Abstract:
The Ming and the Qing Dynasty were the forming stage of market economy in China. This paper attempts to explore the combination of “temple”, “hotel” and “market” characteristic of industrial and merchant guild halls Shaanxi and Shanxi throughout the country in the day. The investigation shows adequately that, in the infantry of market economy in China, industrial and merchant guild halls were no longer pure feudal guild organizations but selfgoverning groups and market organizations of merchants characterized by a combination of “temple”, “hotel” and “market”. They were Chinese merchants’ institutional innovations under the new historical circumstances, indicating that the old guild quality was disintegrating and the new market quality was gathering. This mirrored in a way the historical distinctions of Chinese society at the early stage of transformation.
