QA回答：為什么中國古代商人不受尊重？

George Hu
A very good question that could be answered with as much detail or as briefly as possible. For a quick answer, I would have to agree with Kevin Anderson.

一個非常好的問題，可以詳細回答，也可以簡短回答。如果快速回答，我不得不贊同凱文·安德森的觀點。

Kevin Anderson's answer to Why were the merchants not respected in ancient China?

凱文·安德森對“為什么古代中國商人不被尊重？”的回答：
There are in fact some “big words” regarding this policy in ancient China, it is called 重農(nóng)抑商 (promote farmer, suppress merchants).
事實上，在中國古代，關于這項政策有一些“大詞”，那就是“重農(nóng)抑商”（重視農(nóng)業(yè)，抑制商業(yè)）。

Or in English, Physiocracy vs Mercantilism.

或者用英語來說，就是重農(nóng)主義與重商主義的對立。

Traditionally, agriculture was seen as the foundation of society, because food production was tied to agriculture. “If one man did not farm, that meant someone had to produce more food to supplement him.” Conversely, merchants traded items for profit, and this did not add wealth into system. If all men became merchants, then all men would eventually starve due to having no net production.

傳統(tǒng)上，農(nóng)業(yè)被視為社會的基礎，因為食物生產(chǎn)與農(nóng)業(yè)息息相關?！叭绻粋€人不耕種，那就意味著其他人必須生產(chǎn)更多的食物來供養(yǎng)他。”相反，商人通過貿(mào)易商品來獲取利潤，這并沒有為系統(tǒng)增加財富。如果所有人都成為商人，那么最終所有人都會因為沒有凈生產(chǎn)而餓死。

(A very obscure piece of trivia. This particular game is Street Fighter IV. In the Korean stage, there is a huge sign in the background written in Chinese/Hanja: 農(nóng)者天下之大本, “Agriculture is the greatest foundation in the world.” This was quoted by Emperor Wen of Han (203 – 157 BCE) who promoted agriculture and reduction of taxation to farmers.)
（一個非常冷門的知識點。這款游戲是《街頭霸王IV》。在韓國關卡中，背景中有一個巨大的中文/韓文招牌寫著：農(nóng)者天下之大本，“農(nóng)業(yè)是天下最大的根本?！边@句話引自漢文帝（公元前203-公元前157年），他提倡農(nóng)業(yè)并減輕農(nóng)民的稅收。）

Now, onto a slightly more sinister reason.

現(xiàn)在，再來說一個略顯陰暗的原因。

Farmers were more easily manipulated and controlled in the grand system of the Empire, but merchants less so.

在帝國的宏大體系中，農(nóng)民更容易被操縱和控制，而商人則不然。
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Farming was always seen as honest work. While it did not require as much knowledge, it made people more content to live of their land. From a management POV, farmers were also more able to be controlled, because they were effectively locked onto their land, so in a way, the government could use the people of the land as their resources more effectively. Whenever the Empire needed to make large scale migrations, they could easily do so with promises of land.

農(nóng)業(yè)一直被視為誠實本份的工作。雖然它不需要太多的知識，但它使人們更滿足于靠自己的土地生活。從管理的角度來看，農(nóng)民也更容易被控制，因為他們實際上被束縛在土地上，所以在某種程度上，政府可以更有效地利用土地上的人民作為資源。每當?shù)蹏枰M行大規(guī)模的人口遷移時，他們很容易通過承諾土地來實現(xiàn)這一點。

Merchants, on the other hand, were less easy to manipulate. They were required to travel frequently to make money from the different supply and demand of different regions, and make their profit through such actions. The accumulation of excess wealth was not helpful to the state, as it widened the ancient equivalent of the Gini coefficient. Farmers were usually the ones who became financially exploited, and they represented the largest population of people. Therefore, merchants were also somewhat seen as a cause for social unrest. There’s even a Chinese idiom: “無商不奸” (there are no merchants who are not treacherous)
另一方面，商人不太容易被操縱。他們需要經(jīng)常旅行，從不同地區(qū)不同的供需關系中賺錢，并通過這些行為獲利。過多的財富積累對國家不利，因為它擴大了古代基尼系數(shù)的等效指標。農(nóng)民通常是經(jīng)濟上被剝削的對象，他們占人口的大多數(shù)。因此，商人也被某種程度上視為社會動蕩的原因。中國諺語中有一句就叫做“無商不奸”。

Han Feizi (280 – 233 BCE) the legalism philosopher, outright labelled them as Five Vermin of society.

法家哲學家韓非子（公元前280-公元前233年）直接將他們稱為社會的“五蠹”。

(The “Five Vermin” that Han Feizi referred to in this chapter of his book were: Confucian scholars, heroic vigilantes, diplomatic negotiators, draft dodgers, and merchants.)

（韓非子在其著作的這一章中提到的“五蠹”是：儒生、游俠、外交說客、逃避兵役者和商人。）

Historically, the government had frequently tried to control the merchants with heavy taxes and other penalty, such as first priority for drafting.

歷史上，政府經(jīng)常試圖通過重稅和其他懲罰來控制商人，例如優(yōu)先征兵。

But in later dynasties, especially Song and Ming, the merchant profession became more influential. The government began to see the merchant class more as a potential cash cow to milk. Likewise, with Imperial Examinations, merchant families produced educated scholar which became ministers (in effect a bit like whitewashing), and they too had people in the government that could act to best represent their interests.

但在后來的朝代，特別是宋朝和明朝，商業(yè)變得更有影響力。政府開始更多地將商人階層視為可以榨取的潛在搖錢樹。同樣，通過科舉考試，商賈之家也培養(yǎng)出了成為大臣的飽學之士（實際上有點像洗白），他們在政府中也有人能夠最好地代表他們的利益。

Thai Nguyen Gia
With so many answers already, I would just use a different tack: Economics.

已經(jīng)有這么多答案了，我只想從一個不同的角度來分析：經(jīng)濟學。

Merchants represent the ability to bring products from one area (export) to another (import). Speaking from pure economics view, that meant Free Trade versus Protectionism which is the main voice of their opposition. When they want to suppress Merchants, it mostly mean the local factions suppress the outsiders encroaching on their (provincial) markets.

商人代表著將產(chǎn)品從一個地區(qū)（出口）帶到另一個地區(qū)（進口）的能力。純粹從經(jīng)濟學的角度來看，這意味著自由貿(mào)易與保護主義的對立，而保護主義是反對商人的主要聲音。當他們想要抑制商人時，這通常意味著地方勢力壓制侵入他們（省內(nèi)）市場的外來者。
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Why is that so loud, so official in China compare to Western? Because of size. China compose of so many areas it’s comparable to full Europe continent. If you think of Suppress Merchants dialog in the same way of Free Trade Between European Nations you would see right away the logic behind. And if you push the timeline back to Medi Era, you will see why this dialog is so strong in China, and almost none existing in Europe: “Free Trade? What Free Trade? What nonsense are you talking about?”

為什么在中國，這種聲音如此響亮，如此官方，而西方卻不然？因為規(guī)模。中國的地域如此之廣，堪比整個歐洲大陸。如果你把抑制商人的討論看作是歐洲各國之間自由貿(mào)易的討論，你就會立刻明白其中的邏輯。如果你把時間線推回到中世紀，你就會明白為什么這種討論在中國如此強烈，而在歐洲幾乎不存在：“自由貿(mào)易？什么自由貿(mào)易？你在胡說什么？”

The logic behind the protest of merchants that can trade between coastal China to inland province is the same as logic behind protest of Free Trade between Netherland and, say, Switzerland. Or in term of product, imported sea salts will kill mountainous rock salt, so to protect later they need to prevent importing former, which mean suppress the merchants that sell former.

沿海地區(qū)與內(nèi)陸省份之間進行貿(mào)易的商人的抗議邏輯，與荷蘭和瑞士之間自由貿(mào)易的抗議邏輯相同。或者就產(chǎn)品而言，進口海鹽會扼殺山區(qū)巖鹽，因此為了保護后者，他們需要阻止進口前者，這意味著抑制銷售前者的商人。

Kevin Anderson
Merchants merely moved stuff from A to B, and then sometimes to C or D.
They didn’t actually produce anything.
They were the lixs in the chain between production and consumption.
All hail farmers, peasants, goat herders etc. who actually produced something!
Thanks for asking.

商人僅僅是將貨物從A地運到B地，然后有時運到C地或D地。
他們實際上沒有生產(chǎn)任何東西。
他們是生產(chǎn)和消費之間鏈條上的環(huán)節(jié)。
所有人都贊美那些真正生產(chǎn)東西的農(nóng)民、農(nóng)夫、牧羊人等等！
謝謝提問。

Q-X Sun
Merchants in ancient China were often not loyal to the country and did not respect the people.

古代中國的商人往往對國家不忠誠，也不尊重人民。

This is a very classic example. Natural disasters in ancient China, such as floods, droughts, etc., will cause a large reduction in grain production, and therefore, the grain production in many areas will be greatly reduced. The refugees will flow to various provinces and even cause uprisings. At this time, the government will open the grain depot and donate food to the people affected by the disaster to prevent them from uprising.

這是一個非常經(jīng)典的例子。古代中國發(fā)生洪水、干旱等自然災害時，會導致糧食產(chǎn)量大幅下降，許多地區(qū)的糧食產(chǎn)量會大大減少。難民會涌向各個省份，甚至引發(fā)起義。這時，政府會打開糧倉，向受災人民捐贈食物，以防止他們造反。
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But merchants will bribe officials at this time to buy these foods. Later, they will sell the food for disaster relief at high prices. Bankrupt refugees who cannot afford food can only resist. The food provided by the country for disaster relief will become useless, while the businessmen will make huge profits. For merchants, the rise and fall of the dynasty has nothing to do with them, as long as they guarantee their status, they are the most ruthless creatures.

但是，商人此時會賄賂官員購買這些糧食。之后，他們會以高價出售這些救災糧食。破產(chǎn)的難民買不起食物，只能反抗。國家提供的救災糧食將變得毫無用處，而商人卻會賺取巨額利潤。對于商人來說，王朝的興衰與他們無關，只要能保證他們的地位，他們就是最無情的生物。

This often happened in ancient times, so ancient merchants would be suppressed to prevent them from making chaos.

這種情況在古代經(jīng)常發(fā)生，因此古代商人受到壓制，以防止他們制造混亂。

Minh
Cathaysian, the subject of ancient Chinese civilization, is a country specializing in cultivation. Cathaysian civilization has, from its very beginning, been characterized as an agricultural civilization. It values ??agricultural development and considers farming as a source of social wealth while on the other hand it despises commerce as an unimportant factor in the economy. The ideology of respect for peasants and mercantiles promoted during the Warring States period (475-221 B.C.E.) became the main trend of Chinese economic thought and was believed and pursued by emperors throughout the entire history of China. Chinese history since the Qin and Han dynasties (221 BC-220 AD). At the end of the feudal period, with the rapid development of industry and commerce, the ideological disdain for commerce was tested in some areas, but its supremacy in the confucian and economic policy circles. of the state remains unchanged. The kings of the Ming-Qing dynasties continued to maintain the policy of considering agriculture as the basis of the economy while trade was only considered a secondary role in the economy - something necessary but not worthy of encouragement. In traditional Chinese thought, commerce and merchants are often associated with selling at exorbitant prices and enjoying a life of insatiable luxury. Thus, the overgrowth of trade not only harms the agricultural economy through the huge human consumption of farming, but also damages society as a whole. China's traditional mercantilism and mercantilism clearly went against the wave of maritime trade disputes at the time. Since the discovery of geography, mercantilism has become prent in Western European economic circles. All the maritime nations there emphasized the importance of commodity turnover and precious metal imports to the nation's prosperity at this time. All countries actively support the development of maritime trade through the use of national power. The colonial trade of Portugal and Spain, the era of Dutch charioteers and the founding of the British Empire were all the result of mercantilism and national policy. In such an era, however, the Chinese emperors still advocated remembrance. So it is clear that they are not able to implement an active foreign trade policy to encourage merchants to go out and open up the market for the country. The traditional Chinese concept of "Hua Yi" is also an important reason. This concept is the self-centered political-cultural attitude that asserts that Chinese civilization is superior to other countries. Although this kind of attitude is a common characteristic of all relatively developed ancient civilizations in general, China's special geographical position separates it from other ancient civilizations by natural barriers. the four-sided nature, as well as the vantage point of Chinese civilization and its "world" whose Chinese-centrism is so strong, and since then China has not only created a concept that has The combination and the system is the "Hua Yi" which is related to this concept, they have developed into a system of personality and principles in dealing with relations with the outside world. According to this concept, China is the center of the world and the emperor of China is the "Son of Heaven" who rules over the entire world. Outside of China where the emperors directly ruled were the regions inhabited by the “Man Di” in barbaric countries. Although all these countries were fierce and wild, the emperor always wanted to give them gifts and treat them as vassals if they wished to be civilized and recognize their rule through through royal tribute. The highest ideal of the ancient Chinese emperor was to establish a world order in which he was the ruler of all the nations of the world.

華夏文明的主體——古代中國，是一個以農(nóng)耕立國的國度。自文明肇始，華夏文明便呈現(xiàn)出鮮明的農(nóng)耕文明特質(zhì)：崇尚農(nóng)業(yè)發(fā)展，將耕作視為社會財富之源；同時貶抑商業(yè)，視其為經(jīng)濟末流。戰(zhàn)國時期（公元前475-221年）形成的"重農(nóng)抑商"思想，成為中國歷代帝王奉行的經(jīng)濟治國圭臬。
自秦漢（公元前221年-公元220年）以降，直至封建時代末期，盡管工商業(yè)在局部地區(qū)蓬勃發(fā)展，但輕商思想在儒家體系與國家經(jīng)濟政策中的主導地位始終未被動搖。明清帝王依然恪守"以農(nóng)立國"的基本國策，僅將商業(yè)視為必要卻不值得鼓勵的經(jīng)濟補充。在傳統(tǒng)觀念中，商賈常與囤積居奇、奢靡無度相聯(lián)系，商業(yè)過度發(fā)展不僅會消耗農(nóng)耕勞力，更將敗壞社會風氣。
這種傳統(tǒng)農(nóng)商觀念與當時世界貿(mào)易浪潮形成鮮明反差。地理大發(fā)現(xiàn)后，重商主義在西歐各國盛行，海上強國無不將商品流通與貴金屬輸入視為國家繁榮之本，紛紛以國家力量助推海外貿(mào)易——葡萄牙、西班牙的殖民貿(mào)易，荷蘭的"海上馬車夫"時代，乃至大英帝國的崛起，皆是重商主義國策的產(chǎn)物。反觀中國帝王，此時仍執(zhí)著于"勸課農(nóng)桑"的祖訓，自然不可能推行鼓勵商人開拓海外市場的積極外貿(mào)政策。
傳統(tǒng)"華夷觀"亦是重要成因。這種以華夏文明為尊的自我中心主義政治文化態(tài)度，雖為古代發(fā)達文明的共性特征，但中國特殊的地理環(huán)境使其表現(xiàn)尤為強烈：四境天然屏障將華夏文明與其他古文明隔絕，形成強烈的"天朝上國"意識。由此衍生的"華夷"體系，逐漸發(fā)展成處理對外關系的核心準則。
按照此觀念，中國乃"天下"中心，皇帝是統(tǒng)御萬邦的"天子"。直接統(tǒng)治區(qū)域之外，皆是"蠻狄"所居的化外之地。盡管這些邦族粗野蠻荒，但只要愿通過朝貢接受教化，天子便以懷柔之道待之，賜予封賞以示羈縻。中國古代帝王追求的終極理想，正是建立一種"萬邦來朝"的世界秩序。

Yet China's self-centeredness is by no means belligerent or brave. It emphasizes China's preeminence in the world but it has never been inclined to expansion and has never wanted to force other countries to accept a unified world under Chinese rule. It describes the submission of other countries to China's exemplary morality and strength. It therefore places more emphasis on protecting Chinese civilization and maintaining internal order against foreign influences than on expanding China's influence into the world. This is the real sign that distinguishes China from other countries. From the point of view of the "Tian Dynasty" emperors, the order of ruling within was sacred and inviolable, which was what made China since it became a civilized nation. Therefore, it was absolutely necessary for the emperors to take every possible measure against the poisoning of the barbarians outside. Only when foreign countries have a desire to observe the Chinese customs and ritual system that has created the governing order within China, are they well accepted and welcomed. But if they dare to change these customs and systems they will be expelled and banned.

然而，中國的自我中心主義絕非好戰(zhàn)或強勢。它強調(diào)中國在世界中的至高地位，卻從未傾向于擴張，更無意強迫他國接受以中國為尊的一統(tǒng)天下。這種觀念所期待的，是四方邦國因仰慕華夏的道德典范與強大國力而自愿歸附。因此，其核心要義在于守護中華文明、抵御外來影響以維持內(nèi)部秩序，而非將中國影響力擴張至全球——這正是中國區(qū)別于其他文明的關鍵特征。
在"天朝"帝王眼中，自華夏成為文明之邦起，其內(nèi)部統(tǒng)治秩序便是神圣不可侵犯的。帝王必須竭盡全力防范"夷狄"的侵染：唯有當外邦主動學習中國維系內(nèi)部秩序的禮樂制度時，才會被欣然接納；若其妄圖改變這些制度規(guī)范，則必遭驅(qū)逐禁絕。
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The concept of "Hua Yi" did not hinder China's expansion into the world in the early part of its history, especially at a time when it was a powerful state like under the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. 220), Road (618-907). At that time, the greatness of the nation made the emperors of China have enough confidence and open contact with the outside world, a sense of superiority about "Heavenly Dynasty" and Chinese culture had probably at the highest level psychologically. But since the 16th century, and especially since the 17th century, the highly developed Chinese civilization has faced an unheard of new civilization brought by Europeans with warships, which At least in terms of raw materials, it is not inferior to China, but in many respects it seems to surpass China.

“華夷”的概念在其歷史早期并沒有阻礙中國向世界擴張，尤其是在漢朝（公元前206年-公元220年）和唐朝（公元618年-公元907年）等強盛時期。那時，國家的強大使得中國皇帝有足夠的信心與外界進行開放的接觸，“天朝”和中華文化的優(yōu)越感可能在心理上達到了最高水平。但自16世紀以來，特別是自17世紀以來，高度發(fā)達的中華文明面臨著歐洲人憑借戰(zhàn)艦帶來的前所未有的新文明的沖擊，這種文明至少在物質(zhì)層面并不遜于中國，甚至在許多方面超越了中國。

This situation has shaken the "Tian Dynasty" of the emperors. So as an instinctive reaction to Western influence, the emperor's attitude toward the outside world began to turn increasingly negative. Of course, they never wanted to admit to being on an equal footing with Western nations: not only because Westerners are still considered primitive peoples, but also because Western countries trading with China still conduct their own imperialism. drain. But this is also only for the purpose of protecting the self-esteem of "Tian Trieu" in appearance and psychology only. In fact, "Tian Trieu"'s confidence in his own strength had collapsed. Therefore, the kings of the Ming-Qing dynasties shifted their ancestors' position of opening up to the world to protect Chinese civilization and the ruling order from foreign influence by its own borders. This was the basic reason why the emperors of this period emphasized and valued the demarcation between the Chinese and the foreigners and practiced a conservative foreign trade policy.

這一局面動搖了帝王們的"天朝"信念。作為對西方影響的本能反應，統(tǒng)治者對外態(tài)度日趨消極。當然，他們決不愿承認與西方國家平起平坐——不僅因西方人仍被視為化外之民，更因來華貿(mào)易的列強始終在進行經(jīng)濟掠奪。但此種堅持，終究只是為維系"天朝"在表象與心理上的自尊。事實上，"天朝"對自身實力的自信已然崩塌。
明清帝王遂將祖輩的開放立場，轉(zhuǎn)為通過閉關鎖國來守護中華文明與統(tǒng)治秩序免受外來侵蝕。這正是該時期統(tǒng)治者強調(diào)"華夷之辨"、奉行保守外貿(mào)政策的根本原因。

Peter Pappas
Many societies did not respect merchants. Remember merchants amassed a lot of wealth (often more than even the nobility). However merchants were commoners and so the nobles looked down on them. Merchants had to work for their money (unlike the nobles who inherited their wealth) so Nobles viewed them as scheming and manipulative and cut throat to amass such large fortunes without a family name and being of low birth. It was out of partial jealousy and partial fear that merchants would overtake the noble ruling class who were often in debt and while owning lots of land and power in government tended to have limited liquid funds compared to the merchants who could usually out bid nobles on many purchases. It was a conflict of new money vs old money. Eventually nobles realized they needed the merchants and many nobles would marry daughters of wealthy merchants. This allowed the merchants heirs to get a title of nobility and the noble families to get an influx of funds through dowries and property agreements.

歷史上諸多社會都曾輕視商人。須知商人雖積累巨額財富（往往超過貴族階層），卻始終屬于平民階級，自然為貴族所鄙薄。在貴族眼中，商賈之輩既無顯赫家世，又出身卑微，卻能通過鉆營算計、不擇手段聚斂財富（不同于依靠世襲的貴族），實在有違綱常。這種輕蔑背后，實則夾雜著對商人的忌憚與妒忌——貴族雖掌握土地與政權，卻常陷于債務困局，流動資金反不如商人充裕，在競購資產(chǎn)時屢屢敗北。這本質(zhì)上是新興商業(yè)資本與傳統(tǒng)封建勢力的對抗。
最終貴族階層不得不向現(xiàn)實妥協(xié)：他們開始接納商人，甚至頻繁與富商聯(lián)姻。通過讓商人子嗣獲得貴族頭銜，以及收取豐厚嫁妝與財產(chǎn)協(xié)議，沒落的貴族門第得以重獲資金活力。

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