Marketing Ideas&Management Stuffs

http://ibrahim.cn/2011/12/31/chinese-cultural-attitudes-to-business/CHINESE CULTURAL ATTITUDES TO BUSINESSMarketing Ideas&Management Stuffs

As usual with Chinese matters, we begin thousands of years ago, around 4500 BC, when two legendary rulers, Yan and Huang,
encouraged business by advocating commodity exchange. However, when Guanzhong drew up his fourfold characterization
of Chinese society, “merchant” was placed at the bottom, below the peasant toiling in his rice field. The great unifying
emperor Qin Shihuang similarly disliked commerce, following a “pro-agricultural and anti-commerce” policy advocated by his
Legalist mentor Shang Yang. He confined all rich business people to the capital city; he demeaned business people and even
sent them to garrison the frontiers alongside criminals. Chinese business and industry stagnated for 2,000 years. The Chinese saying
“No businessman trades without fraud” is over a thousand years old, and shows the lack of respect accorded to this section
of society for many centuries.

When the British broke down the door of China in 1860 at the end of the Opium Wars, a batch of Chinese intellectuals appealed
for a change to the “anti-commerce” mindset, and for strengthening and saving China by boosting commercialization. They
proposed adopting the practice of Western capitalism and industrialization. In 1903, the Commerce Ministry was established.
Commercial law was enacted. The first generation of national capitalists was born and expected to save China from poverty and the
oppression of foreign countries. Most of them were from landlord families and were well educated: the merchant had ascended
to second place next to the scholar. However this did not last (in mainland China, anyway): in 1949 Mao, a new Qin Shihuang,
came to power. His treatment of the merchant class was as vicious as his treatment of intellectuals.

When Deng took control in 1978, he implemented a “Social market economy with Chinese characteristics.” He encouraged
common people to pursue individual wealth through a pragmatic approach (“No matter if it’s a white cat or a black cat, it is a good
cat if it catches mice.”) Another phrase of his was “Cross the river by touching the stones,” which implied there was no common
business practice or culture to follow at that point. Such practice and culture has been developing since then. It has not done so in a
straight line, as we have seen.

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