The Making of a New Rural Order in South China: Volume 2, Merchants, Markets, and Lineages, 1500-1700

This volume explores the growth of Chinese businesses and their relation to family and government institutions in late imperial China, using Huizhou as a case study. It identifies the strategies used by merchant groups to overcome obstacles and undermine social stability, leading to competition from religious cults. It provides a new framework for understanding late imperial China's social and economic transformation.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 480 pages
Publication date: 27 October 2022
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

This comprehensive volume is designed to cater to the interests of individuals who have been intrigued by the remarkable growth of Chinese businesses and their intricate connections with Chinese family and government institutions. Drawing upon the findings of its companion volume, which delved into the dynamics of village institutions in the southern prefecture of Huizhou, this volume offers a detailed account of the emergence of the influential regional group of merchants in late imperial China. It identifies the strategic approaches employed by these merchant houses to overcome significant barriers and dominate major financial transactions and commodity markets across a vast expanse of China from 1500 to 1700. Simultaneously, it explores how the commercial success achieved by these merchant firms undermined their lineage's social stability, rendering them vulnerable to competition from popular religious cults back home. By recounting the interplay between rural and urban institutions in the context of state and economic development, McDermott presents a groundbreaking framework for understanding the unique trajectory of late imperial China toward social and economic transformation.

This comprehensive volume is designed to cater to the interests of individuals who have been intrigued by the remarkable growth of Chinese businesses and their intricate connections with Chinese family and government institutions. Drawing upon the findings of its companion volume, which delved into the dynamics of village institutions in the southern prefecture of Huizhou, this volume offers a detailed account of the emergence of the influential regional group of merchants in late imperial China. It identifies the strategic approaches employed by these merchant houses to overcome significant barriers and dominate major financial transactions and commodity markets across a vast expanse of China from 1500 to 1700. Simultaneously, it explores how the commercial success achieved by these merchant firms undermined their lineage's social stability, rendering them vulnerable to competition from popular religious cults back home. By recounting the interplay between rural and urban institutions in the context of state and economic development, McDermott presents a groundbreaking framework for understanding the unique trajectory of late imperial China toward social and economic transformation.

ISBN-13: 9781107658615