When we look at Chinese history for a guide to business we commonly reach for Sun Tzu's The Art of War but that is a military text It focuses on an enemy not a trading partner & it certainly doesn't mention customers & their role in strategy To come to terms with Chinese commerce we don't need to know the Art of War We need to know the art of business This book explains Chinese business in history its practices values & achievements As we explore business through time we discover the strategies which enabled Chinese merchants to become rich & gain insights into how Chinese business evolved & continues to evolve The Art of Business goes beyond the Silk Road Marco Polo & the opium trade to examine how the many different Chinese businesses made money It asks how merchants mastered the spatial & temporal
Dimensions of the market & built substantial wealth in doing so It explores the commercial revolutions that occurred in the Tang & Song dynasties & the late Ming & reveals business practices carried into the Ching dynasty It explores salt merchants the porcelain industry Huizhou & Shanxi merchant groups & Howqua who became the world's richest man The evolving nature of world commerce will place new demands on tomorrow's businesses By examining the past we can better understand the future in which China will once again stand like a giant