Introduction

Abstract

The forms in which businesses operate in a country are so closely connected with its cultural development that a study of the material culture of a people must base itself necessarily on the presentation of its forms of business practice. Studies of Chinese culture have been published by Europeans occasionally in recent decades, but the trades of China have not received attention in this context. Yet the development of the old cities of China has been so violent during the last fifty years that it requires a more exact study. Ningpo may claim to be a type of city in the Chinese empire which has preserved much of the past, even though it has developed rapidly during the last thirty years. It is one of the truest representatives of the modern Chinese cities, especially with respect to industry.