Chapter 4 Chapter 2 The First Leap—Commerce in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods

Since the late Spring and Autumn Period, the promotion of iron farm tools, the use of cattle power for cultivation, the improvement of farming techniques, the development of water conservancy irrigation, and agricultural productivity have increased step by step.Agricultural laborers changed from slaves to serfs, and then from serfs to individual small farmers, and their enthusiasm for production also increased step by step.With the increase in production, they have more and more surplus products to sell, and more and more requirements to buy back the necessary means of life and production.In parallel with the growth of individual farmers, many handicraft slaves were also liberated and became independent handicraftsmen. Their products were sold for the purpose of sale, and they could not be exchanged for daily necessities and raw materials unless they were put into the market.At the same time, the benefits of mountains and rivers were gradually opened up, and major handicraft industries such as bronze, iron smelting, and salt cooking were privately operated in many areas and for a long time, changing the previous pattern of handicraft industries being monopolized by the government.All of these have promoted the exchange of commodities and expanded the market capacity.Coupled with the construction of cities, the development of transportation, and the gradual unification of the political situation (the Warring States period was when seven heroes stood side by side), materials were able to circulate smoothly in a wider range, and the development of commerce had unprecedented favorable conditions.

The development of commerce during this period focused on cities where the exploiting class lived and the people who served it concentrated.The exchange of goods between cities plays a major role.The capitals where the rulers of various countries lived, as well as the places where goods were collected and distributed at transportation hubs, formed cities of varying degrees of prosperity.For example, Linzi, the capital city of Qi State, which was developed earlier in commerce, was already very lively in the Spring and Autumn Period.Xiangguo Yanying's house is near the market, "Qiuai is noisy", others persuade him to move to a new house, but he refuses with the words "you can get what you want every day" and it is convenient to buy things.During the Warring States Period, the number of households in Linzi reached 70,000. 〕Zhe. On the way to Linzi, the hub [gu valley, the log in the center of the wheel] hits, people rub their shoulders together, form a curtain, raise their sleeves to form a curtain, and sweat like rain. The family is rich and full of people, with high ambitions." ("Historical Records Biography of Su Qin") Although the literary language is not without exaggeration, the prosperous scene of Linzi can also be seen.There were no fewer than a dozen cities like Linzi or slightly inferior to Linzi during the Warring States Period, and businesses there were very active.Ying (now Jiangling, Hubei), the capital of Chu State, was crowded with people, and there was a saying that "clothes in the court are fresh but clothes in the evening are poor"; It looks like it.

In the city, there is a fixed place for commodity exchange, which is called "city".There are "city gates" around the city, which are managed by officials.There are four rows in the city, and the commodities are classified separately.In the Warring States period, there were gold shops, jewelry and jade shops, grain shops, silk cloth shops, leather goods shops, salt shops, medicine shops, and shoe shops. At the top, they sold good swords, and at the bottom, they sold rabbits, sheep, dolphins, fish, etc. Turtles sell thatch, millet seeds, pulp, kill dogs and sell dog meat, and even sell spears and shields. There are also hotels that "hang their banners very high" to attract customers; Buyers and sellers have commented that a good match has appeared.Those who sit and sell are all small businessmen and small handicraftsmen who produce and sell themselves.However, since the late Spring and Autumn Period, some small handicraftsmen have been allowed to accept processing orders in the front room of their residences for the convenience of customers.For example, Zihan’s neighbor to the south of Xiangguo in the Song Dynasty was a “worker, who was a leather shoe upper.” Zihan did not force his family to relocate, because this family had been “for food” for three generations. Those who seek the harness in the Song Dynasty will not know where it is ("Lu Shi Chunqiu·Zhao Lei Pian").The integration of industry and commerce, with shops in the front and workshops in the back, is a supplementary form of commodity exchange, which has been preserved for a long time in feudal society.

At that time, the city was closed, with limited business hours, and the city gates were always open and closed.The trading time is mainly in the morning, and it will gradually disperse after noon, and stop in the evening. After the market strike, the market will be empty, which is the so-called "the market is full in the morning, and empty in the evening". There is a short story in "Han Feizi": There was a man in the state of Zheng who wanted to buy a pair of shoes. He measured the size at home and forgot to take it to the market. Han Feizi·Foreign Reserve Talk Left One").It is of course a joke that this person is so stupid, but it also shows that market transactions have a certain time and are outdated.

The improvement of farmers' status and the development of agricultural production have led to exchange activities between farmers and handicraftsmen - "the exchange of millet for tools, and the exchange of tools for millet" is more than before.The farmer Xu Xing's idea of ​​"cultivating together and eating", all self-sufficiency, and not asking outsiders can no longer be implemented (see "Mencius Teng Wengong 1").In fact, the market in the countryside has developed more than before.This kind of regular market spontaneously formed by exchange in the open space beside the middle road in the countryside outside the city is different from the regular market in the city.At the end of the Western Weekend, the markets in the countryside had made "women have no official business, so they stopped weaving silkworms" ("Poetry Daya Zhan Yin", Yin, Tong Yang); this phenomenon was even worse in the Spring and Autumn Period. "Men and women abandon their old careers, eager to meet on the road, sing and dance in the market", has been seen in "Poetry", the so-called "if you don't lose the hemp, the city will also dance" ("Poetry Chen Feng Dongfeng Zhifang" [Fang, Tan wood]), it means that the woman stopped her work and went to the market in the "Southern Plain" to dance.It is very lively on the day of the market, with commodity trading, singing and dancing, and this custom has been preserved in many areas.

In the bazaar, it is generally a direct transaction between the producer and the buyer, but there are also merchants involved in it later.Mencius said: "If you have a lowly husband, you must seek monopoly and get on it, and look around to see the market profit." ("Mencius Gongsun Chouxia") The expression of the businessman standing on the high ridge and spying on the market dynamics is vividly depicted .At that time, most of the "surplus millet" and "surplus cloth" of peasants were accumulated by merchants, and accumulated like a snowball, for consumption in other places and cities (handicraftsmen and ordinary civilians).Therefore, during the Warring States period, grain management had become a new industry, and grain trafficking within 500 miles started from the rural market.

In inter-regional trafficking trade, it is not food that is farther away and of higher value, but a wide variety of rare and precious native products.During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, due to the extensive development of mountains and forests, the regional division of handicrafts, and the variety of special products naturally formed in various regions, under the condition of more convenient water and land transportation, merchants strengthened their activities and acted as economic links between regions. intermediary.At that time, the regional price difference was very large, and even "Shi Jia Beiying [xixi]" had a difference of one to five times ("Mozi Guiyi"). "He is a man who is good at business, doubles the way, and works day and night, and those who are not far away for thousands of miles, benefit first." ("Guanzi · Ban Zang") Driven by profit, although merchants have "difficulties in closing beams and dangers of thieves" Regardless of ("Mozi Guiyi").Some great aristocrats also served as great merchants, and E Jun of Chu State is a famous representative of them.The four Ejun Festivals unearthed in Shouxian County, Anhui Province during the time of King Huai of Chu are the land and water pass for Ejun to use boats to transport goods (Guo Moruo: "Research on "Ejun Festival", "Collected Literature and History").50 vehicles or 150 ships can be dispatched at a time, within the specified number of means of transportation, tax exemption can be provided by virtue of the certificate.The boat travels on the water, and the distribution area of ​​the voyage includes most of the present-day Hunan and Hubei provinces, a part of Henan and Anhui, and also extends to a corner of Guangxi.

China's famous silk fabric with a long history has been seen in the markets of Persia, Greece and India during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.This was trafficked out through the hands of the Northwest ethnic groups (such as the Huns).In the 4th century B.C., there was a record in Indian ancient books that "Silk was produced in China, and its silk was sold to India".Foreign archaeological discoveries: In many tombs south of Uzbekistan in the former Soviet Union, there are fragments of silk clothing made between 1700 BC and 1500 BC, indicating that there was an ancient trade route between China and Central Asia at that time.