福清叶向高家谱列传研究——从高利贷家族到官宦人家

On Fuqing Ye Xianggao's Stemma

福清叶向高家族从明代初年开始由宦入商,世代经营高利贷,但在商品经济初步发展的嘉靖、隆庆年间,却无法经营下去,逐步走向破产。叶氏家族转而教子读书,重返宦途,最终在叶向高身上体现了家族成功。叶氏家族经营主业的转换,反映了中国古代社会以官为贵的传统,也反映商品经济条件下,没有健全法制,商人及高利贷者很难生存,往往走上依仗权力以求发展的异途,反而成为社会动荡的一个因素。

The Ye xianggao family transformed from officer to merchantmen since the initial stage of Ming Dynasty. Since then, they practiced usury for generations. But in the early development of commer- cial economy, they went bankrupt gradually in Jiajing and Longqing periods. The clan of Ye changed their focus, and by concentrating on educating children they went back to the official career. Their effort finally reflected in Ye xianggao. The transformation in Ye familiy shows the tradition value in officer in ancient China. It also reflects that merchantmen and usurers lived a hard life with imperfect law system, and they had to pursuit the power of officer, which became a factor of the turbulence of society.