In ancient China, the workers, merchants and merchants are three separate, not each other. Work is the handicraft industry, that is, the production chain; business refers to long-distance trafficking, that is, the circulation chain; Jia is sitting on the sale, can be called the market link. Chinese feudal rulers on the control and management of the market, has always been very strict. The so-called “business suppression” policy was mainly reflected in the suppression of the last stage of commercial activities, that is, the commodity trading process. Therefore, they firmly grasped the market and did not let go. In the urban planning since the Han and Tang dynasties, all trading activities were concentrated in the “city”, and were strictly managed and restricted by the government-appointed officials. However, in the Northern Song Dynasty, the social economy was generally developing everywhere, handicraft production was expanding rapidly, and long-distance trafficking did not play a major role in commercial activities. The Family handicraft workshop was prosperous, and the head of the family was the workshop owner, and the brothers, sons and nephews were the helpers, producing and selling themselves.
The government of the Northern Song Dynasty responded to this trend of the times by destroying and abandoning the walls of the square, integrating the city lanes, and already allowing the opening of stores along the streets. This was an “urban revolution” that made urban Life more and more diversified and promoted commercial prosperity. In the 11th issue of Archaeology magazine in 1963, a diagram of the planning of the city of Tokyo during the Northern Song Dynasty was published. From the diagram, it can be seen that with the change of the city square system, the city market was no longer a special area for the government to manage, and the city was no longer divided into square squares, but rather the streets and alleys were crisscrossed with stores. Tokyo Dreams and Records” recorded that in the late Northern Song Dynasty, many stores were even set up near the palace, “from the Xuande House has been going south, about two hundred wide steps, on both sides is the imperial corridor, the old allowed the city people to buy and sell in the middle, since the government and the official prohibited.”
At that Time, iron smelting, mining industry and weapons manufacturing and other handicraft workshops were run by the government, including the largest government-run weapons manufacturing institute has 3,700 military craftsmen, something workshop craftsmen about 5,000 people. The private handicraft industry was relatively small in scale, mostly handicraft workshops and stores adapted to the daily life of the residents, operating in the areas of daily necessities of the citizens, catering and special handicrafts. According to the ancient records, there are about four hundred and fourteen commercial markets opened by the people, including Sichuan-Guangxi Medicine Market, Ivory and Tortoiseshell Market, Gold and Silver Pearl Market, Silk and Mian Market, Old Clothes Market, Flower Market, Meat Market, Rice Market, etc. There are also gold-painted tables and stools, north and south pig lines, green ware lines, green fruit lines, seafood lines, paper fan lines, twine lines, crab lines and fish lines. In some of the busy streets, with high-end restaurants, wine and delicacies, rare seafood, accompanied by courtesans, celebrities full of seats; there are also small streets and alleys in the restaurant, the common people are more willing to patronize, drink and eat meat, rich and frugal at will, raise a glass of wine, guessing and clamoring. We have seen the classical novels “Water Margin” and “Jin Ping Mei”, both of which have vivid chapters describing the social life scenes of the Song Dynasty. The book shows that many towns at that time already had the diverse and multifunctional characteristics of modern municipalities, and civic life was very rich. It is recorded in the Song notes “Tokyo Menghualu”, “Menglianglu” and “Capitol Jisheng” that the commercial trade in the cities flourished at that time, which also made the cultural consumption and service industry flourish. During the Song Dynasty, miscellaneous dramas began to emerge, and some scholars who were not successful in the imperial examinations wrote and composed songs for geisha, and even participated in the performances themselves. The production of Song miscellaneous drama laid the foundation for the development of Yuan dynasty drama later. Moreover, the service industry in the city was also very diverse, with peddlers selling mutton, dried fruits and groceries on the streets and alleys, as well as road repair, barrels, shoes, brushing belts, repairing Pu head hats, mending horns and crowns of the helpers, as well as repairing houses, mud and mending walls, fetching water and cutting firewood, killing chickens and slaughtering geese as miscellaneous workers. If someone goes out to play and is too lazy to walk, there is a special industry in the city, “own fake leasing saddle horse, the price is only 100 money”. There are even people who specialize in organizing weddings and funerals for people, as long as the money hired, will be very sharp according to the owner’s requirements and customs, to do things in good order. According to historical records, the population of Tokyo, the capital city of the Song Dynasty, reached a maximum of 1.4 million to 1.7 million, and from the composition of the population, those who operated commerce, industry and other services accounted for one tenth of the total number of households.
Because of the high level of economic development of the city in the Song Dynasty, “the four barbarians paid tribute to the city, and there were no false years.” Tokyo became the center of national trade and a very active city for foreign envoys, religious believers and merchants. At that time, China’s main foreign transportation routes had shifted from the Silk Road of the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang dynasties to the Southeast Sea Route. Merchants from Korea (Goryeo), Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Arabia, and East Africa came to China by sea to do business. Their goods were of many kinds, mainly spices, medicines, rhinoceros horn, ivory and high-class handicrafts. The further development of foreign trade also deepened the economic prosperity of the city.
The “urban revolution” of the Song Dynasty was the first step for Chinese cities to struggle out of the mire of feudal agrarian economy. At this time, the diversification of the urban economic structure led to a complex social structure, especially the new factors brought about by the commodity and monetary economy, which also began to have a significant impact on the cultural psychology of the people.
Yan Huang Chun Qiu, No. 12, 2007
Recent Comments