近代江南典当业的社会转型

近代以来,江南典当业受战乱及社会经济环境等因素的影响,经营日渐困难。为谋求生存,典当业试图提高利息、缩短当期以牟取商利,但其求利行为日益受到社会的道德批判和政府的制约。在“道德”与“利益”之间,典当业难以平衡,终因社会经济环境变化而转向趋利化,与此同时,典当业的社会形象也日益恶化。

The Social Transition of the Pawnshop in Jiangnan

The pawnshop in Jiangnan has been confronted with much difficulty because of the choas caused by war and the deteriorating of social economic conditions since modern China. For striving for survival, the pawnshop trade had to reduce the expiration of pawn and increase the interest on pawn to get more profits. Their behavior was severely criticized by the socility and government. This trade got in a dilemma between the trade morality and the trade profit. At last, the pawnshop had to chase after profits more and more because of the deteriorating of social economic conditions. At the same time, the image of pawnshop in public got worsen increasingly.