Sixth Century BCE to Seventeenth Century
Page 48
him. He then secretly asked the merchants to buy embroidered silk clothes
in red and purple, several tens of thousands in number, in preparation
for [the forthcoming] rebellion.66
The above description strongly suggests that the meeting was designed as a fund-
raising campaign with Central Asian merchants as the primary target. The reli-
gious atmosphere prob ably helped to strengthen their faith in An Lushan’s suc-
cess as an empire bidder. From this whole account, we know that Central Asian
(especially Sogdian) merchants had for many years contributed huge amounts
of money and goods to fi nance An Lushan’s secret planning for rebellion.
There can be little doubt that the active participation of the Central Asian
merchants in the rebellion must have been motivated by the prospect of estab-
lishing their dominant trading position in China under An Lushan’s dynasty.
This observation seems further confi rmed by the revolt of Central Asian
merchants in Wuwei (modern Gansu) in 757, slightly over a year after the break-
out of the rebellion. In this case, the merchant leader’s name was An Menwu,
showing unmistakably that his ethnic identity was the same as An Lushan’s.
This merchant group must have been power ful and of a considerable size, for
they were able to take fi ve of the seven cities in Wuwei and hold them for seven-
teen days.67
On the other side, it is equally signifi cant to note that the Tang court also
relied on “forced loans” from rich merchants of the Yangzi valley and of Sich-
uan to fi nance its war against the rebels.68 Furthermore, I must mention that
the Uighurs’ (Huihu) decision to side with China against An Lushan was not
only prompted by the promise of Emperor Suzong to allow them to plunder the
wealth of the two capitals after their recapture from the rebels but, more impor-
tant, by the prospect of a long- term exchange trade between Uighurs’ horses
and Tang’s silk.69 The Uighurs and Central Asian merchants were rivals in the
Chinese market. It was only after the rebellion that the latter became depen-
dent on the privileged position of the former to do business in China, but the
tension between the two groups never really eased. Thus, around 780, the Ui-
ghurs massacred thousands of Central Asians in their state while Central Asian
merchants in Chang-an, in retaliation, also seized an opportunity to urge a
Tang general to execute the Uighur envoy and merchants, more than nine hun-
dred in number.70 Naturally, the Uighurs viewed An Lushan’s rebellion with
deep hostility from its very beginning.
If my interpretation is not too far- fetched, then I must say that barbarian
merchants played no small role in the entire historical pro cess of the An Lushan
Rebellion, which has been generally recognized as one of the most impor tant
turning points in Chinese history. There is also evidence that even Chinese mer-
chants showed some interest in bearing arms. For example, when the rebellion
broke out in 755, the imperial guards proved to be incapable of defending the
242 busine s s c ul t ur e a nd c h ine s e t r adi t ions
capital because all of them came from marketplaces, originally either trades-
men or peddlers.71 Another in ter est ing example is provided by a case dated
844 in Xingzhou (in modern Hebei). There the regional commander Pei Wen’s
army consisted largely of “sons and younger brothers of wealthy merchants.”72
The second case is especially puzzling. Why should young men from such rich
families choose to serve as ordinary soldiers? In both cases, apparently, these
people of merchant background joined the military forces of their own accord.
This phenomenon seems to reveal something new about Tang merchants, but
exactly what still needs further exploration.
One impor tant way to mea sure the po liti cal and social status of merchants
in imperial China is to examine their relationship with the examination sys-
tem. As we have learned from Han Fei, it was already a common practice in the
Warring States Period for wealthy merchants to purchase offi
ces and titles.
After the unifi cation, this practice was by and large continued throughout the
imperial age. Since it was an irregular channel, however, offi
ces and titles ob-
tained through it carried less power than “business connections” in high places.
But it was a wholly diff er ent matter with the examination system, which was
traditionally held as the “right path” ( zhengtu
) to offi
cialdom. The “exami-
nation system” has a broad defi nition as well as a narrow one. Broadly defi ned,
it may be traced back to 124 b.c.e. when the Imperial Acad emy (Taixue
)
was founded. Narrowly defi ned, it began only in the early years of the seventh
century during the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui (604–616), with the presti-
gious jinshi
degree as its central feature. In this chapter, I use the term in
the latter sense, which is generally known as keju
. During the Sui- Tang
Period, the system was legally closed to the merchants and their sons, and in
practice, we have yet to fi nd evidence to the contrary.
It was under the Song dynasty that the ban imposed on the merchant class
was relaxed. The late Professor Lien- sheng Yang (Yang Liansheng) discovered a
regulation, dated 1044, in the Song huiyao jigao
(Collected Im por-
tant Documents of the Song), which throws new light on this prob lem. The
regulation only required that “the candidate himself ( shen
) was not a mer-
chant or artisan and had not formerly been ( cengwei
) a Buddhist monk or
Daoist priest.” According to Professor Yang’s interpretation, “The use of the
words ‘himself’ and ‘formerly’ seems to indicate that family members of mer-
chants, or even ex- merchants themselves, would be allowed to take the exami-
nations.” I believe this interpretation is very reasonable. I also agree with his
overall judgment, based not only on the regulation itself but also on other per-
tinent facts, that “[For] the last several hundred years, the merchants had re-
ceived a kind of po liti cal emancipation.”73
Let me illustrate this point by selecting two or three examples from the huge
collection of anecdotes and stories, Yijian zhi
(Stories of Yijian, Rec ords
of the Listener), by Hong Mai
(1123–1202). During the zhenghe reign of
busine s s c ul t ur e a nd c h ine s e t r adi t ions 243
Emperor Huizong (1111–1125), an old man named Wu of the city of Rao (modern
Jiangxi) was locally known for his hat- making business. His constant contact
with those customers who were candidates for prefectural examinations made
him envious of their social status. He was therefore determined to send his
bright son to school with the hope of making him one of them someday. Fi nally,
the son succeeded in the examinations and rose to the position of prefectural
supervisor of ever- normal granaries.74 Another story of a similar nature hap-
pened to a poor merchant named Pan of Jinyun (modern Zhejiang). A pouring
<
br /> rain came while he was trading in the city. He went to a nearby house for shel-
ter, unaware of its being a brothel. He stayed in the corridor overnight. One of
the girls in her dream saw a black dragon in the corridor and discovered him
the next morning. Greatly impressed, she off ered help by entrusting all her sav-
ings for his management. Eventually, he became enormously wealthy and mar-
ried her. They had a son who passed the jinshi examination and had a success-
ful career leading to prefectural governorship.75 In both cases, Hong Mai as a
twelfth- century story narrator simply took it for granted that sons of merchants
were completely free to take the examinations. Our second story is doubly in ter-
est ing. The “black dragon” symbolized a person of great importance in the popu-
lar culture of the time. In the story that immediately precedes this one, which
supposedly also took place in the city of Jinyun, the same symbolism is applied
to a future “prime minister.”76 It seems to suggest that a rich merchant was
considered comparable to a top- ranking offi
cial in social importance, at least in
popu lar thought.
Still another anecdote indicates that it was indeed pos
si
ble for an “ex-
merchant” to become an examination candidate, as the regulation of 1044 says.
A scholar of Panyang (in modern Jiangxi) named Huang Andao failed several
times in examinations. He almost made up his mind to pursue a business
career and even had considerable beginner’s luck in his inter- regional trade be-
tween the capital, Luoyang, and Chang-an. At the insistence of his friends, how-
ever, he gave the other alternative a last try only a few days before his scheduled
departure on a business trip from the capital to the west. This time, he passed
the metropolitan examination.77 In this case, our hero actually vacillated be-
tween his two career choices, showing the blurring of the line between scholar
and merchant. With the breakdown of the offi
cial market system, it was prob-
ably diffi
cult to determine who was a merchant. The credibility of this story is
amply confi rmed by numerous examples of the Northern Song Period (960–1127)
showing that it was a common practice for provincial candidates to bring local
commodities to the market in the capital (Kaifeng) when they came to take
metropolitan examinations. As the early eleventh- century state councilor Song
Xiang remarked, “Of all the provincial candidates coming for metropolitan ex-
aminations, can we fi nd a single person who has taken the trip without bring-
ing some goods to sell?”78 As a matter of fact, examination candidates were by
244 busine s s c ul t ur e a nd c h ine s e t r adi t ions
no means the only group turning into part- time merchants. As a detailed study
by Quan Hansheng shows, government offi
cials’ private business activities
under the Song reached monstrous proportions.79
It may be questioned that the Stories of Yijian, Rec ords of the Listener, in addi-
tion to being a work of fi ction, is also somewhat late as evidence for the regulation
of 1044 regarding the qualifi ed ac cep tance of the merchants to the examination
system. To remove this doubt, let me give two eleventh- century examples whose
historical authenticity is beyond dispute. In a memorial to the throne, dated
1067, Su Che proposed to enhance the intellectual quality of the jinshi degree
by raising the candidate’s age and cutting down the total number. One reason
he gave was that the current system was so loose that “families of farmers, arti-
sans and merchants have all abandoned their old occupations to pursue schol-
arly careers.” 80 Obviously, this could have happened only if the regulation of
1044 had been enforced. Wang Pizhi
(b. 1031 and jinshi 1067), a scholar-
offi
cial from Shandong, told a story about a merchant family in Caozhou (also
in Shandong). A certain market man named Yu Lingyi
was known for
his kindness and generosity. He became very rich in his old age and established
a private school for the children of his clan. As a result, one of his sons and two
nephews all succeeded in jinshi examinations years later.81 This case proves
conclusively that sons of merchants were free to take regular examinations by
the second half of the eleventh century, if not earlier.
On the whole, the social place of the merchant in the Song Period undoubt-
edly improved. We must not overstate our case, however. In the eyes of a brothel
girl, a rich merchant may have been just as impor tant as a prime minister, but
the intellectual elite still refused to take someone with a merchant background
as a social equal. Thus, in the twelfth century when Meng Sikong
was
appointed the envoy to the Jurchens, his colleagues at the court derided him by
imitating a line of Su Shi’s
famous poem to his brother on a similar occa-
sion, saying: “Tell them, you are the son of a salt merchant.” 82 This story re-
minds us of a parallel development in con temporary Eu rope. The hereditary
warriors in the twelfth century were also much disturbed by those rich mer-
chants who aspired to knighthood for themselves or their sons. The German
barons also spoke of the nouveau riche contemptuously as “men in trades and
crafts.” 83 It is indeed an in ter est ing coincidence that in exactly the same century,
the ruling elite in both China and Eu rope equally felt the power ful presence of
the emerging merchant class.
Before leaving the Tang- Song Period, I wish to briefl y mention contributions
of the expanding market to Chinese elite culture of the period. In his long letter
to Yuan Zhen
written prob ably in 816, the most widely read poet, Bo Juyi
, told his friend the following story. A sing- song girl in the capital told her
potential employer that since she was able to sing the “Changhen ge”
(Song of Everlasting Sorrow) of Bo Juyi, she ought not be treated as any ordi-
nary girl. As a result, the employer agreed to pay her a much higher price. Bo
busine s s c ul t ur e a nd c h ine s e t r adi t ions 245
also mentioned to his friend that just the day before, he was invited to a drink-
ing and singing party and all the sing- song girls immediately recognized him
as the writer of the “Song of Everlasting Sorrow.” 84 Poetry was the crowning
achievement of Tang culture, but it obviously owed much to the thriving enter-
tainment business for its wide dissemination. The Tang entertainment world
also included wine shops with beautiful Central Asian dancers and singers lo-
cated in the Western market of Chang-an. These wine shops were established
primarily for the con ve nience of foreign visitors, especially Central Asian, Per-
sian, and Uighur merchants. However, they also turned out to be the favorite
places of Chinese poets, including the great Li Bo
. Many of them described
these exotic beauties and their performing arts in vivid verses.85 This tradition
continued well into Song times and beyond. The nationwide popularity enjoyed
by ci
/> poetry in Song society such as those of Liu Yong
and Su Shi was
inconceivable without the improvisation of the numerous sing- song girls, both
offi
cial and private.86
The emerging book market was another central feature of the Tang- Song
business world. In his preface to Bo Juyi’s collected works dated 824, Yuan Zhen
said that for the past two de cades many of Bo’s poems as well as his own had
been, without authorization on their part, either hand- copied or printed from
woodblocks and then sold in the market. He specifi cally pointed out that copies
of their miscellaneous poems were largely produced by people in Yang and Yue
(modern Jiangsu and Zhejiang), and circulated in bookstores in the cities.87
There has been some dispute with regard to the term “printing” ( mole) among
specialists, but it does not concern us here. Suffi
ce it to know that the book
market already played an impor tant role in the wide circulation of poetry in
Tang China by the beginning of the ninth century.
By the eleventh century, the printing business in China was in full swing.
However, I shall leave aside government printing offi
ces either in the capital or
in the prefectures, whose primary purpose was not for profi t making. For our
purpose here, only a simple observation on the private book market is needed.
As early as 1044, a court offi
cial was demoted because, among other off enses, he
privately printed books and forced local governments to buy them for huge per-
sonal profi t.88 As a matter of fact, the book trade was a favorite commercial pur-
suit for Song offi
cials at the court as well as in the prefectures. As a general
practice, it continued throughout the Song Period, as shown particularly in the
much discussed case of Tang Zhongyou
at the end of the twelfth
century.89 More noteworthy, however, was the private printing business.90 Writing
in 1128 or later, Ye Mengde
(1077–1148) mentioned four printing centers
of his time: Hangzhou, Sichuan, Fujian, and the capital (recently lost to Jurch-
ens). Of the fi rst three, he considered books printed in Hangzhou to be of the
highest quality, those of Sichuan next, and the worst came from Fujian. But he
concluded, “Now books from Fujian have practically dominated the market