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Pingyao Historic City and Qiao Family Courtyard Zhang

Jianbin (陈建斌). His wife Lu Yuhan (陆玉 allowed to drink alcohol [17] [Figure 20],
菡) in the TV series is fictitious and was among three other rubrics.
played by Jiang Qinqin (蒋勤勤). Qiao Guifa developed the enterprise
name Guangshenggong ( 广 盛 公 , later
changed to Fushenggong 复盛公) in Baotou,
and the business flourished. By the time of
Tongzhi (同治, 1862‒1875), his business in
Baotou had expanded from Fushenggong to
Fushengquan (复盛全), Fushengxi (复盛西),
with 19 shops and over 1,000 buildings,
almost controlling the entire Baotou city’s
commerce. Thus, there is the saying: “There
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was Fushenggong first, then Baotou City,”
revealing Qiao Family’s contributions to
Baotou at the time. In 1881, Qiao Family
opened Dadeheng (大德恒) piaohao; in 1883,

Figure 19. Due to the large sum of silver spent, one they opened Dadetong (大 德 通 ) piaohao,
corner of the compound could not be built and became both headquartered in Qi County.
a garden. Source: Photo by the author, 2017 In its heyday, Qiao Family had an asset
of 10 million taels of silver, equivalent to ¥8
4.2 Social, cultural, and economic billion RMB today. If it were replaced with
dimensions 50 taels of gold ingots, it could pave the road
The Qiao Family settling down in Qiaojiapu from Qi County in Shanxi, all the way to
Village of Qi County can be traced back at Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia [3, 16] .
least during the “Hongtong Big Pagoda Tree Qiao Zhiyong lived 89 years and went
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Immigration” in the Hongwu period (1368‒ through the five dynasties of Jiaqing (嘉庆,
1399). Qiao Guifa (乔贵发, 1718‒1790) was 1760‒1820), Daoguang (道光, 1782‒1850),
the founder of Qiao family business. During
the Qianlong period (1711–1799) in 1736, Xianfeng (咸丰, 1831‒1861), Tongzhi (同治,
Qiao Guifa left Qiaojiapu and spent 30 years 1856‒1875), and Guangxu ( 光 绪 , 1871‒
in Baotou, Mongolia. He had worked as a 1908). By the end of Qing dynasty (1644‒
clerk in the Hecheng pawnshop in 1911), Qiao Family had over 200 branches of
Laoguanying Village of Saraqiting for over piaohao, money houses, pawnshops, and
10 years, then began his own business by grain shops all over China, with assets
selling tofu, biscuits, groceries, and reaching tens of millions of taels of silver. In
silverware. Because of his good management the hands of Qiao Zhiyong, Qiao family
skills, his business thrived. business had completed two major
In the 31st year of Qianlong (1766), at transformations. The first was the expansion
the age of 48, Qiao Guifa returned to his in the number of business establishments and
hometown and built the first courtyard of categories that had broken through grain, oil,
Qiao Family Compound. It was in this year and daily miscellaneous goods, to pawn,
that Qiao Guifa got married. Thereafter, he leather goods, horses, and so on, which set a
established the Qiao Family’s Six Rules: (1) powerful precedent in joint ventures. The
Not allowed to have concubines, (2) Not second was to successfully transfer from
allowed to gamble, (3) Not allowed to seek family business to financial industry that had
prostitute, (4) Not allowed to take drugs, (5) enabled the family wealth to grow
Not allowed to abuse servants, and (6) Not exponentially. Thus, Qiao Zhiyong’s ideal of

13 “洪洞大槐树移民”
14 “先有复盛公，后有包头城。”

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