Traditional Confucian Thought and Business Activities:
The Relationship between Commerce and the Chinese Term shēngyì
MING, XU1
Zhijiang University of Communication and Media
It is known that the English word “business” came from old English bisignes (Northumbrian) with
an original sense of "care, anxiety, occupation". Its evolution to include the meaning of “trade,
commercial engagement” is attested to have occurred in the early 18th Century. In the case of
China, mystery surrounds the origin and meaning of the term for business incorporating the term
shengyi 生意, which originally means “the spirit of living” (usually referring to the prosperity of
plants, and sometimes metaphorizing the livelihood of people), then “the core/heart of the
ever-transforming heaven and earth”, and “the benevolence 仁” in neo-Confucianism. It symbols
the creation force of the universe.
This paper argues that neo-Confucianists in the Song dynasty (960 BC-1279 BC) continuously
and systematically incorporated the Confucian metaphysical idea of tian-min 天民, that is
“citizens under heaven”, and tian-zhi 天职 which is analogy to Martin Luther’s conception of
beruf into the activities of zhi-sheng 治生, that is making a living competently and orderly. Such
thinking broadened understanding of the four major Chinese occupations in ancient times:
scholar-bureaucrats, farmers, artisans and merchants. It is said that, human being, as one of
creations sharing the similar origin of the ever-changing universe, has obligations to pursue
immanent transcendental spirit in a process of fu-xing 复性 or returning to his/her nature. This
provides an ultimate sense for some traditional Chinese people to engage exhausting jobs ethically
and spiritually. The senses of cherishing and caring the earth, community, and family were also
developed in different extent.
Shengyi 生意 finally achieved its specific meaning of business activities and get its legitimacy no
later than late Ming (16th-17thC). In family teachings or motto for young sons preparing to jump
into business, and in training or guiding books for fresh merchant disciples, although much
pragmatic business ethics as well as commercial techniques were taught, it is easy to find clues to
Confucian spirituality. For example, Zhangjian 张 謇 (1853-1926), a recognized Confucian
entrepreneur during late Qing and Min-guo, believed that shengyi could be serving as an important
logotherapy and instructions when facing difficulties.
In modern China, the traditional Confucian organic sense of “spirit of living” has been exfoliated
from business and replaced by wolf totem in a misinterpreted sense of social Darwinism, which
causes many environmental, social, political and economic problems which needs new solutions.
Lecturer of economic history, management school of Zhejiang University of Communication and Media.
Address: Xue Yuan Rd. 998, Jiang Gan District, Hangzhou (310018), China; Cell: 86-18618281971; Email:
[email protected].
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1
1. INTRODUCTION
It is obvious that culture matters on when and how people perceive and conceptualize their
commercial activities in different countries. To understand the infiltration, fusion and organic
combination of culture and business engagement, we may resort to etymology to research on some
key terms and conceptions, which recorded the budding subtle, yet finally overwhelming changes
of society. For an example, it is known that the English word “business” came from old English
bisignes (Northumbrian) with an original sense of "care, anxiety, occupation", and then is attested
to develop the meaning of “trade, commercial engagement” in the early 18th Century.
While in the case of China, mystery surrounds the origin and meaning of the term for business
incorporating the colloquial term shēngyì生意, which originally means “the spirit of living” in
Chinese cultural elites’ writings, and probably it connects as a symbolic tunnel to the sense of
core/heart of heaven and earth天地之心, or benevolence/ren仁 in the network of concepts in
neo-Confucianism.
When and why did the term shēngyì生意 get the specific meaning of business activities? What
kind of symbolic or spiritual resources were added in business? This tentative paper is trying to
give some clues to these questions by having a quick glimpse of the characteristics of Chinese
business. The main method of starting it is through textual research into a long period of ancient
classic books as well as folk novels and the writings of a famous Chinese businessman - Zhang
Jian张謇.
2. A LONG TRADITION OF CHINESE ZHÌSHĒNG治生
According to Ci Hai (1977, 1850-1853), one of the best dictionaries on Chinese terms, the term
shēng生 has at least twelve meanings: 1) growing of grasses and plants, producing, creating or
emerging of all the things”; 2) born; 3) living or alive, opposites to death; 4) nature; 5) the
intellectuals; 6) disciples; 7) a role of Chinese drama; 8) undercooked, immature, unannealed; 9)
stiff, blunt, flat; 10) deeply; 11) auxiliary mood words; 12) a Chinese surname.
figure 1: family definitions of shēng生
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Although the term shēng 生 has so many definitions, the original meaning is “living, born,
creating” which depicts the basic status of human being, all other creatures, and even the “organic”
universe. It becomes an intuitive point for Chinese people to start their conceptualization on
human activities as well. Thus, creation/sheng 生 won its elementary position no matter in
Chinese philosophical thinking or pragmatic consideration. In the Book of Change or Yijing 易经
(1000BC-8AC), the most profound Chinese philosophy resource, creation/shēng 生 is regarded as
the great virtue of the universe, and the definition of Change is derived from its endless creation or
reproduction.
2.1 The emergence of term zhìshēng治生 and its implications
The term of zhìshēng治生, which could be literally translated as making a livelihood or managing
a life, traces a long history of Chinese people engaging in economic activities, sometimes more
specifically in commercial involvement. Zhìshēng治生 is first attested to have occurred in the
famous book of Guanzi管子(475 BC-221 BC), which says:
(After big tree branches near roads are cut down by the officers, there is no shade left for
chat and leisure.) The passerby (who go to or come back from the market) cherishes his
time and walks fast, the fathers and elders return home and make their livelihood
(zhìshēng治生), and the healthy and strong man return to farm归而薄业. That’s why I
put right the three tarrying things which made the villages poor2.
As zhìshēng治生 and bóyè薄业 are the two match words in the same part of sentence, they tend
to have a close meaning. Although there is not enough clue of what kind of economic activities
zhìshēng治生 are in Guanzi, it seems that, zhìshēng治生 serves as some supplemental or
subsidiary work of farming or commerce with minor profits which could be get even by the elders
and the weak.
Shiji史记, a long-lasting ancient book in Chinese history, could also be found the term of zhìshēng
治生 in five times and two times in a similar sense, as quoted in the below:
1) (Li Shaojun) became rich without engaging in the activities of zhìshēng. “(李少君)不
治生业而饶给”(see shiji, zhonghua shuju, 1959, vol. 28, p.1385);
2) (Han Xin) can’t zhìshēng as a merchant, and run to others for food once. “(韩信)不能
治生商贾，尝从人寄饮食”(ibid. vol.92, p.2609);
3) Those who are good at zhìshēng can surely put the right person at the right time. “故
善治生者能择人而任时”(ibid. vol.129, p.3257);
4) I zhì shēngchǎn (manage the wealth for a living) like the tacticians of Yiyin and
Lvshang, the militarists of Sunzi and Wuqi, and the politician of Shangyang, ……
Those who are trying to zhìshēng always follow Baigui. “吾治生产犹伊尹吕尚之谋、
孙吴用兵、商鞅行法是也，……天下言治生祖白圭”(ibid. vol.129, p.3258);
2
Guanzi 管子, Sibu Congkan 四部丛刊景宋本, vol.24, chapter “Qingzhongwu” 84 轻重戊第 84.
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5) Nowadays, we don’t have to zhìshēng (earn our lives) by harming ourselves. A wise
person should be aware of it. “今治生不待危身取给,则贤人勉焉”(ibid. vol.129,
p.3272);
6) The right way of zhìshēng is through hardworking and being frugality, while
unexpected strategy is the only way to be rich. “夫纤啬筋力，治生之正道也，而富者
必用奇胜”(ibid. vol.130, p.3282).
Fang Xudong (2006) finds out four quotations and argues that the term zhìshēng治生 refers to
someone engaging in commercial or profitable activities rather than satisfying his basic survival
needs. This argument is a part of the truth, but I still can’t agree with such a clear assertion. In fact,
zhì shēngyè治生业, zhìshēng治生, zhì shēngchǎn治生产3 and huozhi货殖 have much broader
ways such as engaging in farming, handcrafting, fishing, trading, mining, logging, ranching,
pleasing the rich, serving as government officials, even digging tombs for jewels, robbery, and etc.,
all of which have been mentioned in the chapter of huozhi货殖 in shiji. Lawful or unlawful,
moral or immoral, all professions that could survive human should be included in shēngyè生业
which are culturally, geographically, and technically adjusted all the time. Arranging or managing
such kind of shēngyè生业 is the activity of zhìshēng治生.
2.2 What is the original concern: survival or profitability?
Although profitability is always logically accompanied with survival, as suggested by modern
economists such as Alchian (1950), survival was the more original concern than profitability in
Chinese thinking at least for a long period of time. An example manifests much clearer that
zhìshēng治生 is not always referring to profitable activities. A famous politician Zhege Liang诸
葛亮(181-234) wrote in his last will临终遗表:
“As all my clothes and food come from the government, I don’t need any other ways of
making a livelihood治生 to increase even an ounce of wealth. When the day of my
death comes, I should not hold a penny and any private wealth which would be
unworthy of your majesties’ trust.” (Zhege Liang诸葛亮: A collect of Zhuge Wuhou诸葛
武侯文集, vol.1)
The difference lies in the varied attitudes toward how to manage their livelihood. Sima Qian司马
迁 encourages people to learn from the greatest ancient merchant Baigui白圭 with three virtues
(“be wise enough to balance changes, be brave enough to make decisions, and be benevolent
enough to give and take”) as well as several detailed key suggestions (“accumulate wealth from
markets, and keep it in farm; take opportunities in resolute actions, and reserve them in mild
ways.”) There is no distain of profitability for Sima Qian. While, for political elites, like Zhuge
liang诸葛亮, a wide-spread motto from a Han Confucian scholar - Dong Zhongshu董仲舒 - is
followed:
The term of zhì shēngchǎn 治生产 is usually misunderstood as managing production. Literally, it means
managing the wealth for a living, with a same meaning with zhì shēngyè 治生业.
3
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The benevolent dedicates to the righteous and justice instead of chasing personal gains，
and enlightens the way道 not for the sake of superficial fame. (The History of Former
Han, chapter of Bibliography of Dong Zhongshu)
Obviously, the contradiction between profit and justice of survival became much severer than that
in Shiji for political elites who have public responsibilities. Be careful, this dilemma is just a
cultural restriction to government officials or scholars with public concerns, which should not be
forcedly applied to the ordinary people. This cultural strategy is aimed to develop moral and
cultural incentives rather than economic incentives of those who have great influence or power on
others. It is reasonable and effective in some case to restrict corruptions and abuse of power.
Until Song dynasty (960-1279), with the increasing tension between growing population and
limited farmland resources, a large part of Chinese society was transiting from an agricultural and
pedigreed lineages society into a mercantile and imperial examinational society. Making a
livelihood becomes a big problem than ever before, even for the largely increased group of
Confucian scholars since the start of imperial examination. Confucian scholars have to pay much
more attention to making their own living. Ye Mengde (1077-1148) wrote for his descendants
some critical teachings which manifested attitude towards this shift:
“Human merely strives for his living that’s why he is called human being. Anyone who
could not earn a living is torching and rebelling against his life. If so, why does he stay
alive? The ancient sages like the flood controller Yu禹, the first sower Ji稷, and the
crime punisher Gao皋, engaged in nothing but making the lives of people. As it is so
urgent, why shouldn’t he put some effort on making his own life? If a sage strives for
the lives of others but with no considerations of himself, he just seems like following
Mozi’s墨子 idea of pursuing others’ interests rather than his own, which is not the
characteristic of (Confucian) Sages.” (Ye Mengde: A Summary of Shilin Zhisheng
Family Motto)
Professor Yu Yingshi (1987, pp.97-104) also introduces a theory of new trend of zhìshēng治生 in
Ming (1368-1644) and Qing dynasty (1636-1912) which I don’t bother to recite it again. I just
want to add an piece of interesting material that records an slang words of zuò huólù做活路
(making a living way) between Ming and Qing Dynasty, as recorded by Zhou Lianggong周亮工
(1612-1672).
I find that the poor people in Shandong province, who doesn’t have any decent jobs,
have to work as farmhands for others. They are called “farmhand sons”雇工子. And this
kind of work is also called zuò huólù做活路 which means making a living way. When
the sun rises, the farmhands will stand in marketplace with hoes. Those who have
farmlands might hire some of them as workers. Those farmhands who do not have a hoe,
or once did have a hoe but pawned it to pawnshops have to stay on the ground and
watch them leave. If in the end nobody hires them, they have to return home with great
disappointment. It is so hard to earn a full meal and making lives for themselves. Some
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of them will turn into wandering beggars, thieves, or burglars at last. (Zhou Lianggong
周亮工: Juguan guaguo lu居官寡过录, vol3, Qingzhaotang Congshu)
Nowadays in Sichuan, zuò huólù做活路 is still a frequent used oral words for peasants when they
do farm work. Even more, the farmer-workers农民工 as well as citizens from there are quite used
to name informal jobs as huólù活路 too. Of course, the meaning of huólù doesn’t strictly stick to
basic survival demands in these situations. It is just an accustomed usage which leaves the traces
of Confucian culture.
3. “SHĒNG YÌ LIU XING”: AN ORGANIC WORLD IN NEO-CONFUCIANISM
Traditional Chinese people perceive the universe as living and organic, not mechanical entity.
Although there is no God who creates the universe, the vital force - qi气- if we may say so, always
working in it. There are two kinds of qi -yin阴 and yang阳- which comes from the vital force. yin
qi阴气 is heavy, cold and aggregational, and symbolizes the status of coming into being or
shaping of all things. While the yang qi阳气 is light, warm, active, penetrable, scattering all over
the universe, and symbolizes the ever-replenishing vital force. Nature and human society are
regarded as one living unity in the functioning of qi. This conceptualization finally gives birth to
the idea of the heart of heaven and earth天地之心.
3.1 Movement or stillness: the way to observe the heart of heaven and earth
According to the philosophy of Yijing易经, the way of observing the heart of heaven and earth天
地之心 is through the divinatory symbol of Return/Fu(复卦
). Many philosophical thinking
were embroidered around this theme. The most important thought which has influences till
nowadays is figured out by Cheng Yi程颐(1033-1107), a famous neo-Confucian. He said：
People quote the saying “the way to observe the heart of heaven and earth is through
symbol of Return/Fu(复卦
)”, and it is totally misinterpreted as ultimate stillness is the
way to observe the heart of heaven and earth. There is a line under the symbol of
Return/Fu which means movement rather than stillness. Ancient Confucians suggested
observing the heart of heaven and earth through stillness. While only I insist on
observing the heart of heaven and earth through movement.
This argument makes a great shift to emphasize that movement should take the place of
ultimate stillness to observe the essence of universe. Cheng Yi also added,
(According to the symbol of Fu,) one Yang returns at the bottom which is the will of
heaven and earth to create all the things. The former Confucians thought stillness was
the way to observe the heart of heaven and earth, because they don’t know the beginning
of movement is the heart of heaven and earth. Only those who know the Way/Dao道
can recognize it.
Finding the nature of heaven and earth, or observing the creation of universe and even the
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livelihood or shēngyì of creatures thus challenges the old way of obtaining stillness in
meditation from the Daoism. Zhang Zai张载, Zhou Dunyu周敦颐 and many other Song
Confucians also have similar understanding4.
3.2 Benevolent /Ren仁 as livelihood/shēngyì and a world of “shēngyì liú xíng”
A student of Cheng Yi, Xie Liangzuo谢良佐(1050-1103) developed Cheng’s theory of shēngyì.
He first built a sense tunnel between the shēngyì and ren/benevolent. This famous sense making is
named as one of the four theoretic contributions to Confucianism. Zhu Xi(1130-1200) commented
Xie’s theory like this:
Mr. Shangcai上蔡(Xie Liangzuo)’s work on the Analects and others speeches are still
popular in the world. His remarks such as interpreting Ren仁 with shēngyì以生意论仁,
interpreting Cheng/sincerity诚 with real principle实理论诚, interpreting awe with
keeping a clear mind以常惺惺论敬, and interpreting principle investigation with
finding the truth, are very precise and appropriate. (See Qunshuhuiyuan Jie Jianggang
群书会元截江网, vol. 31)
Xie Liangzuo谢良佐 argued that the living is ren/benevolent活者为仁 and the dead is not ren死
者为不仁. In Chinese medical term, paralysis with no sense of pains is not ren麻痹不仁. The
kernel/seed of peaches and almonds can be planted and live. That’s why the seeds of peaches and
almonds are called Tao-ren桃仁, Xin-ren杏仁, for naming their livelihood where ren仁 could be
observed. (see Zhen Dexiu真德秀, Dushu Ji读书记, vol.7, Wenyuange Sikuquanshu)
Definitions of Chinese terms are always determined by the network of other terms. Xie’s
contribution make a bridge between the most important conception of Ren and shēngyì which
opens a flood of cultural and ethical sense making in Chinese people’s world view. The most
successful classics interpreter is Zhu Xi朱熹(1130-1200). His theory was officially selected as the
standard answer of imperial exams for about six centuries after his death. It is not so astonished
that some terms of the neo-Confucianism were widely spread to all over China. In the below, I
draft a map of Zhu Xi’s sense making on this subject. It may be useful for anyone who likes to
have a deeper investigation on the network of neo-Confucian value systems. This map is a draft of
how neo-Confucians perceive the spreading of shēngyì also.
Zhou Dunyu never weeds the grasses near his window, for the reason of recognizing they have the same
livelihood as him. (周茂叔窗前草不除去，问之，云：“与自家意思一般。”) see Er Cheng Ji 二程集, zhonghua
shuju, 1981: 60. Neo-Confucians tends to observe the Shengyi of plants and creatures for self-cultivation. For
example, Cheng Hao 程颢 likes to watch the baby chicken and Zhangzai 张载 likes to listen the bray of donkeys.
4
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Figure 2: a map of Shengyi Liuxing生意流行图
Beixi Ziyi北溪字义, a guiding book to Zhuxi’s朱熹 philosophy also connects the Yijing’s yuan元
heng亨 li利zheng贞 with shēngyì.
Benevolent/Ren symbols the Yuan元 in the heaven, spring in the time, as the beginning
of creation. Yuan元 is the spirit of living, heng亨 is the connection to the spirit of
living, li利 is the accomplishment of the spirit of living, zhen贞 is the hidding and
reserving of the spirit of living. (see Chenchun陈淳, Beixi Ziyi北溪字义, vol.i,
Wenyuange Siku Quanshu)
Even in Ming dynasty, such expressions were partly cited in the folk novels. Please read Feng
Menglong’s Gujin Xiaoshuo古今小说(vol. 16) for further checking. I believe through storytelling
and opera in restaurants, hotels and teahouses, the values of neo-Confucianism had their own ways
of spreading into below society. So did the term of “shēngyì”.
3.3 Business got a new name in late Ming, shēng yì生意?
I believe Shēngyì gets the meaning of business in folk literatures no later than late Ming dynasty.
After searching the database of Chinese Classic Ancient Books中国基本古籍库, I don’t find any
records of this meaning before Ming dynasty either. It is reasonably that we put this newly
emerging meaning of shēng yì生意 in Ming dynasty, if no new evidences are found.
In Meng Lin Xuan Jie梦林玄解, a forged book in the name of a Yijing scholar Shao Yong邵雍
(1011-1077), which is printed during the era of Chongzhen崇祯(1628-1644), the term of shēngyì
appears in the sense of commercial activities.
Zhen Dexiu真德秀 said: “how about you never see your father again and make another
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living别做生计?” The son (of Cheng Er – an arrested prisoner who killed a monk before)
answered: “I don’t like to engage in business(zuò shēngyì做生意). If I could get some
heritage from my father, I would buy a license of monk, and live in a monastery of Wei
Mountain沩山.” (Meng Lin Xuan Jie, vol. 23”mengzhan”梦占)
The term of “shēngyì” is widely used in the folk novels during late Ming dynasty. In Gujin Qiguan
古今奇观, there are some usages like “making shēngyì做生意”(vol.7), “making some shēngyì做
些生意”(vol. 9), “sea merchant shēngyì海商生意”(vol.9), “shēngyì with no initial money没本钱
的生意(which means robbery)”(vol. 10), “rice trafficking shēngyì贩米生意”(vol. 25), “oil paint
trafficking shēngyì贩漆生意”(vol. 25), and etc., also in Zui Xing Shi罪醒石, “没择钱的生意”.
Feng Menglong is also a famous folk novel writer with prolific writings. He used the term of
shēngyì in his literatures for about 100 times. I would like to give hints to some of the citations,
such as: “itinerant entertainers’ shēngyì江湖生意之事”(Jingshi Tongyan警世通言, vol. 5), “This
good and stable shēngyì这番稳善的生意”(ibid. vol.11), “There is no big shēngyì也没甚大生
意”(ibid. vol.15), “There is a shēngyì lasting for a month有个把月生意”(ibid., vol.15), “your
shēngyì爷的生意”(ibid., vol.16), “the same family engaging in shēngyì同般生意人家”(ibid., vol.
23), “What kind of shēngyì do you do for making a living?做何生意以为糊口之计”(ibid., vol.
24), “When my boss failed in shēngyì before当先我员外生意不济时”(ibid., vol. 25), “Weaving
all the day is a good shēngyì 朝暮纺织到是一节好生意”(ibid., vol. 31), “the shop’s shēngyì is
quite good南门娶妻开店，生意甚足”(ibid., 34), “This coming opportunity is a good shēngyì却好
有这个机会，便是生意上门”(ibid., 35), and etc.
Even in official documents, the term of shēngyì also appears, such as: “don’t leave opportunities
to those bad lower military officials to make another shēngyì勿令奸弁别作一番生意”(Chen
Yuting陈于廷(1566-1635), Baoquan Xin Du宝泉新牍, vol. 1 ), “I don’t want to refuse this
shēngyì我非自绝生意也”(Hu Wokun胡我琨, Qiantong钱通, vol.2).
A few people payed attention to the reason why business was called shēngyì生意 in colloquial
languages. Zhai Hao翟灏 (?-1788) is one of them. In Tongsu Bian通俗编，a book of collecting
and researching colloquial words. He noted:
“Chinese merchants get used to use the word of shēngyì生意. Probably it is erroneously
copied from the term shēngyè生业，and no one knows how it is borrowed to the current
term” (世之商贾习为此言，盖以生业讹为生意，漫借及之)
Born in Hangzhou, Zhai Hao was a book collector and scholar, and was once employed as
jiaoshou教授 at the prefectural schools of Jinhua金华 and Quzhou衢州 in Zhejiang province.
He is very interested in discover the colloquial words used by servants and local people other than
scholars. In Hangzhou, shēngyì生意 and shēngyè生业 did have a close dialectal pronunciation
which might be the reason that Zhai Hao initiated his guess. There is no clear evidence that
shēngyì生意 comes from shēngyè生业, although the two words have almost the same meaning in
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most situations. I choose to keep my doubt, for the reason that shēngyì生意 is a very widely used
term for describing business not only in Zhejiang, but also in Sichuan and other places where the
pronunciation of shēngyì生意 and shēngyè生业 has distinct difference.
In the popular novels since late Ming, shēngyì生意 is much frequently used than shēngyè生业.
For an example, I searched the frequency of shēngyì生意 and shēngyè生业 used in all the Feng
Menglong’s冯梦龙 works through Chinese Classic Ancient Books中国基本古籍库, and find out
that, there are only 4 times of shēngyè生业, and 100 times of shēngyì生意. This phenomenon
must indicates something. I prefer to the explanation of secularization of neo-Confucianism.
4. TIANMIN: SPIRITUALITY OF TRADITIONAL CONFUCIAN BUSNINESSMAN
As traditional Chinese business activities were deeply immersed in the neo-Confucianism, the
study of keyword on shēngyì gives a subtle clue to this influence. In the following section, I am
going to discuss the spirituality of traditional Chinese merchants in an ideal type through
investigating a famous entrepreneur in 19-20th Centuries – Zhang Jian(1853-1926), who was the
major initiator of dozens of enterprises including factories, schools, plant farming, poorhouses,
and children wards.
On the fact that there is a basic consistency in Zhangjian’s literatures, I borrow the word “tianmin
天民” and “daren大人” from one of his early examination articles to be as a core clue of his
Confucian spiritual resources, with the recognition that a danger of value distortion might be
hidden in the standard imperial examinations.
六合弥纶之业，无一不具于性功，得其本而随事贯通，日用伦常，何必无天民大人
之寄也，己外又无所谓学也。（《张謇全集》第6册“古之学者为己”，55页）
The term “tianmin” and “daren” can be originally found in one sentence of Mencius(vol.13,
chapter “jinxinshang”尽心上), a basic Confucian classic in pre-Qin先秦. Differentiated from the
persons who serve the emperor or the country as their pleasures and obligations, tianmin天民
refers to those who serve the heaven or universe, no matter whether they have political positions
or not, and daren大人 refers to the people who transform others through self-cultivation and
self-disciplinary.
The two basic Confucian terms indicate two significant and deeply-minded characteristics in
Confucian: the motivation of ever-transforming spirituality and an inter-influential society starting
from personal virtues. In this paper, I would mainly discuss the issue of Tianmin which will
potentially analogy to Max Weber’s (1930) theory on spirituality of capitalism.
I am not going to introduce the whole value systems of Confucianism, but try to depict
Zhangjian’s own understanding of Confucianism which spiritually influenced his entrepreneurial
behaviors. Through comparing with the four major religions of Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity,
and Islam, Zhangjian(1918: vol.4, 397) depicted Confucianism as an expanding pure humanism
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rather than a religion which takes the middle road between the four religions and could synthesize
all of them in Confucianism. Although greatly biased or prejudiced by his Confucian superiority,
Zhangjian established the boundaries of understanding the major five spiritual resources.
Table1
Zhangjian’s Comparison of Five Spiritual Resources
Buddhism & Taoism
Target group
The ideal upper
Characteristics
Christianisty & Islam
the inferior
worship, baptism
Confucianism
All the people
clear, pure, Silent and extinct清净寂灭
golden mean; pure human ways纯为人
Defects
empty or void
Stubborn
unchangeable
道; promotion from humanity to the
realm of Sagehood
In another article celebrating a friend’s 60th birthday, Zhangjian(1923: vol.6, 555-556) narrated a
simplified story of human society in a network of Confucian concepts - “body”身, “living”生,
“nature”性, ”temperament”情, “crowd”群, “relation”伦, “education”教, “morality”德, “politics”
政, “ritual”礼, “law”刑, and “Tao”道: 1)Every human born with the body身 nakedly, and the
body only requires to live生; 2)In the process of making a living致生 and nurturing the body,
one’s nature性 and temperament情 begin to function; 3)During this functioning, it must come to
the connectedness with the crowd also; 4)Different natures and temperaments of human beings in
the crowd, make so many problems in human relations伦; 5) The sages worried about these
difficulties, started to educate human, led them with morality德 and politics政, and regularized
them with rituals礼 and laws刑, all of which are considered as the Confucian’s greatest
contribution to world civilizations.
“人之身有眼耳鼻舌身意，人之生有衣食居处，人之性有善恶智愚，人之情有喜怒
哀乐爱恶欲，人之类有男女，人之伦有夫妇、父子、兄弟、朋友、君臣。一人之始，
只有身而已，有身则只有生而已。由致其生而资其身，乃有性之用，情之用。有所
用不能无所接，接则有群。群之中有男与男，女与女，而男与女为重。人之终乃有
伦，伦生于群。群之中性不一也，情不一也。不一则有取与，有向背，有优劣，有
胜负。有取予、向背、优劣、胜负，则情之用与性之用，混淆离合，纷纭纠错，因
异生岐，因岐生猜，因猜生幻，因幻生戾，而人之患乃不可穷究。自洪荒以降，至
于伏羲、神农、黄帝、尧、舜之世，患不胜数矣。圣人忧之，乃别以伦。伦即人而
具，人各有伦，各安其生，乃各有其性情之位。由是而启之焉有教，由是而道之焉
有德有政，由是而齐之焉有礼有刑。盖因人而然，因事而然，而有所不得已也。此
儒之言也。”(《张謇全集》第六册“沙健庵六十生日序”，第556页)
The story may sound too simple and too flat to satisfy the possibly spoiled appetite of a modern
scholar. But for Zhangjian, he bought the story sincerely. In the story, the growth of human being
and the governance of human society are the central concerns of Confucianism. The narrative
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starting point is the birth of a human, a miraculous event that was regarded as the great virtue of
the universe in Yijing易经, People expanding their own lives are regarded self-evidently as the
responsibilities of them. Even for those scholars, who do not do this are harshly metaphorized as
“pets” of the world by Zhangjian(1920: vol.6, 495). Zhangjian(1908: vol.4,147-149) also named a
majority of his companies with the character “sheng生” which means living, such as da-sheng大
生, guang-sheng广生, fu-sheng阜生, ze-sheng泽生, mao-sheng懋生, yi-sheng颐生, and ze-sheng
泽生. Even nowadays, in Chinese society, we call commerce and businessman as “sheng-yi”生意
and “sheng-yi-ren” 生 意 人 . Sheng or living is the basic, sometimes, romantic Chinese
imaginations of the essence of the ever-transforming universe in neo-Confucians. Focusing on
expanding and cultivating their lives is regarded as the realization of the spirit of Tianmin天民.
Let’s return to Zhangjian’s entrepreneurial status. Obviously, Yijing serves as the spiritual tool of
picturing the future when facing difficulties and risks of changing environment. It took Zhangjian
44 months to build the Dasheng Spining Factory大生纱厂 since he planned in the September of
1895, after his father’s death and the Qing’s defeat. The final success seemed to be a miracle.
Zhangjian(1900: vol.6, 279-280) regarded it as a very risky journey and used metaphors of
panteng攀藤(climbing a dangerous cliff through vines) and zongzhou纵舟(steering a boat in the
storm) to describe it. In Zhangjian’s perception, such an enterprise was so risky that a junzi君子
should not start it if according to the inspiration from the first divinatory symbol of Dun遁卦
Yijing易经. While the first divinatory symbol of Pi否卦
in
suggests that although there are no
connections between the top and bottom, one should prepare to help the emperor(or the top)
constantly, that means to save the country by establishing industries. The strong beliefs inspired
from Yijing易经 survived Zhangjian through difficult times when establishing the modern
spinning factory from almost nothing. Even at the moment of success, Zhangjian still reminded
himself to be cautious again and again.
I would rather call Zhangjian a believer of Confucian spiritual transformism than that of
evolutionism. Please read the article of Tu Weiming(1984) for further clues of its different
understanding of nature between Confucianism and Darwinism.
5. AN EXTENDING CONCLUSION: TOWARDS MODERN CHINESE BUSINESS
When we turn to the overlapping area of pre-modern and modern China, it is easily to find out that
an overwhelming change happened in the conceptualization of business. Although the term of
shēngyì is still widely used by Chinese even nowadays, the spiritual sense of Tianmin exfoliated
like a piece of falling leaf. The reasons to this shift must be very complicated. I here only try to list
some of the obvious ones. First of all, influential academic schools in Qing dynasty (1636-1912)
turned to textology and lost interests in the spiritual part of Confucianism, such as Qianjia School.
Second, the failure of Qing dynasty and the intense introducing of western theories challenge the
value networks of neo-Confucianism. A mechanical world rooted in principles was presented to
Chinese people and took the place of Confucian organic world which is rooted in virtues. More
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exactly, evolutionism prevail the spiritual transformism of neo-Confucians. The spirituality of
business fades out and only remains partly in some commercial conventions as well as cold,
meaningless terms.
In today’s real business, social Darwinism secularized into a popular merchant guiding book wolf
totem, becomes the mainly ideology in the commercial activities. As an entrepreneur of real estate
–Feng Lun 冯仑 concluded the recent 20 years growth of Chinese business, “barbarian growth” is
the keywords. Although there are some trends of return of Confucianism in China, how to tame
the barbarian growing commerce is still a big problem.
REFERENCES
Alchian, A. A., “Uncertainty, Evolution, and Economic Theory”, the Journal of Political Economy,
1950, 58(3): 211-221.
Ci Hai, Shanghai People Press, 1977: 1850-1853.
Fang Xudong, 2006: A Text of Difference: the Doctrine of “Making-Living” in Confucian History,
Academic Monthly, 38(6): 73-78.
Tu, Weiming, “the Continuity of Being: Chinese Vision of Nature”, in Leroy S. Rouner ed., On
Nature, Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1984: 113-129
Weber, Max, the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Trans. Talcott Parsons, New York:
Scribner, 1930.
Yu Yingshi, 1987: Chinese Religious Ethics and Spirit of Merchants, Lianjing Press.
Zhang, Jian, Complete Edition of Zhang Jian’s Works张謇全集, Shanghai Dictionary Press, 2012,
vol.1-8.
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