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6 - Huizhou House Firms

The Binds of Kinship and Commerce

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 June 2020

Joseph P. McDermott
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Summary

Chapter 6 provides three case studies of how Huizhou merchant organizations used their lineage and commercial resources to explain how Huizhou merchant lineages might succeed and fall in the world of Ming business. It explores the development of different types and sizes of commercial organization in response to the organizational needs and business opportunities these “house firms,” while also examining the impact of kinship organizations and relationships on their operation as “house firms.” With a greater emphasis on lineage branches and even segments rather than just lineages per se, it shows how a small lineage could launch itself successfully into the commercial world with the aid of kinship organizations larger than the simple nuclear household. Descent-line ties mattered greatly but manipulation of these ties for commercial goals was not at all unusual, even leading to attempts to create extensive non-lineage alliances with purported kinsmen bearing just same surname and fictive descent lies.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • Huizhou House Firms
  • Joseph P. McDermott, University of Cambridge
  • Book: The Making of a New Rural Order in South China
  • Online publication: 22 June 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781107261471.007
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  • Huizhou House Firms
  • Joseph P. McDermott, University of Cambridge
  • Book: The Making of a New Rural Order in South China
  • Online publication: 22 June 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781107261471.007
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Huizhou House Firms
  • Joseph P. McDermott, University of Cambridge
  • Book: The Making of a New Rural Order in South China
  • Online publication: 22 June 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781107261471.007
Available formats
×