The Comparison Of Merchants Image In Sanyan And Erpai And One Thousand And One Nights

Sanyan and Erpai are vernacular novels out of late Ming dynasty.Born in a period of rapid development of commercial economy and fierce confrontation between the new and old ideologies,they reflected the swift and violent development of commodity economy by telling vivid stories.These works remolded the developing and growing up merchant's figures showing some definite attitude in contrast with the despise and avoidance tendency.One Thousand and One Nights is an Arabic social life classic that displayed merchants' business life and philosophy culture.Although both works mentioned above are from different countries,however,it really laid foundations for studying the merchants for that period of times.In this article,we are to take the merchants in Sanyan and Erpai and One Thousand and One Nights as researching objects,based on reading them thoroughly,using the parallel study method,and to make a comparative study.Both Sanyan and Erpai and One Thousand and One Nights were worked out under the background fast flourishing of marketplace literature in the time when the feudal commerce got prospered,and are works mainly for telling merchants' business life which can be used as base of study.In terms of businessmen morality,both nation's businessmen took honest trade as their first way of choice.However,in regard with their idea of moral and profit,the merchants of Ming Dynasty in China were more moral inclined,while Arabic merchants in middle ancient times were more profit inclined.In terms of the relationships between merchants and officials,both of them had a very close connections with their government While Arabic merchants received more appreciation and promotion from government officials.In addition,being soaked by traditional idea,the merchants in Ming dynasty were mostly industrious and thrifty in managing household and seek safety business.And Arabic merchants in mid ancient times loved of pleasure and took risks.The reason for forming the same and differences in merchant's images in thesetwo classics is due to the influence of main stream idea of society at that times,namely the Confucianism and The Koran doctrines on the one hand,and the difference in their life inhabit way of production and different national characteristic made by social political environment.To make a comparison between the merchants of two nationalities can not only promote the cultural and artistic exchanges between Arabic and China,but also get to know about the characteristics different merchants and their commercial culture,which would give help to make mutual commercial exchanges between China and Arabic countries.