Research on Ming and Qing Dynasty Shanxi Merchants

Author: Huang Jianhui
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-06-01
Features: The Shanxi merchants were one of the ten major merchant groups in China during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Research on Chinese merchant groups started early with the Huizhou merchants, and there is a substantial accumulation of materials. In contrast, research on Shanxi merchants lags behind that of the Huizhou merchants, and domestic research on Shanxi merchants is even behind that of Japan. This book demonstrates that Shanxi merchants played a certain role in the development of the Chinese economy during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The materials in this book address the question that the separation of capital ownership and operational rights among Shanxi merchants began in the late Ming Dynasty and took two forms: one was that salt merchants entrusted part of their capital to others to manage, with profits distributed according to a silver-labor ratio; the other was that wealthy merchants did not keep their silver at home but instead distributed it among their partners for operation. The separation of capital ownership and operational rights among Shanxi merchants began in the late Ming Dynasty because, as wealthy merchants accumulated more capital, they were no longer able to manage it themselves. To seek greater profits, they had no choice but to entrust their partners with the operation. This is the inevitable result of the separation of capital ownership and operational rights.