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Consumption: Two Pairs of Thought Involving Merchants

In: Merchants, Market and Monarchy

Author

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  • Tengda Hua

    (Shanghai University of Political Science and Law)

Abstract

This chapter and Chapter 7 will focus on the relative position of merchants among the four occupations from the perspective of economic thought. The first thing that cannot be avoided is the debate over two core issues in ancient Chinese economic thought: righteousness vs. profits, and thrift vs. luxury. The debate over righteousness and profits reveals the scholars’ views on the role of merchants, and the argumentation of righteousness and profits leads to an important issue in the history of economic thought: usury activities involving merchants. The issue of luxury and frugality was related to the rationality of the luxury life of merchants (what do scholars and commoners in society think about this), and this is particularly prominent in the mid-to-late period when commerce was booming. These two pairs of views are our essential prerequisites for judging whether the order of scholars, peasants, artisans, and merchants was still sound in the Ming Empire and the merchants’ predicament, especially when compared with Western merchants.

Suggested Citation

  • Tengda Hua, 2021. "Consumption: Two Pairs of Thought Involving Merchants," Palgrave Studies in the History of Economic Thought, in: Merchants, Market and Monarchy, chapter 0, pages 175-210, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:pshchp:978-3-030-77189-8_6
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-77189-8_6
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