The First Shandong Confucian Merchants Conference was held on 20 18.
First, changes in the modern business circle.
China was a farming society in ancient times, and businessmen were not a glorious occupation. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the folk business in the south of the Yangtze River was very prosperous, and the earliest group of Confucian businessmen appeared in China. Most of them are businessmen who have no fame but have a strong interest in Confucianism, hoping that future generations can get fame. Some of them are famous businessmen, but whether they are famous or not, they value Confucian morality more than their love for money.
Zhang Jiayi as a Confucian businessman in the Republic of China.
Since modern times, western countries have invaded China, and the business environment has been greatly impacted by western countries. Faced with the plundering of China's resources by various countries, there is a voice of "commercial war" between the business community and westerners, and the society should change from agriculture to commerce to realize "building the country through commerce". Some people even said that China should give priority to businessmen in order to face western powers. In this social atmosphere, the social status of businessmen has been improved, and in modern times, a new class of gentry businessmen has emerged, who are also official businessmen, and their appearance has also become the main members of the Confucian merchant group.
Zheng proposed a commercial war with western countries.
Confucian businessmen and gentry businessmen do overlap, but they cannot be said to be completely equal. Among the gentry and businessmen, only those who still have a strong interest in Confucian culture and regard Confucian businessmen as inseparable can be regarded as Confucian businessmen. Having said that, we will give several examples to talk about the characteristics of Confucian businessmen.
Confucian businessmen in Meng Luochuan, a great businessman.
Second, the typical representative of Confucian businessmen.
Zhang Jian, a native of Jiangsu, is a famous modern entrepreneur. People who know this history should also know that Zhang Jian was the number one scholar in Guangxu in the 19th year. In the imperial examination era of Wanli, those who won the top prize were first-class talents. However, it is such an official who rose from Ran Ran, resolutely gave up his position in the system, returned to his hometown to set up a Sheng Da cotton mill, became a businessman, and set up a local commerce bureau in Tongzhou.
Sheng Da cotton mill founded by Zhang Jian.
Zhang Jian, the top scholar, founded more than 30 enterprises, involving various fields, such as cotton yarn, soap, flour, oil extraction and even real estate industry, which can be said to be the early large-scale commercial group in China. Zhang Jian also became a pivotal figure in the late Qing Dynasty by virtue of his position as the number one scholar and his commercial achievements, spanning both official and business circles. Zhang Jian was a leading figure in the constitutional movement and local autonomy movement in the late Qing Dynasty.
Hou Yong plays Zhang Jian.
Among many titles and identities, the most suitable one for Zhang Jian is "Confucian businessman". Zhang Jian once talked about his motivation to do business, saying that Song Confucianism talked too much in lectures and too little in practice. The world despises literati because they talk too much. After a long time, the literati also negatively despised the secular and stopped speaking for the people. Although it is very painful to get along with bureaucrats with complicated affairs, and it is also quite uncomfortable to get along with businessmen who value profits over points, he wants to change the problem of "all talk and no action" of Song Confucianism, hoping to make some achievements and win breath for scholars. Zhang Jian's own scholar temperament is very different from businessmen's striving for profits and officials' corruption. This contradictory mentality has accompanied Zhang Jian's life.
Zhangjian sculpture
Another representative figure is Jing Yuanshan, who is different from Zhang Jian. Jing Yuanshan's father was poor in his early years, and he abandoned Confucianism to go into business and made a fortune. Most of his junk shops and money houses are traditional industries. After Jing Yuanshan was born, he followed his father in the business world. 1857, 17-year-old Jing Yuanshan began to take over his father's business. 1864, he accepted the imperial crown Dai Hualing and became an official from then on.
But the most crucial step was 1875, when there was a once-in-a-millennium famine in the north. Jiangnan gentry, mainly from Jingyuan Mountain, went to Shandong and other places for rescue many times. This cross-regional large-scale rescue shows the powerful ability of Jiangnan business community and brings Jing Yuanshan and others into Li Hongzhang's field of vision. Since then, Jing Yuanshan has served as the leader of westernization enterprises for many times and was very active in the political and business circles in the late Qing Dynasty.
Jingyuanshan
Although Jing Yuanshan and Zhang Jian took different paths, they both had Confucian temperament, and large-scale rescue of northern provinces was an excellent display of Jing Yuanshan's Confucian temperament. Since then, Jing Yuanshan, with Shanghai as the center and under the leadership of the Shanghai Relief Office, has set up charities in various places and established a non-governmental charity network that can radiate the whole country. Charity has always been accompanied by Jing Yuanshan's life, and his temperament of "helping the world" has been brought to the extreme. His generous personality has won the double appreciation of the people and the government for Jing Yuanshan, and he is well-deserved to be called "Confucian businessman".
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, private charities such as nurseries appeared.
Third, the characteristics of modern Confucian businessmen
In fact, through the example of Zhang Hejing, we can understand the characteristics of Confucian businessmen. Specifically, Confucianism, Confucianism and moral priority are their greatest characteristics. Whether Zhang Jian founded a business to strive for the success of scholars or Jing Yuanshan devoted himself to charity all his life, there were commercial considerations. However, in the late Qing Dynasty, when communication was underdeveloped and there was no "hype and packaging", charity was time-consuming and labor-intensive. If commercial interests are fully considered, Jing Yuanshan will not value charity so much. It can be said that the Confucian concept of saving the world and benevolence and righteousness is very important to Confucian businessmen.
Zhang Jian's academic temperament is very important to his career.
Another quality of Confucian businessmen is that interests are the world. Generally, businessmen make profits for themselves, but unlike Confucian businessmen such as Zhang Jian and Jing Yuanshan, their primary purpose in doing business is to benefit the world. If Zhang Jian walks in the officialdom with the title of No.1 scholar, the future is boundless. Jing Yuanshan is also a typical "rich second generation" born with a golden spoon. They could have completely considered themselves and lived a "happy life". However, both of them chose to "benefit the world". Whether helping the victims or promoting political reform, people who are at the forefront of the times will be killed if they are not careful. In this respect, they have played the Confucian characteristic of "killing one's body to die".
Zhang Jiayi as a Confucian businessman in the Republic of China.