What is the essence of Shanxi merchant culture?

Shanxi merchant culture is a cultural form with the whole Shanxi as the background and business as the center. It is also a series of cultural phenomena that started from the prosperity and dominance of Shanxi merchants in China market, and continued from Ming and Qing Dynasties to the Republic of China, with commerce as the link. In the history of China's modern economic development, Shanxi merchants who galloped across the land of China attracted attention. The pioneers of commercial finance, represented by Pingyao, Taigu and Qixian, promoted the great cause of commerce and won the right to speak in finance, and hundreds of banks merged into the world, creating unprecedented prosperity in the century. Shanxi merchants are the earliest businessmen in China, and their history can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The Ming and Qing Dynasties were the heyday of Shanxi merchants, who became the top ten business gangs in China and dominated the business circles in China for 500 years. Shanxi merchants' family is a traditional cultural family with commercial brand characteristics in China. Shanxi merchant culture is based on the whole province and affects the whole country. Its strength and coverage are wide, and all aspects of cultural form are permeated with Jinzhong traditional culture, which is of great significance for Chinese people to understand and reflect on the history of Chinese civilization.

Shanxi merchants ruled domestic business circles for more than five centuries in Ming and Qing Dynasties. "Business is booming in the world, and financial resources are abundant in the Three Rivers", which is their self-portrayal. Their success is remarkable. How they succeeded is a question worth studying. We know that every social practice has a special spirit as its soul, and this inner soul is the most active driving force in practice, and the people who engage in this activity are the creators and practitioners of this special spirit. The success of Shanxi merchants in Ming and Qing Dynasties lies in their consciously or unconsciously carrying forward a special spirit under certain historical conditions, including enterprising spirit, professionalism and group spirit, which we can call "Shanxi merchant spirit". This spirit also runs through the business consciousness, organizational management and spiritual cultivation of Shanxi merchants, which can be described as the soul of Shanxi merchants.

enterprising spirit

Confucius said, "You can ask for wealth. Even if it is a scapegoat. " The so-called "the world is bustling for profit, and the land under the world is for profit." The king of thousands of people, the king of thousands of families, and the king of hundreds of families are still poor, but the situation is that they form a family. " The enterprising spirit based on interests is the spiritual motive force for Shanxi businessmen to fight fiercely in the shopping malls in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Ming (1481-1542) of Pingyang Prefecture, Shanxi Province, said: "At the beginning, I failed to raise my son's career and I didn't like farming. I said: If my husband can't contribute to the world, can he be a sweaty couple and can't lay the foundation at home! " So I traveled through wuyue, Chu and Wei, and rivers and lakes. I closed my account and made a fortune. Everyone in Pudong will say that I want to go to the south. Ji Xiaolan, a native of A Qing Dynasty, said, "Shaanxi people are more engaged in business outside. When they are teenagers, they begin to learn trade. Once you have accumulated capital, you begin to summarize women. "That is to say, if your career fails, you won't even marry a wife. It can be seen that Shanxi people regard business as a great cause, and they have realized their ambition of getting married and making a fortune through business, and this concept is an extremely great spiritual force that enables them to make continuous progress in business. After the success of the above-mentioned undertakings, Ming "is a pure clan, close to relatives and friends, helping the poor, solving disputes and litigating, and it is beautiful in adulthood ... Doctors and generals who are in contempt will not treat them with all kinds of people, but the Xi family's home is thriving. "Xi's wealth through business has improved the social prestige and status of his family, which will naturally encourage more people to embark on the road of business. The enterprising spirit of Shanxi merchants is also manifested in the strong pioneering spirit. The so-called "Heaven is healthy, and gentlemen are constantly striving for self-improvement. "Many Shanxi businessmen have made great achievements from scratch by relying on this spirit of self-improvement. For example, Wang Xiangqing, one of the founders of the famous Dasheng Kuixing, a native of Taigu, Shanxi, was born in a poor family since childhood and was forced by life. He used to be a domestic helper, working as a cook and handyman in Yang Fei's ancient department of the Qing army. Later, he traded with Jason and Shi University in Qixian County, Shanxi Province. First, he picked up the burden and pulled the camel. Later, he opened the "Jishengtang" office in Uryasutai and Cobdo, and later renamed it "Jishengtang".

professional ethics

The professionalism of Shanxi businessmen is often praised. Respect was originally a basic category of Confucian philosophy. Confucius advocated that people should always be diligent and diligent in keeping their homes and do their best for their careers. He said things like "to the deacon", "to the thing" and "to himself". Cheng Yi in the Northern Song Dynasty further said: "The so-called worshippers are one of the masters; The so-called one, uncomfortable (not outgoing) is called one. " It can be seen that respect refers to the undivided and undivided mental state. Dedication is the traditional virtue of China people.

In feudal society, the traditional concept is to value Confucianism over business, so among the four people, scholars are the first and business is the last. But Shanxi merchants in Ming and Qing dynasties did not see it that way. They believe that businessmen and scholars, farmers and workers are equally important undertakings, both of which are their own undertakings and should be respected. Jin people abandoned the old manners and customs, praised merchants and praised Jia, and were proud of doing business. Yuci was a wealthy businessman, and the Qing Dynasty was always in the imperial examination, but he never despised business. He put all the best children in his family into business. There are many children of Chang family who abandon Confucianism, officialdom and businessmen. For example, Chang Weifeng, the 13th, studied as a teacher when he was a child, and his poems and essays were beautiful and valued by people he knew. When I grew up, I gave up the imperial examination and went to Zhangjiakou to do business. Weifeng is brilliant and capable, especially good at employing people and changing tactics. Once everything is judged, he will make a decision immediately, which is beyond the reach of his colleagues. Fourteenth juror in the late Qing Dynasty, member of the Legal Department in the late Qing Dynasty, and a famous calligrapher in Sanjin. He is also good at poetry. At that time, he was called "calligrapher Li Beihai and poet Wang Yuyang". But his passion is business. It is often changed from "learning to be an official" to "learning to be an official", which can concentrate outstanding talents on business from generation to generation, thus forming a group of well-educated businessmen. Because they introduced the integrity, benevolence, loyalty and forgiveness of Confucian education into the business world, Chang's business is booming. It can be seen that taking business as a lofty career in life is an important factor for Shanxi businessmen to succeed in business.

Dedication: it is the source of career success, and the style of diligence, assiduousness and prudence is the concrete embodiment of the idea of dedication in practice.

Diligence: This is the good character of most Shanxi businessmen. For example, Xing Jiuru, Dingxiang, Shanxi, said, "A little poor, lost love at the age of fourteen ... Two years later, his eldest father died and his family was in trouble. The boys and girls are young and have no money, so they have to give up their studies and go into business. They are just weak and serve Jia in Chifeng County ... They have worked hard for more than 40 years, but their families are very rich. " Li Zhichun, a native of Yuci, said: "I was born in poverty, and my young parents died. My brother was a helper and my brother was a martyr. So I learned business in a cloth shop in Shunde, Zhili. I worked hard for decades and was valued by the deacons. I accumulated more money. I am married to Wang ... My three sons have all been established. I grew up in Chicheng, followed by my second son and third son, and my family has gradually risen. " Zhao Jun, a native of Yongji, is "a rich man in the south of the Yangtze River, diligent and knowledgeable". Hardworking: Not afraid of hardship and fatigue is also a good character of most Shanxi businessmen. A Qing dynasty man Nalan Chang 'an said: "Businessmen are nearby, and many people in Xuanhua, Datong and Shuoping are willing to work hard." Merchants in Taigu County are one of the three major gangs of Shanxi Bank. They do business "on Wan Li Road with normal rates". Nine years after the publication of Ganlong's "Records of Qixian County", Qixian County strictly "strives to prepare for the future".

Caution: Shanxi businessmen are famous for their caution in doing business. This is not to say that they are afraid to run big enterprises. On the contrary, they are very tight-lipped about big business. However, they don't take risks easily and fight unprepared battles. On the contrary, they must make a decision on the basis of full investigation and understanding of the situation to avoid unnecessary losses. As far as lending is concerned, this is an important business of Shanxi draft bank, but it is also risky. They must make a detailed investigation of each other's assets, the purpose of using money, repayment ability and financial situation before deciding whether to lend. Some banks also clearly stipulate the overdraft limit of users: the upper-level households shall not exceed 32,000, the upper-level households shall not exceed 5,000 to 1 0,000, the middle-level households shall not exceed 3,200, and the lower-level households shall not be associated with them. This provision is for the purpose of caution.

team spirit

Shanxi merchants attach great importance to exerting group strength in their business activities. In the patriarchal society, they unite with each other by the friendship of the village community, maintain the guild hall, worship the gods to enhance mutual understanding, help coordinate the relationship between business firms with loyalty and harmony, eliminate interpersonal discord, and form large and small business groups.

The group spirit of Shanxi merchants comes from filial piety and family harmony. For example, Mingxing Li, a native of Quwo in Ming Dynasty, is often lamented by young people: "My husband is a disciple and can't work hard. Will he sit and eat his father and brother? " So, he became rich because he was "shrewd and calculating" in the market place, and he was "good at Shen Zhou and filial to his father and brother". Brother Zhong died and had no children, so his second son was the next. The family is very strict, and clan A pays too much and collects interest. If it is called, it will be blamed and its credentials will be cracked manually. "Qiao Chengtong was born in Xiangling, Ming Dynasty." His father Zhong You died in Yangzhou, so he abandoned Confucianism as Jia. Yang Duhuai, the internal supervisor, and Cheng Tong's younger brother offended Yang and fled. Yang was eager to catch him, and Cheng Tong stepped forward and went to prison. He was punished with five poisons, but he didn't say where his brother was. He was released for bribing his daughter. When my brother comes home, he will give him half of his wealth. "When Mrs Matthew was in charge of the housework," hundreds of people who stayed in the neighborhood to make a fire were sponsored by Mrs Tai "and" they were very kind, so they were willing to do their best ". When Joe in Qixian county was a housekeeper, he called the brothers together and asked the nine brothers who practiced martial arts to break a pair of chopsticks first, and then let them break nine pairs of chopsticks at a time. Therefore, they keep breaking down, reflecting Xia's metaphor, and making all brothers unite and help each other. While carrying forward the spirit of the group, Shanxi merchants also pay attention to the use of quantity and do what they can. Xue Lun, a native of Datong, Shanxi Province in the Ming Dynasty, said, "His family is a farmer and his brother is a farmer. "Wang Mian, a native of Zhou Pu in the Ming Dynasty," died young, leaving two orphans and no servant to answer the door. Wang Mian's wife, Zhang, takes care of orphans and vows to be faithful. The second son grew up and asked the eldest son to serve Jia. "。 Yue: Lonely and helpless, it depends on the portal; Giving the second son a Confucian career means that the lover is ambitious and fails, and his load is also there. Later, he grew up before Ketuo's death, and his second son took Mingjing as his life and died. "

Secondly, team spirit is the need of business development and business competition in business activities. With the expansion of Shanxi merchants' activity area and business scope, business competition is becoming more and more fierce, and Shanxi merchants have gradually formed a group of "helping each other in the same boat" from family to village. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, Wang said, "My children, the cashier, live in the county with coupons, shoulder to shoulder." It can be seen that there are also many children who have received financial support from Wang. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, our family, Wang Chonggu family and Ma family were all big merchant families, and they were related by marriage. University of Dongge is the minister of rites and the engineer of local ginseng, Wang Chonggu is the governor of Xuanda and the minister of war, and Ma is the minister of rites. The marriage of these three companies has enhanced their commercial competitiveness. Wang Chonggu is doing salt business in Hedong, and Zhang Siwei's father is a big salt merchant in Luchang, and has accumulated tens of millions of dollars. Zhang and Wang joined hands to form a salt merchant gang to control the salt interests in Hedong and other places, which has a certain monopoly. On the basis of blood group, Shanxi merchants gradually developed into geographical organizations. In the late Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty, the so-called "Huizhou merchants are all in the south of the Yangtze River" appeared in the pawnbroking industry. To the north of the river are Jin people, who say "Jin merchants". The appearance of the name "Shanxi merchants" shows that Shanxi merchants in Qing Dynasty have gradually formed a regional business gang. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Shanxi draft bank set up semicolons in more than 80 cities across the country, forming a remittance network connecting the world, and it was also a Shanxi merchant group with villagers as the main body.