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China's Old Time Millionaires
The God of Wealth
Liu Yongxing of Shanghai's East Hope Group is worth three billion. Wong Kwong Wu, owner of Gome Electrical Appliances, is worth two point seven. "Ah, Chinese prosperity," you think, "all made possible by finally opening up to the enlightened market practices of the West." Before economic assimilation, there was a good forty-five years of anti-capitalist nonsense, preceded by five millennia of wretched peasants, the humble merchants who sold them wares, and the blood-sucking officials who made upward mobility a cruel fantasy.
In actuality, Chinese businessmen were sitting on mountains of coin back when Celtic tribesmen were only as rich as the number of bronze rings they could fit on their arms. Then as it always shall be, influence peddling and backroom deals greased the wheels of wealth. But astute business minds and commercial strategy were just as important, as you can see from the ranks of ancient China's mega-rich.
Fan Li (BCE 536 - 448)
Forget today's so-called economic instability, the Spring and Autumn period was turbulent enough to make a day without bloodshed a cause for celebration. Fan Li rose through the King of Yue's military ranks by virtue of his strategic acumen, becoming a member of the King's think tank after twenty years of service.
When the Yue kingdom was toppled by the Wu, Fan Li advised his king against a desperate rebellion. They both succumbed as slaves, and Fan Li commenced intriguing against his new master. He brought Wu to its knees within a decade, but was leery enough of the restored King Yue to refuse a top government position.
Instead, he devoted himself to trade, and within another twenty years thrice accumulated a profit of qian jin (an uncountable amount of money). Even more impressively, Fan devoted most of his earnings to establishing people in medicine and administration, as well as funding bridge and levee-building. Thus his name in China is still associated with the precept of getting rich and committing to virtue.
Duan Muzi Gong (BCE 520 - ?)
Those who study the life of Confucius may wonder how the Sage and his many disciples managed to gad about the Middle Kingdom in relative comfort, inventing new proverbs and holding calligraphy duels. They have Duan Muzi Gong to thank.
Although one of Confucius' 72 disciples, he balanced his moral tempering with vigorous trading. The proceeds were deposited freely into Confucius' expense account. A master of oratory to boot, Duan Muzi Gong managed to talk his way into the ministry of the Wei kingdom. In gratitude, the Sage dubbed him Hu lian zhi qi, the man of great capacity who can achieve high rank.
Bai Gui (BC 463 -385)
The first ancient Chinese worthy of an honorary MBA, Bai Gui pioneered organized commodity production. The Han history scrolls also report that Bai Gui conceived and applied theories of commercial management, and was sought out in matters of planning state economy. Eternally relevant business maxims such as ren qi wo qu (take when others abandon) and zhi jin zhi shou (know when to get in and when to get out) are credited to Bai Gui.
Shen Wansan (1355 - 1423)
Shen turned the turmoil of China's transition from Yuan to Ming to his advantage, equal parts carpet bagger and corporate raider. He bought vast tracts of blood-soaked land and flipped it once peace returned. He acquired the assets of Mongol merchants fleeing vengeful Ming partisans for a song. More to his credit, he was one of the first Chinese busienssmen with the brass to make international forays, trading goods with Japan, Korea, and Indonesia.
Karma caught up with Shen Wansan in the end, though. King Zhu Yuan Zhang, having heard enough of Shen's predatory business practices, seized his entire fortune, using it to build the Nanjing city walls.
Ye Chengzhong (1840 - 1899)
While his Ningbo compatriots bemoaned the fate of China under the influx of foreign devils, Ye saw opportunity. He set up a hardware store in the American concession of Hongkou, selling much-needed tools and supplies to sailors and military personnel at premium prices. Soon he had a Home-Depot style chain, with thirty eight branches dotting China's eastern seaboard, vending not just hardware but machinery, steel, and military appliances.
With his retail proceeds he jumped into finance, setting up banks in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Zhenhai, a total of 108 locations at the peak of his power. To this day, Ningbo businessmen facing adversity advise each other, "A man should behave like Ye Chen Zhong".
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Comments
Great writing
Really great for my information. I don't know any about historical people, but am currently getting some works about Chinese "legend" to do, I really make us of this article.
China deserves the Prosperity in ths New Freedom Era
Chinese business men always had the ideal business sense and will to make money. But the capitalist freedom to practice their ideas and strategies didn't exist in China. Now, with the Chinese government providing commercial independence to its people, the long awaited & well deserved prosperity is happening. Liu Yongxing and Wong Kwong Wu are very good examples of the same.
Initial, when I think of
Initial, when I think of China I think of globalization and the destruction of the planet. This article shows that if you scratch beneath the surface there is loads of culture.
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It's nice to hear our primary message voiced by a reader, RM.
China is an incredible
China is an incredible place, I will have to visit soon. I don't know how English people live their though, the culture is so far removed.
Is it? Both cultures are
Is it? Both cultures are very class conscious and devoted to slurping tea the live long day.
Really a good work done.He
Really a good work done.He brought Wu to its knees within a decade, but was leery enough of the restored King Yue to take a top government position. Thanks for sharing.
Chinese business men always
Chinese business men always had the ideal business sense and will to make money.I agree with this. Thanks.
No doubt Chinese men have
No doubt Chinese men have always had a business flair. This is why in the worst times of today's economic turndown, China is still doing well, compared to the U.S. or the U.K... They are a pretty much a sustainable country, and this is thanks to all their great sense of business.
It is really nice to know
It is really nice to know about these rich people. They did their business ideally and that is what every business man should do. Thanks for sharing this article.
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it is very nice, and chinese business men always had good ideas to do business and make money. That is great.
Now, with the Chinese
Now, with the Chinese government providing commercial independence to its people, the long awaited & well deserved prosperity is happening.
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The God of Wealth
The God of Wealth is a Chinese folk, one of the universal worship of the good God, every New Year, every family pray the God of Wealth, hoping to have good luck.
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Commercial and Financial Independence
Business sense and market evaluation are the key factors to become successful in business. And China shows that they have capability to turn the global market in their way. It's also good to hear that China government is showing flexibility towards commercial independence. This will surely lead China to more better financial and business future. Thanks for sharing.
Nice and Informative Post
China has a rich business history over centuries. And in recent times the financial and commercial freedom is helping them to reach their business goal more quickly.Thanks for the resourceful post.
Rich Business History of China
China has a strong market sense and a stable financial structure that gives China enough stability to keep their feet firmly into global market. Though this is a time of financial crisis and economic meltdown, China is still in its move in full swing. That is the indication of their financial strength.
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Though this is a time of financial crisis and economic meltdown, China is still in its move in full swing. That is the indication of their financial strength.
There’s a reason why the
There’s a reason why the Chinese are ascendant while America is in decline. Because the Chinese walk upright and aren’t afraid to apply justice to the pigs who are ruining their country; while at the same time, Americans bow and scrape to the same people who loot them, dreaming like peasants of the day they can become Donald Trump’s “Apprentice.” It’s a grotesque role-reversal, and we ought to be ashamed.
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I don't know about upright justice-applying, but I can dig the rest of your message, ofs.
Today, an article in PR
Today, an article in PR Inside delves into the still-undefined world of the Chinese luxury consumer — a consumer segment that attracts lots of press but little new insight or clarity. Since China’s wealthy population remains highly stratified, with sophisticated, long-time buyers concentrated primarily in coastal, first-tier cities and newer, first-time buyers spread throughout second- and third-tier cities as well as the odd frontier town, the Chinese market presents a difficult challenge for brand marketers. One-size-fits-all marketing strategies simply will not do in a country the size of China, and the message for Shanghai or Beijing’s consumers won’t translate to other regions.
It takes a lot to build and
It takes a lot to build and a lot more to maintain a brand’s upscale image active in the minds of customers. And this is vital to the success of any luxury brand. There is no better and more cost effective way to build and secure that image than by regularly aligning with luxury events organized by equally luxury oriented organizations.
Now, with the Chinese
Now, with the Chinese government providing commercial independence to its people, the long awaited & well deserved prosperity is happening.
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China has more millionaires than France
Ooh la la! According to the 2008 Merrill Lynch and Capgemini World Wealth Report China now boasts more millionaires than France. At the end of last year China weighed in with a total of 414,900 people worth more than one million dollars excluding their principal residence, while France had only 394,000 of this group. China is now only behind the U.S., Japan, Germany and Britain in terms of High Net Worth Individuals, or HNWIs as the study calls them.
The way things are going, China could easily bump the U.K. from the number four slot soon. Last year the number of millionaires grew by an eye popping 20.3%, while Britain, with 495,000 HNWIs, saw their numbers grow by only 2.1%. India is also rising fast, minting 22.7% more millionaires last year for a total of 123,000.
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Chinese are simply thrift people
Chinese are well known on their thriftiness and strong belief on luck about money and fortune. Their culture is very positive and somewhat amazing.
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That is the indication of their financial strength.
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China has more millionaires than UK for the first time
China has been rising inexorably up the table, leapfrogging France in 2007. Only Germany, Japan and the US now have more millionaires. Brazil, too, has been making inroads. It jumped over Australia and Spain to reach 10th place among "high net worth individual" populations globally, with 131,000. All of the top 10 countries for high net worth individuals saw a decline in millionaires. The total population fell by 14.9pc to 8.6m and their combined riches shrank by 19.5pc to $32.8 trillion (£20 trillion), wiping out two years of growth. Despite last year's setback, the report predicts that "wealth [will] grow to $48.5 trillion by 2013, advancing by an annual rate of 8.1pc".
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Let's go back to bronze
Let's go back to bronze rings as currency.
Sounds better than a
Sounds better than a bankrupt fiat currency (coughDollar!cough).
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