ancient commerce began to develop professional merchants and the earliest currency from Shang Dynasty. However, in the Zhou Dynasty, the official government controlled commerce. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, private businessmen gradually replaced officials and businessmen as the main body of businessmen, and their businesses flourished, forming many famous metropolises. The earliest paper money transaction appeared in the Song Dynasty, and many regional merchant groups appeared in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. However, the characteristics of ancient commercial development are based on self-sufficient natural economy, and merchant commerce, as a natural economic foundation, does not produce practical value, so it does not dominate development. Then in the period of emphasizing agriculture and restraining business, people who do not actually create value are suppressed by the policy of emphasizing agriculture and restraining business, and the society of businessmen will of course be relatively low. Moreover, China has been a big country in agricultural development since ancient times, and only after the reform and opening up did it begin to move towards a socialist market economy.

The policy of emphasizing agriculture and restraining commerce emphasizes the development of agriculture and restricts the development of handicrafts and commerce. Its purpose is to maintain the small-scale peasant economy, ensure the collection of taxes, and achieve the purpose of consolidating feudal rule. Then, Shang Yang's reform in the Warring States Period became a traditional economic policy throughout the ancient society, which hindered the development of social economy and commodity economy in the late feudal society, especially in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. This has also hindered the development of budding capitalism. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the closed-door policy prohibited China people from doing business overseas and restricted foreign businessmen from doing business in China, because the self-sufficient natural economy still dominated. In this social environment, the status of businessmen cannot be improved.