近代西北地区典当业的衰落及原因分析

Reasons for the Decline of Pawn-broking in the Northwest Region of Modern China

典当业是中国传统的借贷形式之一,在清代乾、嘉时期达到了发展的顶峰。然而进入近代以来,特别是民国时期,典当业无论是规模、资本,还是开业座数,同清初和中叶时的繁荣景况相比,都显示出衰落的趋势。对于这一现象,本文主要围绕学术界关注较少的西北地区,利用一些方志和调查资料,重点论述了该地区典当业盛衰的基本情况,力求透过典当业自身在清代和民国时期的变化与近代西北地区社会变迁的联系,分析其走向衰落的具体原因,以弥补学术界对此问题研究的不足。

Pawn-broking was one of the Chinese traditional forms of borrowing and lending money. It reached its climax during Qianlong and Jiaqing period in Qing Dynasty. However, when it comes to the modern era, especially to the Republican period, pawnbroking has shown the downward trend either in size, capital, or the number of opening blocks compared with the prosperity of it in the mid-Qing Dynasty. This article focuses on the pawn-broking industry in the northwest region in which it is neglected by scholars. Local records and survey data are used to discuss the rise and fall of the basic situation of pawn-broking in the northwest. The paper aims to analyze the specific reasons of the decline of pawn-broking, and to compensate the lack of the academic research on this issue through the analysis of the changes, as well as the connection with the vicissitude of pawn-broking in Qing Dynasty and the Republican period.