Zheng Guanying, Merchant Reformer of Late Qing China and his Infl ...

of otherworldly goals made Confucianism more flexible in reconciling moralism with material well-being and all worldly activities. Chinese mercantilism was more a relatively peripheral segment of Confucianism than a foreign element of it. In addition, the Chinese tradition does not necessarily exclude commercial activities. An important pre-Qin philosopher and transmitter of Confucius’ doctrines, Xunzi (313 bce–238 bce), erected the ideal of economic cooperation and encouraged exchange and supply. It is believed that Xunzi's economic thought “has points of great similarity to the ideas of some modern Western thinkers.”¹² William Rowe's study of the rural elite in Hanyang, Hubei Province, shows that the interpenetration of commercial and rural elites was very thorough during the late imperial period. Rowe points out, “As long as merchants played their Confucian roles well, they were not only accepted into elite society but actively welcomed.” This statement fits well into the case of Zheng Wenrui.¹³

In addition, there were no rigid social barriers between merchants and gentry in China as in early modern Europe and Tokugawa Japan. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, with the decline of the state monopoly in commerce and the development of urban consumer culture, the boundary between gentry-scholar [shi] and merchant [shang] was blurred. The second half of the nineteenth century was an especially important period for the elevation of merchant status because of the pressing national demand for wealth and power.¹⁴ In the meantime, Confucian scholars were shifting their attention from academics to the people's livelihood. The attitudes of scholars and society toward merchants changed to the extent that merchants had superseded peasants and artisans and taken second place in the non-official social hierarchy. In some places, to quit the career of scholar and become a merchant had become a fashion.¹⁵ Merchants readily expressed their identification with ruling Confucianism by donating to popular education and charities and practicing Confucian principles in their daily lives. A study of the numerous Ming and Qing merchants’ manuals illustrates two phenomena. First, late imperial China saw great fluidity between the world of trade and scholarship. Second, merchants became fervent advocates of Confucian moral