On the relationship between the emergence of Huizhou merchants and Huizhou society

Huizhou was born in Zhou She and was founded in the 9th year of Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty (589). From the third year of Song Huizong Xuanhe (1 12 1), it was renamed Huizhou, but it was renamed Xing 'an House at the end of the Yuan Dynasty (1357- 1367), and until 790 after the Revolution of 1911, the name Huizhou remained in use for 780 years. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Huizhou merchants dominated the business circles in China for more than 500 years, and there was a saying that "no town can be built without emblem" and "Huizhou merchants are all over the world". Today, the success of Huizhou merchants is still an important topic of study in all walks of life, and whether the success of Huizhou merchants is due to Huizhou or whether Huizhou's fame is due to Huizhou merchants has also become a topic that everyone relishes.

The ancient Huizhou of "one government and six counties" has always been famous for its beautiful mountains and rivers such as Huangshan, Baiyue, Hengjiang and Lianshui. However, although the landscape of Huizhou is good, the natural geographical conditions of "seven mountains, one water, one field, one road and one manor" are undoubtedly the biggest bottleneck of economic development in the traditional society where agricultural economy is dominant.

"Past life without repair, was born in Huizhou. Thirteen or fourteen years old, throw it out. " Up to now, we have been unable to verify the author and creation age of this Huizhou ballad, but it is familiar to generations of Huizhou people. In the long years, being born in Huizhou not only means enjoying the "cool breeze and bright moon", but also contains many pressures for survival and development. Who can talk about the hardships here? Generation after generation of Huizhou children bid farewell to their families at the entrance to the village, pack their bags, climb mountains and mountains, and rush to other places and the next post station of their lives. Decades later, they are white-haired and old. What still stirs in their hearts is this sad song of life and struggle: "I didn't practice in my previous life, but I was born in Huizhou after reincarnation;" How much bitterness and tears, joys and sorrows, honor and disgrace are also staged in turn. "

Huizhou people wave after wave, and it is with the indomitable spirit of "Huizhou Camel" and "Jixi Cattle" that they have created "Huizhou Merchants" who have dominated China for a hundred years. As a result, for a long time in Ming and Qing Dynasties, the sign of judging the development degree of a local market economy was to see how many Huizhou people were doing business in this town-the so-called "no town and no emblem".

Take Yangzhou, a commercial center at that time, as an example. Its prosperity is largely attributed to Huizhou merchants living in Huizhou. Even Mr. Chen Qubing, an important member of Nanshe in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, said in his Five Stone Fats that Yangzhou was a "colony" of Huizhou merchants: "Huizhou people first lived in Yangzhou, and their time should be in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, so Yangzhou flourished, and Huizhou merchants opened up and established a colony of Huizhou merchants.

Huizhou merchants not only succeeded in shopping malls, but also attached great importance to the cultural education of family children. In addition, Huizhou people believe in the philosophy of hard struggle. In this situation, it is inevitable that there will be a large number of talents in Huizhou. In the imperial examinations in traditional society, Huizhou people have created many miracles: "Three halls write in succession, ten miles write, and four Hanlin write". For Xiuning County, which had a population of only 100,000 at that time, 19 champion emerged from the Southern Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, far surpassing the once famous Suzhou, ranking first in the country and becoming the first champion county in China!

Of course, becoming a leader in the field of science does not necessarily mean becoming a pillar of the country and the nation, but it provides a yardstick to prove the success of Huizhou's cultural and educational undertakings at that time. Considering that the population of Huizhou at that time did not exceed one million (even today, the total population of Huizhou did not exceed two million), looking back at a long list of names of Huizhou people shining with star light in the history of the Chinese nation, it is proved from another side that the high success rate of Huizhou children is indeed worthy of the reputation of "Southeast Zou Lu".

The emergence of a group of businessmen with strong economic strength and high cultural literacy makes Huizhou culture shine from another level. Huizhou merchants have a strong sense of identity with their native land. After his success, he spent a huge sum of money to build a magnificent mansion in his hometown, fearing the decoration of carved beams and painted buildings. In addition, Huizhou merchants also pay attention to local "infrastructure construction" and "public services", spare no effort to build bridges and roads, and recruit famous teachers to set up compulsory schools. Huizhou people who pay attention to the "harmony between man and nature" in Feng Shui are also consciously or unconsciously pursuing "the beauty of harmony" at the social level.

There are many mountainous areas with superior natural and geographical conditions like Huizhou in China, but why did Huizhou alone achieve such a splendid civilization? There are two reasons for this, or it can be said that Huizhou's social and economic development is driven by two wheels: one is business and the other is culture and education. The two complement each other and are indispensable. These two driving forces to promote Huizhou's social development, interpreted by the current discourse industry, are actually market economy and basic education. Huizhou's experience still has positive reference significance for today's social development.

The success of Huizhou merchants promoted the social, economic and cultural development of Huizhou and made Huizhou famous in China and even the world. At the same time, the development of Huizhou social culture and the progress of Huizhou society also created a special social environment for the growth of Huizhou merchants. It is in this complementary relationship that Huizhou merchants and Huizhou society continue to develop.