Study On The Guilds In Shandong Area From 1660s To 1950s

The guild is a social organization produced among the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Really divergent views are on the definition of a guild. On the one hand, guild is a simple countryman organization. On the other hand, it is a commercial capital organization whose characteristic of industry is obvious. From the causes of the guild, the property of a fellow it is really the dominant, and in the development process of the guild, industry characteristic is more and more obvious. So the guild is a social organization combined the property of a fellow and the characteristic of industry. It was adapted to social changes generated in the internal restructuring at the same time, also for continuous integration.Shandong is located in the eastern part of China, the Bohai Sea, in the north, east is near the Yellow River.Also because of the four distinctive seasons and good economic foundation, Shandong Area is always the first choice of business. The One Lash Method and the Tan Ding Ru Mu Police Reform of Tax System promote the population flow; businessmen had been stationed here to do business. After mid-Qing Dynasty, The guilds had sprung up in Shandong district, concluding the northwest of Shanshan guild, Zhemin guild,Suzhou guild in the Yangtze River basin and Guangdong guild in the Pearl River Basin and etc. The guilds mainly constituted of industry and commerce guilds and immigrant guilds, etc.From the point of function, through a variety of ways to participate in the market operation after the completion of the guilds and the guilds had increasingly frequent interaction with the government. All of these showed the guilds as unofficial management at the grass-roots level played its social, economic, cultural function. From the diachronic perspective, the guilds which were the traditional social organization, some declined; some became mere countryman organization, some transformed to the chambers of commerce, while others become the scene of the political activities in the development of modern society.From the mid-17th century the guilds in Shandong rose, until the middle of the 20th century quitted the historical stage. The guilds in the history of Shandong survived for about 300 years. In this period, the guilds pulled the development of Shandong economy. Civilians gradually involved in the construction of the guilds in the process of the development. Inland culture and Marine culture communicated and Chinese culture and foreign cultures crashed during these years. The guilds in Shandong are cultural symbols. The generation, development, change and fading of the guilds reflected the development and trend of the politics, economy, and culture in Shandong.