A Study On The Worship System And Ethical Implications Of Shan Shaan Guildhall In Ming And Qing Dynasties

In order to promote their business,Shan Shaan merchants in Ming and Qing Dynasties donated money to build a large number of Shan Shaan Guildhalls,and regarded respecting the gods as one of the basic functions of the guildhalls.However,for the worship system of Shan Shaan Guildhall in Ming and Qing Dynasties,and the ethical thought embodied in this worship system,no matter the study of the history of Chinese thought or the study of the history of Guildhall in Ming and Qing Dynasties,it has not been given enough attention.In the past,the study on the worship of gods in Shan Shaan Guildhall was only from the perspective of merchants praying for blessings and avoiding disasters.People seldom put the worship of gods in Shan Shaan Guildhall under the background of social change in Ming and Qing Dynasties,so they could not reveal the worship system and its ethical implications.An important manifestation of the great changes in Chinese society in the Ming and Qing Dynasties is the emergence of the confluence of the Confucians and businessmen,which is caused by the interaction of the Confucians and businessmen.Under the background of the confluence of the Confucians and businessmen,the Confucians want to make the Confucian ethics close to the merchants and secularize it into the behavioral norms guiding the commercial activities through "changing the custom into the responsibility";and the merchants want to promote their practical experience to the height of the ideological system through looking at the Confucians,in this kind of two-way demand and mutual interaction,the emergence of business ethics becomes possible.The integration of Confucianism,Buddhism and Taoism in Ming and Qing Dynasties,as well as the secularized development path,also provided the ideological source for the emergence of business ethics in Ming and Qing Dynasties.Therefore,in the Ming and Qing Dynasties,the guild hall of industry and commerce,especially the Shan Shaan Guildhall,took the respect for the gods as the first task of the guild hall’s function,not only to meet the needs of merchants for praying,avoiding disasters and contacting the local conditions,but also to meet the needs of the secularization of Confucian ethics in the Ming and Qing Dynasties,to awaken the merchants’ personality self-esteem and professional self-consciousness through the religious belief of God worship,so as to promote the Ming and Qing Dynasties During this period,Chinese commerce embarked on a standardized and ethical development path.As far as the Shan Shaan Guildhall is concerned,it has formed a worship system with the worship of Guan Yu as the main part and the worship of Taoism and Buddhism as the auxiliary part.As the main sacrifice God of the Guildhall,Guan Yu’s worship has become increasingly prosperous since the Song Dynasty.However,the worship of Guan Yu in Shan Shaan Guildhall,in addition to its need to protect wealth,is more important for Shan Shaan businessmen to take Guan Yu as their kinship and love.Secondly,Guan Yu’s loyalty,benevolence and bravery in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is the whereabouts of Confucian ethics,and also the "convergence point" of the "confluence of the Confucians and businessmen" in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.Thirdly,Guan Yu has a certain transcendental power,and can guarantee the justice of rewards,which plays an important role in protecting the interests of businessmen.In a word,Guan Yu,as the main deity worshiped in Shan Shaan Guildhall,embodies the value of the secular deity in the hearts of businessmen,which is more suitable for the whole spiritual atmosphere than the transcendent the Buddhism and the Taoism.The worship system of Shan Shaan Guildhall also introduces Taoism worship into it,which is not only reflected in the worship of Taoist gods,but also in the location of guild hall,the layout of guild hall,etc.,which embodies many aspects of Taoism thoughts,while the Taoism worship of Shan Shaan Guildhall presents the ethical meaning of "respecting Taoism and guiding morality" in the philosophical thinking of "Taoism and nature".This formed the management concept of "benefit without harm" and the life concept of "simple life" of Shan Shaan merchants.Shan Shaan Guildhall also introduces the Buddhism worship into the worship system of the guild hall.The Buddhism worship of Shan Shaan Guildhall is mainly manifested through the worship of the Buddhist gods in the guild hall,the shrine Buddha on the roof of the guild hall’s theater,the host monk hired by the guild hall,etc.,and the ethical concept of "good and evil results" of Buddhism is used to persuade Shan Shaan businessmen to punish the bad and promote the good.The worship of industry gods in Shan Shaan Guildhall played a more important role in the actual business operation of the merchants of Shan Shaan.Because the worship system of Shan Shaan Guildhall is mainly based on the worship of Guan Yu,supplemented by the worship of Taoism and Buddhism,the worship system of Shan Shaan Guildhall shows the characteristics of "three religions in one" of Confucianism,Buddhism and Taoism.However,in the worship system of "three religions in one" of Shan Shaan Guildhall,the "Three Religions" are not equally divided,forming a sequence level worship system with Confucianism as the main worship and Taoism and Buddhism as the auxiliary.The worship system of the Shan Shaan Guildhall provides the ethical standards that the Shan Shaan businessmen must follow in their market behavior and the insurmountable moral bottom line of the businessmen.Therefore,the worship system of the Shan Shaan Guildhall has the functions of soothing,encouraging and centripetal to appease the uneasiness of the Shan Shaan businessmen when they are doing business in other places,to promote the smooth development of business activities and to safeguard the common interests of the Shan Shaan businessmen.The worship system of Shan Shaan Guildhall also plays the role of cultural integration and cultural identity.The cultural integration function of the worship system of Shan Shaan Guildhall is mainly manifested in the integration of the same nationality culture,the different nationality culture and the tourist culture.The outstanding aspects in the integration of the different nationality culture form the belief center of the Guan Yu worship community and the sacrifice cultural circle of Guan Yu worship.The cultural identity of the worship system of Shanshan Guildhall aims to show the cultural consciousness of Shan Shaan businessmen under the worship system of Shan Shaan Guildhall gods and the correct understanding of the business risks of Shan Shaan businessmen due to the mutual influence between scholars and businessmen in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.