Moral Principle of Hui Merchants
Hui merchants (徽商) were one of the most famous merchant groups with a very strong cultural foundation in China’s history. The Hui merchants, from around the Huizhou city area of Anhui province, were famous in as early as the Song period. They rose to commercial prominence possibly from the middle of the Ming Dynasty.
The businesses of salt, tea, wood, and dock shop attracted most Hui merchants. As well, grain, cotton cloth, silk, paper, ink, and porcelain were also popular in Hui-owned shops. Besides making money by selling those goods, some Hui merchants went outside their hometown and set up factories.
Hui merchants believed sincerely in honesty and morality. Actually, the belief became one of their important means to make profit. In the Ming Dynasty, there was a Huizhou merchant who was doing business in Lishui, Jiangsu. In the 22nd year of Jiajing, people were heavily impacted by cheap grain. He stored the cheap grain at a fair price. The grain price was high in the following year due to a severe disaster. Unexpectedly, he sold it at the same price as in previous years. He thus won the praise and trust of local people, and his business was naturally prospering.
This story reflects Hui merchants’ abidance (遵守) to Chinese traditional ethical principles. Mozi, an ancient Chinese thinker, said, “For those who benefit others, people will do good to them in return.” This is also the basis of dealing with people and making management decisions for Hui merchants.
Hui merchants were diligent and famous for their extraordinary endurance. Some left their hometown to seek business chances right after their wedding and could find time to return home only some three years later.
For more than a thousand years, Hui merchants created a legend through their hard work, enterprise and honesty.