Three hundred and sixty lines, why did the ancient merchants have the lowest status?

Because there is demand, different industries are formed. is the so-called 360 lines, and the line is the champion. There will be elites in every industry, so why was the status of merchants so low in ancient times?

In ancient times, it was in a feudal period, and at that time it was divided into four different classes, namely scholars, farmers, industrialists, and merchants, and the status of merchants was at the lowest. Merchants were the type of people who had a lot of wealth, but they could not casually wear clothes made of silk, all because they were bound by feudal rule.

At that time, people were bound by feudal rulers, and they were exposed to Confucianism, which was deeply ingrained in their minds. Because Confucianism is about generosity and benevolence. And businessmen happen to be the opposite of Confucianism.

We all know that there is a saying that says, "No treacherous business". It seems that businessmen will have some business shortages, just to seek more profits. In this way, under the suppression of Confucianism, the status of merchants slowly became very low.

Another reason is that at that time, every household followed the principle that men cultivated the land and women weaved cloth. The economy is not particularly developed, as long as you can fill your stomach every day, there is no other need. As a result, the demand for goods is low.

At that time, most of the merchants wandered the streets to sell their wares, without any means of transportation, which was why they looked more like poor vagabonds. In order to make a living, they wandered all day long, and there was no fixed place of residence, and people at that time thought that only by studying could they have a good way out, and the behavior of merchants was even more negative, so the status of merchants was getting lower and lower day by day.

In ancient times, merchants had a very low status, because at that time, they made a certain profit by selling goods, but many people were unwilling to accept it.

In ancient times, it was an agrarian society, and because China was rich in land and resources, it was able to produce its own products and was self-sufficient, and there was no need to trade with the outside world to support itself, so the status of merchants was low.

I think that in ancient times, merchants resold products from all over the world to benefit, which would make many people despise, and many of them were people from other places, who were not very familiar with the local people, so they were not easy to be accepted by the locals, and their natural status was low.

Because the status of businessmen is the lowest, because in the eyes of many people, their opportunistic actions are obvious. Everyone is a real person, and these transactions are sold from place to place, the money comes too quickly, and it is not earned by hard work, so it is naturally of low status.

At that time, most of the people were ordinary people, and in addition to the relatively high profits of merchants, everyone made a lot of money, forming a certain class, so it was easy to be despised by the common people.

In ancient times, China was a large agricultural country, attached great importance to the development of agriculture, and also cared very much about farmers, and did not support the activities of merchants.

In ancient times, great attention was paid to elegant etiquette, and the literati believed that money was a mundane thing and disdained to be with it, and the merchants themselves needed to be slippery, and it was difficult to match the literati! So the status of the merchant is the lowest!

Compared with those who have achieved fame by their own efforts, they always think that merchants are some groveling people, opportunistic, not down-to-earth, so the status of merchants at that time was even lower than that of peasants.

I think the reason why merchants in ancient times had the lowest status was because merchants at that time had no power, and ancient people were more eager for power, so he had a low status as a businessman.

In feudal societies, emperors were often deified and promoted as the embodiment of magical powers sent by Heaven to rule over the people. In a sense, it can be said that the emperor and ** are the highest landlord class. They exploit the people through political power in order to sustain themselves.

The looted money and land allowed the emperor and the high-ranking ** to control the common people.

However, businessmen through business, exchange with each other, the people's money quickly accumulated, so that they can also live a luxurious life like the emperor and **, which to a certain extent has threatened the traditional ideas that have been propagated, threatened the identity and status of the emperor and **, and also made the people question the authenticity of the so-called theocracy. Therefore, it is not surprising that the policy of "emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business" has always been practiced in modern times.

The status of merchants in ancient times was very low. Although some merchants could make a lot of money by doing business, the ruler did not allow them to wear silk clothes, nor did they allow them to live in spacious houses, let alone ride in tall sedan chairs. In ancient feudal society, the ruling class divided people into four categories: scholars, farmers, industrialists, and merchants according to their occupations.

Merchants are at the bottom of the list.

There are deep-seated social reasons for the low social status of merchants. To put it simply, there are four main aspects: first, successive dynasties have adopted a policy of "emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce", because the rulers felt that merchants were likely to threaten their rule after making money in business; Second, the administrative level in ancient China was still relatively low, and for the ruling class, the merchant group was more difficult to manage, because they were not like the peasants, who could collect taxes according to the fields; Thirdly, merchants made business and moved around the country, which posed a threat to the stable rule of society; Fourth, after earning a lot of wealth, some businessmen will help some power-coveters plot rebellion and subvert the existing ruling class, such as Lü Buwei, a big businessman in the Warring States Period, who spent a lot of money to fund the prince Yiren of Qin who was a hostage in Zhao State, which eventually affected the trend of history.

What about the status of merchants in ancient times.

In ancient China, the social status of merchants was very low. From the perspective of historical development, the social status of ancient merchants has undergone a development process from high to high, and then from low to high.

In ancient times, there was a saying that "Shinong was a businessman", the first was an official and a scholar, the second was a farmer, the third was a worker, and the fourth was a merchant; Among the nine streams, even the common people have such a arrangement: emperors, sages, hermits, children, immortals, literati, samurai, farmers, industrialists, merchants, and merchants are also ranked last.

The fact that businessmen are "lowly and lowly is said to be in the market, and they are not allowed to be in the company of scholars" fully illustrates the embarrassing situation of merchants for a long time in ancient times.

In the long ancient society, the social status of merchants has undergone a process of development from high to high, and then from low to high, until it has become a class respected by society.

The Shang Dynasty Reform was a watershed in the social status of merchants. Before the Shang Dynasty reformed the law, the social status of merchants was not low.

After the Shang Dynasty reform, the status of merchants began to become low. Although businessmen may make money, they lose a lot of power politically. It was from this time that the ranking of "Shinong Industry and Commerce" began.

1. The reason for the low status of merchants in ancient times was the suppression of feudal social dynasties, during the Shang Dynasty Reform Period, the Qin State severely cracked down on commerce, so as to improve the status of agriculture, and later the feudal dynasties followed the policy of emphasizing agriculture over commerce, and then the status of merchants was suppressed again.

2. A businessman refers to a person who obtains profits by using certain tangible or intangible resources of his or her own or social resources as a tool and bears certain social responsibilities, or refers to a person who implements business activities in his own name and takes it as a career.

Because China adopted a policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce in ancient times, this led to the fact that the status of all merchants was not only relatively low, but also had to bear relatively heavy taxes.

This is because of the policy of "valuing agriculture and suppressing commerce", so the status of merchants in ancient China was generally very low.

This has something to do with the ancient system, where people attached great importance to agriculture because agriculture could bring food rations to everyone. In ancient times, merchants were considered opportunistic.

The main reason for the low status of merchants in ancient China was that ancient China was a natural economy, self-sufficient, and had a low demand for trade, and the role of merchants was inconspicuous; secondly, it was also bound by Confucianism, and businessmen were given the impression of "no treachery and no business", which led to suppression; In addition, the ancient currency was not developed, and a large number of currencies were heavy, resulting in a small scale.

In ancient times, why was the status of merchants not high?

1. Natural economic impacts

In the ancient period of our country, more than 2,000 years of feudal dynasties have always been the natural economy of "male ploughing and female weaving", social productivity is low, people are self-sufficient, and the natural demand for ** is relatively small, and the role of merchants is not inconspicuous.

2. Confucianism is bound

The emergence of Confucianism has also become an important factor in the suppression of merchants, the feudal rulers rule the people with Confucianism, Confucianism pays attention to honesty and honesty with people, and merchants are given the impression of "no treacherous business", naturally they are suppressed, resulting in low status.

3. The currency is underdeveloped

Merchants want to carry out **, naturally the support of currency is indispensable, and the currency of the Qin and Han dynasties is mainly made of metal, if the scale of ** is relatively large, a large amount of currency is needed, and there is the problem of insecurity of this property, so the scale is small. Reputation.

Yes, in ancient times the merchant status was low.

In ancient China, the status of merchants was low, during the Qin Dynasty, even if the merchants were rich, they could not wear silk clothes, and in the Tang Dynasty, merchants could not enter the court as officials, until the Ming and Qing dynasties, the status of merchants changed, from the rich businessmen had no way to the rich businessmen had a way. The Chinese businessman Salted Fish turned over successfully.

Qin: You can't wear silk clothes.

Han: Confiscation of family property if the declaration is false.

Tang: You can't be an official in the court.

Song: The situation of discrimination has improved.

Qing: The first red-capped merchant.

Today's law clearly stipulates that all citizens have equal capacity for civil rights. In ancient times, some people were born with privileges, while others were discriminated against and restricted. For example, businessmen were not welcomed in ancient times, because at that time, they were unable to engage in politics until the Ming and Qing dynasties, when businessmen began to enter the official career.

Dynasties are not the same.

The Song Dynasty encouraged industry and commerce, the economy prospered, and the status of merchants was not low.

Many dynasties suppressed merchants because the vast wealth in the hands of merchants could threaten imperial power. If you want to get rich, the emperor also hopes that he will "reward" him and make a profit.

In ancient China, the identity of human beings was divided into several levels, namely municipal agriculture and industry. As the economic lifeblood of the country, merchants should have a high status and have a very important influence, but why was the status of merchants in ancient times very low?

Generally speaking, it is low, which is determined by the social system and cultural system, but it does not mean that the businessman has no power. Especially big businessmen.

Shinong industry and commerce, business is the lowest, the TV series is just **life, higher than life, don't believe it, in many times (dynasties), business is the most humble profession!!

Because it's a TV series. Many TV series can't stand up to scrutiny.

It is lowered, as if it was raised at the end of the Ming Dynasty, when capitalism was budding, it seemed to be improved.

I think there are several reasons for this.

1.Taxation: Ancient China was an agrarian society, from the Qin Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, all emphasized agriculture-oriented, which did have traditions and considerations about the people's food and clothing and even the stability of the dynasty.

But even more important is the ease of rule and taxation! The feudal peasants bore the triple responsibility of taxation, taxation and servitude to the state, and the emperor collected the land rent of the whole country through officials of all sizes as taxes, and collected the poll tax for the people to send out work for infrastructure construction (repairing rivers, building tombs and even garrisoning borders) for servitude. And there are prerequisites for any of this, namely the relative fixity of the personnel and the goodness of the population.

The personnel are fixed, the taxes are easy to collect, and the labor is convenient for the tribe, so there is a household registration system, a protection system, etc., to restrict the flow of personnel. Especially in the heyday, when the population grew rapidly, the poll tax became a very important part of the country's income, and more emphasis was placed on the relative stability of personnel. The characteristic of a merchant is to go with the flow, and of course it will not be popular with the rulers.

The characteristics of the labor of the people, especially those engaged in agricultural production, determine their relative stability and strong disaster tolerance (good conduct), on the contrary, the profit-seeking nature and adventurous spirit of the merchants are difficult to exploit for a long time! Therefore, it has been suppressed by the ruling group for a long time and has a low status.

2.Long-term backwardness of economic thinking: The ancients only saw that merchants sold high and bought low in the field of circulation, earning the difference in the middle price, and thought that they were treacherous and cunning, and they did not produce but shared their profits in vain!

It is believed that business itself does not create value (even Marxist economics has this saying), but harms agriculture, so there is a theory of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business.

This also contributed to the low social status of merchants.

3.The influence of social psychology: because of the above two points, under the deliberate description and inducement of the intellectuals of the ruling class and the landlord class, the professional status of businessmen in the psychology of the public is gradually sinking, and the evil deeds of a few industrial scum are infinitely exaggerated or even magnified into the group portrait of the entire occupational group.

Guanzi has said that valuing commerce and light agriculture is the saying that putting the cart before the horse, and China has been a fairly agricultural country since ancient times, so the status of merchants is relatively low, and it has nothing to do with what Confucianism is important or businessmen are mercenary, and there is only a farmer's saying, and there is no businessman's theory, and most of the businessmen in ancient times are not involved in politics, because businessmen have made them have rented land, land, property, money, etc., and they do not need to get it from politics, however, people who have changed from business to politics, Many of them are very famous in history, such as Lü Buwei, Lu Su, etc., and the stability of society is closely related to businessmen, ** is both love and hate, so they try to suppress the status of businessmen, but at the same time try to tie them down.