A review on the changes of the merchant-peasant relations from the mid-Tang dynasty to the mid-Ming dynasty

Abstract

From the Qin dynasty on there were two opinions about the merchant-measant relations: one was physiocracy and the other was equivalency. Influenced by the two opinions, Chinese ancient poetry had changed for three times. Firstly, since the physiocracy had been weakened in the mid-Tang dynasty, the thought that merchant should have the same status as peasant appeared in the poetry creation, leaning to an idea of physiocracy. In the second, the scholars in the Song dynasty, such as Fan Zhongyan, Ouyang Xiu and Su Shi, adopted the thought of equivalency, but they stressed on the government policies. And the last, breaking through physiocracy and the idea of “stronger merchants will hurt peasants” some artists like Tang Yin, Xu Wei and Wang Shizhen, in the mid-Ming dynasty did agree with the merchants in thought of “living for pleasure” which got responses in their poems.

摘要

先秦以来, 对于农耕与商贾的关系有两种看法: 一是 “重农抑商”, 一是 “农 商皆利”。 中国古代诗歌在这两种思想影响下有三次较大的变化: 中唐时期开始扭转 “重农抑商” 的思想, 在诗歌创作领域有 “农商皆利” 的苗头, 但主要倾向则是 “贾 雄则农伤”: 北宋时期的范仲淹、欧阳修、苏轼等人实现了由 “重农抑商” 到 “农商 兼利” 的转变, 但往往着眼于朝廷与地方的政策层面: 明中叶唐寅、徐渭、王世贞 等人挣脱了 “重农抑商” 思想禁锢和 “贾雄则农伤” 的思维方式, 在张扬情欲、自 适快乐的新起点上与商贾契合, 诗歌创作呈现出新的风貌。