Hui Business in ancient China
3 min readHui Business or Hui Camels began in the East Jin and developed into the prosperity in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Hui Business was engaged in salt，tea，cloth，pawn shop mortgaging，mountain goods，and Four Treasurea of Study.Itcovered the whole country:in the east to Suzhou，Hangzhou and Wuxi；in the south to Hunan，Yunnan，Guizhou and Sichuan；in the north to Beijing，Shanxi，Hebei and Shandong；in the southeast to Guangzhou and even to Japan.”No Hui Business，no business” .
Management of Hui Business
（1）Flexibility in the capital Hui business adopted the combination of free capital andloan capital；the combination of one owner and co-owner.
Hui business knew about the importance of capital.But at the beginning they were mostly not rich.By taking the measures above they could get enough money quickly to began the business or to enlarge the business and they could take less risk.
（2）Ability to open the market
Hui business had a very good understanding of geography，trafic，custums and sale of products.This prepared themfor the market opening in the whole country.One great merchant Huang Bian copmpiled a book Record the Route with Pictures with his experiences and others before him.The book provided lots of convenience for the business.
In this way Hui business could avoid dangers on the journey and avoid the blindness in the sale of certain goods in a certain region.
（3）Credibility in managing famous brands Hui business put righteouness before profit.They had high sense of famous brands.They took credit as part of goods’value，sparing no efforts to build and maintain excellent business credit.They attached great importance to the quality.
For example，Tongderen ，a hundred-year-old medicine shop，controled every step of medicine-making to maintain the fame.They even demonstrated the process to the public for the supervision.
（4）Preference for both business and learning Hui business never put business before learning.
In the increasingly competitive market the management of merchandise and money，demand and supply needed much knowledge in making precise analysis and making correct dicision for big profit.With the increase of the business，the relationship between each other needed outstanding organizers.
Hui business had the traditional view that learning could make one perfect.They created a community where Confucianism was highly respected and learning was paid attention to.They were educted with Confucial ethical morality.Hui Business regarded learning as a way to the fame.It is said in the 70 years from Qianlong to Jiaqing 265 children of Hui business passed the Imperial Exam.
Hui business often donated to build schools and offer free schooling.”Business makes money，and learning makes fame”.
Hui business had a very good understanding of geography，trafic，custums and sale of products.This prepared themfor the market opening in the whole country.One great merchant Huang Bian copmpiled a book Record the Route with Pictures with his experiences and others before him.The book provided lots of convenience for the business.
In this way Hui business could avoid dangers on the journey and avoid the blindness in the sale of certain goods in a certain region.
（3）Credibility in managing famous brands Hui business put righteouness before profit.They had high sense of famous brands.They took credit as part of goods’value，sparing no efforts to build and maintain excellent business credit.They attached great importance to the quality.
For example，Tongderen ，a hundred-year-old medicine shop，controled every step of medicine-making to maintain the fame.They even demonstrated the process to the public for the supervision.
（4）Preference for both business and learning Hui business never put business before learning.
In the increasingly competitive market the management of merchandise and money，demand and supply needed much knowledge in making precise analysis and making correct dicision for big profit.With the increase of the business，the relationship between each other needed outstanding organizers.
Hui business had the traditional view that learning could make one perfect.They created a community where Confucianism was highly respected and learning was paid attention to.They were educted with Confucial ethical morality.Hui Business regarded learning as a way to the fame.It is said in the 70 years from Qianlong to Jiaqing 265 children of Hui business passed the Imperial Exam.
Hui business often donated to build schools and offer free schooling.”Business makes money，and learning makes fame”.
