Evolution of morality of commercial activity in China and Japan
Teresa Song
In China, societal beliefs about the morality of commercial activity evolved from disdain to
respect in the late Ming dynasty when commerce matured and when merchants merged with the
gentry class by passing civil service exams. Similar to Chinese beliefs, Japanese beliefs about the
morality of commercial activity improved in the Edo period due to additional wealth brought by
commerce and merchants' importance in both the rice trade and government finances. However,
Japanese warriors still saw the commercial activity as immoral since they suffered from the rise
in commerce after centuries of civil war. The disparity between Chinese and Japanese merchant
status is caused by differing historical backgrounds.
During the Ming dynasty, the Confucian rank system of the gentry, farmer, artisan and merchant
contributed to public opinion that commercial activity is immoral. A reflection of this opinion is
Wutong, the god of wealth. According to Richard Von Glahn, "Wutong's blessings were evoked
through the punctilious performance of sacrifice and abject surrender of one's will, not moral
practice and self-discipline". (One of Many Wutong Tales P234) Since commerce was still
growing and didn't settle into a mature system, the general public wasn't used to commercial
activity and thus demonized it as immoral.
In the late Ming and Qing dynasties, opinions on the morality of commerce improved as
commerce developed into a more mature and widespread system. According to the ROSCA
document, "Rotating credit societies were a common phenomenon in late imperial China and
several other societies" (ROSCA P1) The prevalence of Rotating Credit Societies (ROSCA)
demonstrates how advanced and ubiquitous commerce was in late Ming and Qing. These
societies pool money from individuals and corporate entities to "serve as a way for people with
no access to banks to get credit" (ROSCA P1) According to Matt Lowenstein, "because of the
way that the rates were set, the returns to each member were remarkably fair." (ROSCA P1)
Since "recent research has also shown that a surprising number of the participants in some of
these societies were not individuals, but corporate entities" (ROSCA P1), the rise of commercial
activity in late Ming and Qing significantly contributed to the development of ROSCA societies
due to corporate entities' growing need for sources of finance as they expanded amidst booming
commercial activity. Due to the convenience and fairness provided by ROSCA societies and
their tie to corporate entities, commoners in the late Ming and Qing began to view these societies
and general commercial activity as moral. In the ROSCA document, a society participant
compares ROSCA societies to literature societies, suggesting that ROSCA societies are as moral
and beneficial to members as literature ones. He believes that "If societies are set up based on
silver, members help each other gain economic profit." (ROSCA P1)
The development and maturation of commerce in the late Ming and Qing isn't the only factor
that improved societal belief about the morality of commercial activity. The merging of
merchants with the gentry class through participating in civil exams also contributed to the
evolution of opinion about commerce. Since the Confucian class system still placed merchants at
the bottom of the hierarchy, merchants need to comply with the system to earn respect from the
general society by passing civil service exams. The biography of the merchant Taomu
demonstrated the significance of passing such exams to merchants. Taomu's father and uncles
would bring back classic books after finishing their trade at the market. Despite relying on
commerce for a living after his father died, Taomu invested much time and effort into studying
for the civil service exam. Taomu sold silk fabrics woven by his mother during the day, and
"studied in the afternoon and at night, sharing the light with his mother." (Taomu P1) Eventually,
he became a high-ranking official after passing the civil service exams and attracting the
attention of Zuo Zongtang. The devotion Taomu and his elders had for studying the Confucian
classics suggests that Taomu's family only treated commerce as a means of earning a living—a
means they were forced into due to poverty. Taomu's immediate abandonment of commerce for
an official position in the remote Northwest reflects his eagerness to prove himself through his
Confucian studies instead of simply commerce. Taomu is a role model for merchants in the late
Ming and Qing dynasties. Despite recognizing the benefits commerce brought, Chinese society
still adhered to the Confucian class system and valued Confucian studies as well as civil service
exams. Chinese merchants were also adherers to the class system, so they didn't neglect their
Confucian studies and passed civil service exams like Taomu. Seeing that merchants not only
brought prosperity but also respected Confucian studies, Chinese society accepted commercial
activity as moral and just.
Similar to contemporary Chinese opinion, Japanese opinion in the Edo period about the morality
of commercial activity improved due to additional wealth brought by booming commercial
activity after a few centuries of civil war. Before the Edo period, the civil war stalled the
development of commerce. Moreover, Japan was also influenced by the Confucian class system
of the gentry, farmer, artisan and merchant, so the public had a low opinion of commercial
activity. Things started to change in the Edo period. The level of commercial activity and public
acceptance of commerce during the time are reflected in In A Feather in Daikoku's Cap story.
Shinroku sold dog ash as wolf powder to pedestrians in Edo, and he later built his business by
selling hand towels to pilgrims. The beggars Shinroku ran into also pointed out that there were
plenty of small trades such as "selling burnt shell ash as lime, shredding seaweed or shave dried
bonito into 'flower strips' and selling cotton as hand towels" (In A Feather in Daikoku's Cap P4)
that one could take up "on an almost empty pocket" (In A Feather in Daikoku's Cap P4)
Shinroku's commercial success by selling cotton and trade ideas given by the beggars prove that
the level of commercial activity in Japan was so high that even the easiest and cheapest trades
could earn a decent amount of income. One may argue that Shinroku's success was due to his
shrewd personality, but without a booming Japanese economy, his talent at trade wouldn't be
monetized. In the civil war period before Edo for instance, no one would have had the leisure
and extra wealth to purchase frivolous items such as wolf powder and flower strips. Even though
Shinroku wasn't entirely honest about his trade, the story portrayed him in a positive light and
focused on his shrewd personality, suggesting that Japanese society believed that commercial
activity was moral due to the additional wealth it was injecting into society.
Merchants' importance in the rice trade and government finances also improved public opinion
about the morality of commercial activity, especially among Tokugawa government officials.
The Tokugawa government collected regional taxes on rice measured by units of koku. To
convert the collected rice to cash, Shoguns partnered with rice merchants. These merchants
would sell rice on the Shogun's behalf and return cash to the Shogun, collecting a fraction of the
profit as commission. According to Buyolshi, "Great merchants from many provinces converge
here (Ojima), and any one of them will be selling or buying as much as 100,000, 200,000,
500,000, or even 1,000,000 kokum of rice and grains." (Buyolshi 2 P9) The sheer size of the rice
trade demonstrates that merchants play a key role in the running of the Tokugawa government.
Merchants also aided Shoguns by managing their finances. Buyolshi wrote that "It is the way of
our world that townspeople(merchants) have come to handle all shogunal needs, from money
exchange and the management of rice payments to the shogunate down to the supply of all kinds
of goods." (Buyolshi 1 P2) Due to the significant role merchants play in managing government
finances, Shoguns and Daimyos treat merchants with great respect and generosity. According to
Buyolshi, "They (government officials) treat them(merchants) more lavishly than even intimate
members of their own house or the domain elders." (Buyolshi 1 P6) Because merchants
significantly contributed to the running of the Tokugawa government, officials considered
commercial activity as moral and crucial to Japanese society in the Edo period.
However, Japanese warriors still saw the commercial activity as immoral since they suffered
from the rise of commerce and were exploited by merchants. Their living standards as well as
societal status declined in the Edo period since they couldn't go to war and thus relied solely on
rice stipends, which fluctuated in value as rice prices changed. Buyolshi, a Japanese warrior
blamed merchants for manipulating rice prices. According to Buyolshi, the bidding process was
"betting whether the weather will be good, wind and rain favourable, and harvests plentiful—or
whether there will be natural disasters and bad crops." (Buyolshi 2 P9) He believed that rice
bidding was immoral since "rice and grains are a matter of life and death, have a direct effect on
wealth and poverty in the world, and are the prime commodity of the state." (Buyolshi 2 P10)
Buyolshi also lamented the powerlessness a samurai had in the face of merchants. According to
Buyolshi, "Their (merchants') might is such that was a warrior to turn on them, they could easily
restrain him." (Buyolshi 2 P1) Since rice bidding was an essential part of commercial activity in
the Edo period, Buyolshi extended his contempt for rice bidding to general commerce. The
societal status of warriors also declined along with their living standards. The shift in women's
attitude towards warriors indicates the fall in warrior status. According to Buyolshi, "In the old
days they (merchants) envied the apparel of warrior houses and imitated it, but today their attire
is so sumptuous that they scorn the warrior style as unfashionable. Instead, the wives, brides, and
daughters of warrior houses have become fond of townspeople's fashions." (Buyolshi P5)
Overall, Buyolshi believes that merchants stole wealth and social status from warriors, thus he
sees commercial activity as immoral and exploitative.
The disparity between the evolution of Chinese and Japanese attitudes toward commercial
activity is caused by differing historical backgrounds. In Japan at the time, commerce was
booming after centuries of civil war, so the warrior class was quickly stripped of wealth and
status by merchants. As a result, despite the overall opinion that commercial activity was moral,
Japanese warriors considered it immoral since their interests were harmed during the rise of
commerce. In contemporary China, the initial boom in commerce took place before the late Ming
and Qing, so Chinese society has grown accustomed to commerce and considered it moral.
Groups hurt by the rise of commerce have either faded from public attention or grown used to
commerce.
In conclusion, both Chinese and Japanese societies viewed commerce as immoral due to the
Confucian class system. However, both societies began to view the commercial activity as moral
due to benefits brought by commerce and other factors. In China, the mature commercial system
benefited society by promoting ROSCA societies. Chinese merchants also merged with the
gentry class by passing civil service exams and earning societal recognition. In Japan, the
additional wealth brought by commerce and the key roles merchants played in the rice trade as
well as government finances improved societal attitudes towards commercial activity. However,
Japanese warriors saw commerce as immoral since they lost wealth and social status during the
boom in commercial activity.