The Study On The Yangs’Clan Merchants In Shang Dian,Feng Cheng County,Jiang Xi Province In The Qing Dynasty

On the basis of the Yang’s Genealogy which had been rewritten twice during the Guangxu period and the Republic of China era,and the material of the local chronicles,as well as the other historical document,this paper explores the rise and development of Yang’s clan and the merchant community after the middle of the Ming Dynasty.Judging from the data of genealogy,since the fifth generation of "Sheng",the members of the Yang’s clan of Shangdian have migrated to places like Hunan,Zhejiang,and Guangxi,among which Hunan was the major one.In Hunan,it mainly located in Taoyuan County of Changde City along the Yuan River Basin,Yuanling County of Chenzhou City,Maoyang County and Qianyang County in Yuanzhou City.From the aspect of time,it was likely that the merchants of the Yang’s clan of Shangdian have immigrated into the Yuan River Basin of Hunan as early as the Zhengde era or Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty,and they might have immigrated into Guizhou at the era of Wanli.After the middle of the Ming Dynasty,the merchants of the Yang’s clan of Shangdian in Hunan province and Guizhou province overcame all the clutters to open up a commercial road of colonization for the rise of Yang’s merchants at Qing Dynasty and set up a family tradition for doing business.After the Qianlong era at the Qing Dynasty,the merchants of the Yang’s clan of Shang Dian went ahead along the road of the Ming Dynasty merchants,and finally developed successfully in Tongren of Guizhou province and Changde of Hunan province.After Jiaqing,Daoguang,Xianfeng,Tongzhi,Guangxu dynasty,and the development of the business of the Yang’s clan of Shangdian showed a rising trend,not affected by the social turmoil of the late Qing Dynasty.Relying on the strong family system and the huge number of businessmen,the Yang’s clan of Shangdian adapt flexibly to the social environment and the trend of the commercial market on the different periods,keeping growing and developing rapidly.After making fortune on the business,the merchants of the Yang’s clan of Shangdian actively took part in the local public utilities to thank for the family and society.In this process,the local social management system whose original core was the "gentry" underwent an important evolution that the merchants class became the important force of clan and local society.The development of the merchants of the Yang’s clan in Shangdian after themiddle of the Ming Dynasty,not only provides a good example for us to fully understand the Jiangyou Merchant Community in Ming and Qing Dynasty from the perspective of family,but also offers us a new angle to explore the transformation of Chinese traditional grassroots society based on the aspect of businessmen and business.