双子星座:徽商、晋商比较研究

明清时期的徽商与晋商兴衰轨迹极其相似,商帮性质也别无二致。但经营机制各具特色:徽商任用宗族人员,使用僮仆,慎择掌计;晋商避亲用乡,采用人身顶股制和层级管理制。价值取向也迥然有别:读书仕进是徽商的终极追求,而经商谋利是晋商的第一选择。由此产生的不同影响是徽商衰落了,但其所支持的文化事业发展了,他们培养的一代代文化精英,推动了我国传统文化的发展。晋商衰落了,随之而来的文化事业上的空白,给我们留下了无穷的遗憾。

Gemini the twins--A Comparative study of Huizhou merchants and Shanxi merchants

Huizhou Merchants and Shanxi Merchants,two similar commercial cliques in the Ming and Qing dynasties,rose and fell in basically the same way,but each operated in its own manner.The former hired clansmen and servants,and selected head assistants cautiously;the latter employed fellow villagers,who became stockholders with their labor,and adopted a hierarchical management system.The two were also utterly different in their values: the ultimate goal of the former was to hold official positions by taking imperial examinations,while the latter regarded earning money as its primary choice.Therefore,although Huizhou Merchants declined,the cultural undertakings they supported prospered,leading to the emergence of generations of elite intellectuals who promoted the development of traditional Chinese culture.In contrast,when Shanxi Merchants were on the wane,they left nothing culturally significant,which is an endless regret for later generations.