What is the cultural spirit of Shanxi merchants that runs through the business philosophy?

The Shanxi merchants, who are known as “9,000 miles across Europe and Asia, and have dominated the business world for five hundred years,” have left a glorious page in our country’s business history. The reason why Shanxi merchants have achieved such brilliant achievements is that the unique spiritual temperament of Shanxi merchants has played a large role in supporting and promoting Shanxi merchants' business leadership status for hundreds of years. Then let’s understand what the spirit of Shanxi merchant culture is.

The spirit of honesty, honesty and trustworthiness

Integrity is the first order of business and the most precious wealth in the spirit of Shanxi merchants. Shanxi merchants believed: "A gentleman loves money and must acquire it in a proper way." , like hard work, avoid luxury." Although doing business is for profit, if you stick to the fundamentals of morality and trust, you will definitely succeed.

The pioneering spirit of not being afraid of hardships and taking risks

Judging from the history of Shanxi merchants’ fortunes, most of them started from humble beginnings. In order to raise enough capital for business, some even resorted to raising funds with their entire family, and some even raised funds by selling off their wives’ jewelry. Due to their small capital, they had to start from a difficult position. In order to make a small profit, they abandoned their wives and children, ate the wind and drank the dew, and traveled adventurously. Under the control of pragmatic concepts and the support of the concept of advocating business, Shanxi merchants were not afraid of hardships, traveled to Mongolia, traveled to Southeast Asia, and crossed Japan, which fully reflected their spirit of not being afraid of hardships and perseverance.

Group spirit of harmony, economic development, and teamwork

Shanxi is one of the birthplaces of the Chinese nation and one of the regions with relatively developed Confucian culture in the pre-Qin period. Blood relationships are more recognized and valued. They unite each other with the friendship of the village in the patriarchal society, enhance mutual understanding through the maintenance of the guild hall and the spiritual worship of Guan Sheng, and coordinate the relationship between the businesses through loyalty, mutual support and support. Eliminate interpersonal discord and form large and small business gangs.

It is precisely by relying on the strength of the group that Shanxi merchants have avoided the difficulties caused by being single and weak, reduced the operating risks in unfamiliar environments, and at the same time carried out economic management and coordination among peers. Avoiding internal battles and being consistent with the outside world have created business miracles one after another.

A pragmatic spirit that assesses the situation and is flexible and changeable

The outstanding achievements of Shanxi merchants in the Ming and Qing Dynasties are related to the proper application of their business strategies. They correctly absorbed the business experience of the ancients and were good at assessing the situation and being flexible in their business activities. For example, Dashengkui's businessmen in Mongolia have been in business for more than 200 years. One of their experiences is to organize supply of goods in a targeted manner and use flexible marketing methods.

For example, Mongolian herdsmen mainly eat meat and like to drink brick tea. Dashengkui set up his own teahouse to process brick tea to meet the needs of the herdsmen. Mongolian herdsmen like to wear strong and durable twill cloth, so Dashengkui organized a large number of supplies to meet the supply. The cloth was cut into Mongolian robe materials of different sizes according to the habits of Mongolian herdsmen, and Mongolian herders could choose and buy them at will.

Love the country and the people, and the spirit of dedication to benefit the world

During the 500 years of Shanxi merchants' prosperity, Shanxi merchants have inherited the fine tradition of national self-improvement and the spirit of patriotism. The most prominent one is In the 24th year of Guangxu's reign (1898), the British imperialist Fu Company signed 20 regulations with the Shanxi government on the mining, iron-making, and transportation of various mineral resources in Shanxi, and plundered Shanxi's mineral resources. Faced with this situation of losing power and humiliating the country, The people of Shanxi launched a vigorous patriotic movement to compete for minerals.

Led by Caidong Qu Benqiao of the Sanjinyuan bank in Qixian County, they joined forces with Qixian, Taigu, and Pingyao banks to compete for and redeem mines from the British. After a struggle that lasted for more than ten years, Shanxi merchants finally broke through all the pressure and won. This struggle can be regarded as an anti-imperialist and patriotic feat in modern Chinese history. It is called by historians as "the mainstream of modern history". An unparalleled achievement."

In short, honesty and trustworthiness are the soul of Shanxi merchants’ spirit, pioneering and enterprising is the source of strength of Shanxi merchants’ spirit, harmony and economic harmony are the environmental support of Shanxi merchants, and pragmatic management is the inherent quality of Shanxi merchants’ spirit. , managing the world and benefiting the people is the eternal pursuit of the spirit of Shanxi merchants. The mutual promotion of these five spirits has achieved the five hundred years of commercial glory of Shanxi merchants.