Dang! The silent past of an industry

Squeak~~With the sound of the door hinge, the thick door wrapped in black iron was pushed open,

The dim light passed through the narrow window blocked by the iron rod,

Hit the corner of the high counter.

On the fence covered with counters, there is a green piece of paper that says, "If you are bitten by an insect or injured by a rat, it is up to fate. Lost tickets cannot be redeemed without insurance."

It’s so dark, what kind of hellish place is this?

This is a pawnshop in Shenyang that has long since disappeared into the dust of history.

In fact, the slogans written outside the pawn shop are much taller and taller than the words next to the high counter.

Usually written with the four words "rich country and convenient people", it means that the poor are in urgent need. , you can take things to the pawn shop to exchange for some quick money.

Of course, even the princes and wealthy families who were in trouble were also frequent visitors here.

This is a low-key and silent industry: you are afraid of being embarrassed if the tiger falls in peace!

The traditional financial industry in ancient times liked to support pawnbrokers.

In the financial history of banks and bank accounts, the lowest level is the pawnshop.

Although it is at the end of the ecological chain, the pawnshop has a history of more than 1300 to 400 years.

After all, this is the need of many ordinary people, and a penny cannot beat a hero.

In the Qing Dynasty, most of the pawnshops in Shenyang were opened by Shanxi people, and a small number of them belonged to Huangxian County, Shandong.

Fengtian's prosperity was built by the hard work of immigrants from Guandong.

Smart Shanxi merchants have the genes of issuing bank accounts and banks, but these people must be strong people.

Although opening a pawn shop does not require large funds like a bank account, it is a small-capital business. It's not driven by poor people either.

In the old days, pawnshops were regarded as the "crown of all businesses" with huge profits.

A pawn shop only makes money but does not lose money, but it requires the ability to understand both black and white.

In the 1930s, "Fengtian City Business Collection" ranked pawnshops after banks and money businesses.

It’s not the size of the pawnshop industry, but the financial nature of pawnshops.

Exchange collateral for urgently needed money and the "interest" is high.

Commercial credit activities such as lending and mortgage transactions are all financial thinking.

A pawnshop, also known as a pawn shop, a mortgage shop, a bookstore, etc., is a loan sharking institution that pledges movable assets and lends money.

The earliest pawn business was run by temple monks in the Southern Dynasties.

In the past dynasties, there were various names such as "Zhiku", "Zhisi", "Jieku", and "Changshengku".

No matter what it is called, it is the early prototype of the financial industry.

Pawnshops usually open at 7 a.m. and close at 5 p.m.

New Year's Eve usually lasts until the early morning, and even on the morning of the New Year's Day, there are people holding mortgages for redemption.

This industry is a specialty. The counter that is as high as the bridge of one's nose separates the inside and outside.

The clerk sits on a high stool behind the counter, which makes the gangsters who want to cause trouble helpless.

The British missionary Sir Duge recalled: "The owners of Fengtian bank and pawnshops left their women in distant Shanxi and only went home once a year."

Pawn shops were particularly popular during the Qing Dynasty and became an important part of commercial activities.

This businessman goes out alone to work hard, and he knows the joys and sorrows.

When you encounter a local gangster trying to cheat you, you really have to rely on your brain to plan and solve the crisis.

In the early years of the Republic of China, "Dehoudang" in the south gate once received a scroll of paintings by Tang Bohu.

The pawnbroker and the shopkeeper got greedy and went astray.

A fake was priced at five hundred oceans. This was a deliberate trap to trap money.

As soon as the money is paid, the painting is left to die and will not be redeemed. What can be done?

The shopkeeper knew that he was being tricked, but he had a plan in mind: This is the only way?

Soon, the shopkeeper held a banquet at a famous restaurant in the old city to invite people to appreciate Tang Yin's famous paintings.

Everyone who came said: fake painting! The shopkeeper also considered himself unlucky and burned the painting in public and asked the newspaper to publish the news.

A few days later, the pawnbroker came to the counter holding the pawn ticket and said he wanted to redeem the family heirloom.

I wanted to take this opportunity to extort a bigger sum of money.

As a result, the shopkeeper smiled and put away the interest money, took out the painted spokes and "returned to Zhao after finishing the wall."

During the Guangxu period, pawnshop profits generally started at 2.5% per month, and rose to 3% in the Republic of China.

500 yuan as gold, you will receive 30 yuan as interest in two months.

At this time, the money cheat couldn't even find a place to cry. He could only hate his parents for not giving him an extra head.

Countless tragedies and comedies are staged in this industry every day.

After the 11th year of Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1746), the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Navy Camp in Shengjing set up official shops to operate government-run pawn shops.

But I soon discovered that the water was too deep, and I was either being deceived or being tricked.

It is absolutely impossible to do this business without some brains.

In 1906, a small businessman who set up a street stall in Fengtian to exchange Russian Qiang stickers and Japanese hand notes started a big business.

Zhang Ganchen and Mao Yuntong raised 36,000 yuan to set up the Shihe Public Bank.

It is said that it is called a bank account, and the capital of 20,000 to 30,000 yuan is a small store in the pawn shop. Of course, our old bank has been doing exchange and currency exchange business.

Pawn shops generally require between two and one hundred thousand yuan.

Small traders who started from street stalls have seized the opportunity with their cleverness.

In 1916, branches were opened in Tianjin, Shanghai, Harbin and other places, and an office was set up in Yokohama, Japan.

In 1924, Shihe Public Bank applied to the Fengtian authorities to upgrade the bank to a bank.

After the September 18th Incident, Zhang Ganchen opened 8 pawnshops in Shenyang and other places.

Although Fengtian Shihe Gong Bank collapsed in January 1940, it witnessed an industry history.

In the 1930s, there were about 65 pawnshops in Shenyang.

In addition to the "Shihe Gongdang" and "Dehoudang" in Dayanmen (Deshengmen),

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There are also "Yisheng Dang" in Xiaonanmen and "Gongji Dang" in the south of Drum Tower on Siping Street.

The famous pawnshop in Xiaobeimen is "Huidedang" and the one in Dananguan is "Dexingdang".

At that time, many famous pawn shops were gathered in the North Market.

In 1915, Shunyuandang, invested by Wang Fuzhou, was the first pawnshop in the North Market.

In the 1920s, when the North Market was first established, there were only two pawnshops registered.

In the 1930s, Yongmaodang, Minshengdang, Yongandang, Dongxingdang, Yongdedang, etc. emerged in Beishi City.

Qing poet Miao Donglin's "Hundred Odes of Shenyang" contains a description of a pawnshop.

The saying that clothes live in high-rise buildings and large tile-roofed houses refers to the "quality warehouse" of the pawn shop.

Although the literal meaning is simple, it cannot be explained by those who see it.

In 1909, American traveler Gallo came to China and wondered how much the pawnshop warehouse was higher than the church steeple.

This is an old system: old pawn shops will build their own tall and sturdy warehouses with iron doors.

However, the old custom of dungeon shops in the Qing Dynasty was gradually falling apart in the Republic of China.

There are changes in everything from interest rates and annual taxes to the fees for obtaining a “license” (license) issued by the government.

The stars are changing, and change is a constant.

The photo above is from the Fengtian Provincial Department of Finance in 1916. The annual tax is one hundred oceans.

This kind of pawn shop license cost almost three hundred oceans during the Guangxu period.

Look below at the license issued by the same department in 1918, with an annual tax of fifty oceans.

In just two years, the monthly interest rate has increased from 3% to 4%.

Chi Zijian, a writer from Northeast China, has released his masterpiece "Puppet Manchukuo".

She has done a lot of research to describe the scene of a family in Shenyang called "Fengyuandang".

She said: Pawnshops are different from other shops. Many have two signs.

What is often hung is a rectangular wooden sign with the word "Dang" written on it, with copper plates on the four corners. Bag decoration,

Another kind of guise is just to put it on the name "Rain Card" when it rains or snows.

The pawnshop business with no windows or shelves is different from other businesses.

The most valuable pawn item is gold, followed by fur coats. During the Republic of China, suits were only worth 10% of their original price.

At that time, most of the fur suits and ready-made clothes sold by many clothing shops in Shenyang were "dead pawns" handled by pawnshops.

In the 1940s, many pawn shops in Shenyang changed new owners.

Tianfudang and Dehedang on Kangtai Street in North Market, Fushengdang and Zhengyidang on Housheng Street, and Gongyidang on No. 18 Jinglu are all opened by the same company.

After 1949, pawnshops basically disappeared in Shenyang.

In order to solve the demand for mortgage loans for old properties, a trust store was opened in Yongyi North of the North Market in 1957.

Trust is a concept in the modern financial industry and is essentially different from pawn.

It is a general trend for old pawn shops to transform into consignment shops and trust companies.

Old pawn shops have long been turned into dust of history.