German scholar Max Weber said that Chinese businessmen do not have independent religious beliefs, independent ethical systems and value cores, so Chinese businessmen are "dishonest". But he did hear a lot of praise for China's business integrity, and he was puzzled and proposed "Chinese businessman ethics in the West". In 1924, Tagore took several British and American scholars to Taiyuan and asked Yan Xishan that your China is a middle-way culture, and we passed through Shanghai, Tianjin, and Beiping, and we could not find any traces of middle-way culture. Yan said, you still can't find it in Taiyuan, if you want to find it, you have to go to the countryside to find it. They left a British scholar who lived in the Jin Temple for half a year, and when they left Shanxi, they told Yan Xishan that they had found it. It turned out that they found that in people-to-people exchanges, Shanxi businessmen attached great importance to ethics. From this point of view, the spirit of Jin Shang exists, and the manifestation of Taoist culture is not in the opposition and not in the people.
First, the connotation of the spirit of Jin Shang
From the rise of the Jin merchants in the first chapter, we have seen that the Jin merchants not only gradually formed their own unique business culture and merchant spirit in the Ming and Qing dynasties in terms of wealth accumulation, trade route stage, enterprise system, and business art, but also in guild organization, business ethics, and business culture. The merchant class, like other social classes, will produce its own code of conduct and behavioral concepts as long as it develops to a certain extent, and of course, when this class develops to a certain stage, it must also be supported by a corresponding culture and spirit. The culture and spirit of the Ming and Qing dynasties are the products of the development of the Jin merchants and the needs of the development of the Jin merchants. China's market economy was gradually established by the merchant class, which was dominated by industry and commerce, after thousands of years of long-distance efforts. The agricultural society slowly moved forward along the path of commoditization, monetization, marketization, urbanization, and internationalization, and went through the development of bazaars, markets, and cities, and through the commercial revolution and financial revolution, and moved towards industrialization, modernization, and globalization step by step. Today, there is no business, no wealth, no city, no business. Today, when we share modern civilization, we must not forget the merchants of the Ming and Qing dynasties who started from trafficking in other places. From individuals, from family businesses to modern enterprise groups, there is a kind of strength and spirit that supports them to move forward, that is, the spirit of businessmen.
The spirit of businessmen, first of all, is the general value recognition of businessmen as a business, and it is the value of businessmen; On the one hand, they boldly pursue commercial profits and get rich with business, and on the other hand, they take this as their career pursuit, serve the society, and enrich the country and the people; The third is the concept of business ethics that is universally recognized and adhered to, and there are common norms of behavior for benefit and righteousness. The spirit of Jinshang is a relatively stable ideological method, behavioral paradigm and value concept formed by Jinshang in long-term business activities, which is the core of Jinshang culture. The spirit of Jinshang is embodied in the outlook on life of valuing business, the values of integrity, righteousness and profit, the entrepreneurial spirit of hard work and the coordinated idea of helping each other in the same boat.
A business-oriented outlook on life
In China's long-term feudal society, the status of all social strata is in the order of "scholars, farmers, industry, and commerce", advocating that "everything is inferior, only reading is high", and all dynasties have implemented the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business, and the social status of commerce and businessmen is the lowest. However, since the Song and Yuan dynasties, the people in Shanxi gradually formed the idea of mercantilism, Shanxi governor Liu and Yu Yi reported to the Yongzheng Emperor: "The right side of the mountain accumulates habits, the idea of heavy profit, better than the name, and the handsome people of the children are more into the first way." Emperor Yongzheng wrote in his "Zhu Criticism": "The right side of the mountain is about the first merchant Jia, followed by Youken Linong, the third is seeking to enter the camp, and the lowest is ordered to study." ”[1]。Guangxu in the southern suburbs of TaiyuanLiu Dapeng wrote in his "Diary of Retreat".Recently, the atmosphere in my hometown has been very bad, and I regard reading very lightly, and I regard it as a very important businessThe children of Hua Xiumei all went out to do business, and there were very few scholars, and there were even ...... those who had traveled to the prelude and abandoned Confucianism to go to businessAt this time, there were ten businessmen and eleven or two scholars. When I see people who read, I often envy businessmen." [2] Shanxi folk proverb "It is better to have a child to open a store than to be a magistrate, and to make money by buying and selling, and not to change it for a county official", in the eyes of Shanxi people, doing business is a more important thing than studying and being an official. There is also a teaching gentleman, Wang Xilun, who told the reason. "The court is a noble peasant, but not happy to plant, the court is a cheap businessman, and people are increasingly entering the market, and the benefits of the merchant are better than the farmer. [3] Although he is in business, "he will be far away from his parents, farewell to his wife, leave his hometown, drown the sun and the moon, and return indefinitely", "fortunately he has gained a lot of money, and he has returned with a horse and a cow, and he has returned with a bundle, but unfortunately he is trapped and dies outside." However, people are rich in their hearts and hearts, and businessmen "go far away, accumulate money, boast of Luli, go out to ride, enter the mansion, and hand over the gentry", which makes everyone envious. [4] Therefore, in Shanxi during the Ming and Qing dynasties, a mercantile concept had been formed among the people, that is, the idea of "making money by business and keeping the foundation with money", which was to obtain money through business, then buy real estate to buy land, and then use land to rent and loan sharks or do business to obtain operating profits, and develop commerce and finance with its commercial income, so as to establish a value circulation and multiplication mechanism with commerce as the starting point. This outlook on life, which runs counter to traditional values, is the ideological basis for Shanxi's developed commerce and the flow of wealth back to Shanxi from outside the province.
From the perspective of the process of world economic and social development, the germination of capitalism in China's Ming and Qing dynasties, that is, China's commercial revolution and financial revolution, the mercantilism of Shanxi businessmen, the leader of the commercial revolution, has the same socio-economic background as the emergence and development of European mercantilism.
The values of integrity, righteousness and profit
For thousands of years, no matter how many ideological innovations or storms of change, in the minds of Shanxi people, probably because of Guan Yunchang's hometown, the Tao of Confucius and Mencius has had a profound impact. Under the guidance of its business-oriented ideology, it has its own unique understanding and behavioral norms of "sincerity", "faith", "righteousness" and "profit". Jin merchants, who are known for their integrity, thrift, and simplicity, adhere to the core of Confucian ethics: righteousness before profit, and righteousness for profit. They believe that people's pursuit of utilitarianism cannot be indulged in reckless behavior, and must be regulated and constrained by a social code of conduct that is recognized by people, which is righteousness. Mencius said, "Righteousness is the right way of man." "Zuo Biography" said: "Righteousness, the foundation of profit", "Profit, the sum of righteousness". Righteousness as a code of conduct is combined with people's specific interests, and it has formed the idea of advocating utilitarianism in traditional Chinese culture, paying more attention to the idea of using righteousness to make profits, first righteousness and then profit, and even sacrificing profits for righteousness. Jin merchants advocate "a gentleman loves money and takes it in a good way", so he cherishes honesty very much. Jin merchants are outside, as soon as they make money, the first thing they think of is to build the Guandi Temple, with Guan Gong as the embodiment of sincerity, faith, loyalty and righteousness, no matter where they are, no matter what the industry hall is, they all worship Guan Yunchang as the "Guandi Holy Monarch". Most of the Guandi temples across the country were built or participated in by Shanxi businessmen. In the attic of the main hall of the Guandi Temple, the sitting statue of Yun Chang "reads the spring and autumn at night". Guan Yunchang's life has practiced the ideas of Sage Kong. Guan Yunchang is a native of Jiezhou, Shanxi, Jin merchants and Guan Gong have geographical kinship, respect Guan Yunchang as the god of wealth, educate peers with his faith, and bless his business interests with his martial arts. The cult of Guan Gong of the Jin merchants influenced Chinese merchants and overseas Chinese merchants. The rules of the Jin Shang industry stipulate: "Emphasis on faithfulness, in addition to hypocrisy, moderation, good conduct, noble loyalty, contempt for self-interest, fraternity, jealousy, hard work, abstain from luxury", oppose the use of any despicable means to defraud money, and ensure the reputation of the enterprise at any cost. Qiao's family in Baotou Fusheng oil room, transport sesame oil back to Shanxi for sale, handling workers for profit, adulterated in the oil, after the shopkeeper found out, ordered it to pour out and put it in another place, although the economy suffered losses, but attracted near and far to come. During the Xianfeng period, the shopkeeper of the Fusheng West Shop set up a tent to enlarge the bucket scale, which was one percent higher than that of the city, and the citizens rushed to the number to buy. Therefore, the common people everywhere only recognize the trademark for the goods operated by Shanxi businessmen, and do not return them. Wang Wenxian, a businessman in Puzhou in the Ming Dynasty, did not succeed in business when he first set foot in the Huan Sea, but he was scheming, knowledgeable, timely and adaptable, and abided by his trustworthiness, and in the past 40 years, he has traveled almost half of the world and become a wealthy family. His book of commandments says: "Husbands and merchants are of the same heart as scholars, so those who are good merchants are in the field of wealth and cultivate wise deeds, so that although they are profitable, they are not dirty." The good man leads the scriptures of the ancestors, and the way to profit is to be famous. Therefore, the benefit is based on the righteous system, the name is based on the cultivation of the Qing Dynasty, and each keeps its own business, and the heavens are also a lesson. In this way, the descendants will be prosperous, and the family will be rich and prosperous. ”[5]
The success of Jinshang can be said to be based on business integrity, integrity has brought them fruitful returns, because of integrity and success, because of success and more integrity, the two complement each other, they treat the integrity and goodwill that have been carefully established more important than anything else.
Hard-working entrepreneurial spirit
Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty once commented on the folk customs of Shanxi and said: "Jin customs are industrious and simple. Industriousness is easy to be aggressive, and simplicity is easy to be conservative. Therefore, the strength of the Jin people lies in business, and the ruts and horses are all over the world. Qilu ** Yan Zhao Zhuda City, the bull's ear of the business market, Xianjin people. Therefore, the wealth of the Jin people is the first in the world. [6] The phrase "easy to forge ahead" here speaks of the spirit of hard work; "Easy to be conservative" illustrates good savings and conservative wealth. The Qianlong edition of "Qi County Chronicles" also said: "Tang customs are diligent and thrifty, the way for those who are diligent to make money, and the way for those who are thrifty to use money." The saints taught it not to be more diligent and thrifty. These characteristics of Shanxi people are related to the fact that Shanxi is located on the Loess Plateau and has poor natural conditions. Kang Jitian of the Qing Dynasty said in "Jin Cheng Soulu": "Shanxi is barren and cold, and there are few creatures ......You can't give half of what you have to the land, you can't get the food of the year, so you have to trade and move what you have, and take it to another country." Shanxi businessmen who come and go on the "Tea Road", sell tea in Fujian, Hunan, Anhui, Jiangxi, sell in the north of the desert, thousands of mountains and rivers, through the desert and the sea, the scorching sun on their heads in summer, and the ice and snow in winter, "hunger, thirst, labor, disease, thieves, insects and wolves, the day and the companion", year after year, rushing to the business road, especially in Xinjiang, Mongolia, and Japan, Shanxi businessmen, but also through the barriers of language and living habits, it is difficult to dominate the business world without the entrepreneurial spirit of hard work. There is a business song left by businessmen back then, "It is difficult to do business in Kyakhta": "It is difficult to start a business, it is difficult to start a business, and to start a family business is like climbing a mountain." Get up from the fifth watch, sleep in the middle of the night, and move forward without sheltering from the wind and rain. As soon as the dam was reached, the sky changed, and the wind and thunder roared outside the mouth. There are no villages in Siye, which is like walking into a ghost gate. I am like a ghost, and the night is like day, boiling water for cooking, burning cow dung, cow and horse urine and water, and ice meals." He also said, "The sand tent rolls, the aunt roars, the shopkeeper walks with the guy, bends over from spring to autumn, and earns a bare year of money." ”
Hard work not only contains the indomitable and enterprising spirit of Shanxi businessmen, but also contains the innovative ideas of Shanxi businessmen. Innovation is an inexhaustible driving force for economic and social development, and there can be no development without innovation. There are many amazing achievements in the innovation of business and financial institutions, the innovation of business and financial business technology, the innovation of business and financial instruments, the innovation of business and financial systems and the innovation of business and financial theories, such as the separation of powers, human capital, bank drafts, transfer and settlement, traveler's checks, bank secrets, abacus theory and technology, etc. are not later than those of the West, so the success factors of Jinshang also contain outstanding innovative spirit.
The idea of coordination in the same boat
Shanxi businessmen firmly believe in "harmony makes money" and attach importance to the harmonious coexistence of all aspects of society. In the course of inter-industry exchanges, it is necessary not only to maintain equal competition, but also to support and care for each other. They call friendly behavior "harmony", and all those who "get along with each other" start well and finish well, and help each other in the same boat. Jin merchants to establish a "with" relationship, to understand, think that they can work together, before exchanging money with them, otherwise politely declined. Wang Shenglin, the treasurer of Tianhengyu of Yuci's Changjia, borrowed three or four thousand taels of silver from Dashengkui when the owner went bankrupt to repay debts and drained capital. Later, the crisis of Da Sheng Kui, the shopkeeper Wang sent someone to send 20,000 silver dollars, colleagues resolutely opposed, thinking that there is no possibility of returning, the shopkeeper Wang said, if there is no maintenance of Da Shengkui 20 years ago, how can we have today?
Jinshang enterprises have a clear number regulation, which regulates the relationship between the owner and the shopkeeper, between the shopkeeper and the employee, between the superior and subordinate of the employee, between the general number and the semicolon, between the semicolon and the semicolon, and between the current number and other numbers. The Dade Pass number regulations stipulate: "Everywhere is in a position where harmony is precious, and those in the upper position should be tolerant and caring, and be careful not to be partial; Those in lower positions should also be considerate of self-respect, and should not be presumptuous. If there are unjust and lawless people, they should not be vague and vague, and those who invite them will spend money; Those who are invited by Qi will be ordered to return to Qi from work early. Treasure the most important. [7] Shanxi people do business abroad, and have established a county or several counties with hometown friendship as the link and the industry as the link, bringing their peers together, helping each other in the same boat, and supporting each other. Most of these guilds have their own assets and even have public cemeteries for their colleagues. Li Hongling, manager of the Beijing branch of Weifenghou Ticket Number, wrote the book "Advice on the Same Boat": "A small business is like a flat boat, floating and sinking in the stormy waves, and it will ...... when it accidentally capsizesWe must work together to help each other"[8], which is the original intention of treating the Jin merchants with kindness in order to help each other in the same boat.
After the middle of the 19th century, due to scientific and technological progress, changes in trade routes, changes in the political situation, coupled with corruption, negligent management, and refusal to reform in Caidong, the Jin merchants began to go to a low ebb, and after the 20s of the 20th century, they declined rapidly, and the status of the Jin merchants in China soon gave way to the merchants of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. However, the influence of Jin Merchants in the country and even the world is permanent, and the spirit of Jin Merchants is eternal.
Second, the origin of the spirit of Jin Shang
A long history of doing business
The Yellow River Basin is the birthplace of the Chinese nation, and Shanxi people are proud of it. Legend has it that Houji taught silkworms in Jishan, and his ancestors raised silkworms in Xia County, which promoted the development of primitive agriculture in early China. It is recorded in the Yi Zhi Ci that "Japan and China are the market, to the people of the world, gather the goods of the world, trade and retreat, and each has its own place"[9], which means that the earliest commodity trading activities in China took place in the southern Jinnan region. By the time of Jin Wengong's hegemony, Shanxi's Yuci and Anyi were already famous commercial market towns, making "industrial and commercial food officials" internally, and "lightly closing and easy to trade" externally. [10] In ancient times, Shanxi was a region of mixed ethnic groups. When the Han nationality, which was mainly agricultural, entered the feudal society, and the nomadic Xiongnu, Xianbei, Khitan and other tribes were still in a relatively backward tribal system, there were contradictions, conflicts and even wars between them from time to time, but most of the time they were friendly and exchanged, carried out economic and cultural exchanges, jointly developed Shanxi, and wrote a friendly epic of ethnic integration. According to the Book of Han, "the Xiongnu were all pro-Han in the following areas, and when they traveled to and from the Great Wall, the Han envoy Nie Wengyi, a native of Mayi (Shuo County), traded with the Xiongnu [11]. During the Three Kingdoms, the Xiongnu in Shanxi were centered on Zishi (Fenyang), Qi (County), Puzi (Xi County), Xinxing (Xinzhou), and Tailing (Wenshui), forming five divisions, amounting to hundreds of thousands of people. "The chief of Xianbei once went to Wei to contribute, and asked for the city. Cao Cao is king. Xianbei people taste and state markets. [12] By the time of the Song Dynasty, although the relationship between the Northern Song Dynasty regime and the Liao aristocracy (Khitan) was tense, the ** exchanges were not interrupted. At that time, there was not only a trading market in Bingzhou (Taiyuan), there were still a field along the border, and the Liao and Song Dynasty had Shuozhou Rongchang and Tanglong Town (now Shanxi Guandong) horse market in Shanxi; The Song Dynasty also set up a field in Daizhou and other places. The Northern Song Dynasty was once with Liao**, and the west of the state was Hehe (Xingxian), and Baode was bordered by the (Huang) River in the north; The Xia people came west, and the Liao soldiers went south, gathered on the border of Lin and Fu, and were attacked by the enemy in the Hehe River and Baode, and there was no time for requisition. Liao and Xia are both conducive to the mutual market, and this is the way to control. ......Those who are not in the official market are allowed to trade with the people. [13] At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, relations between Han and Mongolia were tense. The border trade was interrupted, the Ming ** built the Great Wall, stationed heavy troops to defend the Mongols from going south, and the Mongolian people could not endure the difficult life of "no cauldron for a long time", and after many negotiations, an agreement was reached on the regular opening of the border market. Xu Wei, a general of the Ming Dynasty stationed in the border town of Datong, wrote a poem after participating in the negotiations: "Thousands of miles of red rabbits hide in Wancheng, and a yellow sheep is in the old camp." Since ancient times, chess has been killed, and everyone is friendly to avoid winning or losing." On the border of Shanxi, there are Victory Fort, Kill Tiger Mouth, Xinping Fort, Shuiquan Camp Fort and so on. After the Kangxi Emperor unified Inner and Outer Mongolia in the early Qing Dynasty, this kind of commodity trade has been further developed, starting from Heilongjiang and Hulunbuir in the east, passing through Inner and Outer Mongolia to Tarbagatai and Ili in Xinjiang in the northwest.
In addition to attaching importance to the development of exchanges with various ethnic groups in the north, Jin merchants also opened up markets to the whole country. They sold cattle, sheep, camels, and horses to the south, transported tobacco, alcohol, sugar, cloth and tea to the north, transported Sichuan Xiabu to the east, and bought ginseng from the northeast to the west, so as to promote the great exchange of materials across the country. So far, in Beijing, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hebei, Anhui, Shandong, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, Xinjiang and other places There are many relics of Jin merchants, such as Luoyang Zelu Hall, Bozhou Flower Opera Building, Liaocheng Shanxi Hall, Suzhou Quanjin Hall, Beijing Liubiju, Liaoning Chaoyang County, Inner Mongolia Baotou City, Outer Mongolia Kebuduo, Ningxia Dingyuanying, Gansu Laoxi Temple, Kweichow Moutai, Hubei Yanglou Cave and so on.
Shanxi people not only attach importance to domestic activities very early, but also have a long history of engaging in international activities. It was already involved in the international community as early as the 7th century AD. In the Tang Dynasty, Shanxi people entered the Silk Road, and most of the silk sold to Central Asia was the product of Lu'an Mansion in Shanxi, followed by the silk in Lushan in Henan and Weixian in Shandong. At that time, the silk of Gaoping, Yangcheng and Qinshui not only paid tribute to the royal family, but also exported to various countries in the Western Regions. In addition to silk, exports include Linfen's hemp paper, Taiyuan copper products and so on. These goods were sold along the Taiyuan-Chang'an Silk Road to the west to Persia, India and Arab countries. On the way, there is a "Hujiabao" in Lingshi County, Shanxi, and it is said that the village got its name from the place where merchants from the Western Regions came and went. In the "General Dictionary and Frontier Defense", the "Jing Xingji" says: Du Huan in the tenth year of Tianbao (751 AD) with the Zhenxi Jiedu envoy Gao Xianzhi to the west, was captured for ten years, he was in the capital of Dashi (now Arabia) Ajuro (that is, Guande, now Iraq), and saw the two people of Hedong Lele and Pinli weaving silk. [14] Marco Polo, a famous Venetian merchant who traveled to Shanxi, recalls in his Travels of Marco Polo: "Commerce here (in the Taiyuan area) was quite developed, and all kinds of items could be manufactured, especially ** and other munitions. These ordnances, which are exclusively used by the royal army, are very convenient. ......Leaving Taiyuan Province, we traveled west (south) for seven days, passing through a beautiful area (referring to the Jinzhong Basin) where there were many cities and fortresses. Commerce and manufacturing are thriving. Merchants in this area spread all over the country and made huge profits. After passing through this area, we arrived at a very important large city called Binh Duong City, where there are also many merchants and handicrafts, and silk ...... is abundant here
Shanxi people have accumulated a lot of experience in thousands of years of business, and these experiences from practice have been passed down from generation to generation, and have been repeatedly refined, and have gradually become the benchmark of Jin merchants, implying the spirit of Jin merchants. It is embodied in the oral proverbs of Jin merchants. For example: "Integrity is gold, righteousness makes profit"; "Fairness comes from wealth"; "The smiling face is always open, and the harmony makes money"; "Profit for a while, self-obstruction of trade routes"; "A gentleman is virtuous, and a villain is suitable", "the world's buyers, food and clothing, parents", "I would rather give up money than marry a family"; "Children rely on raising, signboards rely on breaking", and so on.
Geographical endowment of resources
The special geographical location of Shanxi determines the long-term nature of the border trade business of the Jin merchants. The Han, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties continued. In the Qing Dynasty, Jin merchants not only entered Mongolia, but also after the signing of the Sino-Russian Treaty of Nebuchu in 1689 (the 28th year of Kangxi), all holders of "passports" were allowed to cross the border and communicate with Russia for mutual trading. Since then, Shanxi merchants have gone north to Russia and even Europe, and have gone straight to Petersburg to do business. By 1917, there were more than 10,000 people in Fenyang County, Shanxi Province, doing business in Russia. Yuci's Changjia Dade Jade, Da Meiyu, Dushen Jade, Fenyang Niujiabi Guangfa, Taigu Caojia Jin Taiheng, Qixian Wang Xiangqing, Zhang Jie, Shi University Cooperation Da Shengkui, Qiao Jia Heng Longguang, Pingyao Wei Shengchang, etc., all take Kyakhta as the center to Mongolia, Russia and Europe. Marx said: "As a result of this growth, Kyakhta, located on the territory of **, has developed from an ordinary fortress and bazaar into a fairly large city. It became the capital of the border region and was home to a military commander and a civil officer. [15] The main cities in which Shanxi people were active in Russia were Moscow, Domsk, Yerketsk, Krayatsk, Novosibirsk, Barnau, Bargujin, Bisik, Verkhniy Uginsk, Nerchensk, Petersburg, and so on. With the development of the first at home and abroad, the Jin merchants opened up the Ming and Qing dynasties, the north, the south, the east and the west, the two intersections of the international trade route and the sea to Japan. See Chapter 2 for details). Qixian Hesheng Yuan Ticket Co., Ltd. has set up its branches in Yokohama, Osaka, Tokyo, Kobe and Incheon in North Korea, called Hesheng Yuan Bank, and is engaged in international financial business.