Chamber of Commerce (volume 1-5)
by Hanchuanzi
About This Novel
"Chamber of Commerce" closely revolves around the ups and downs of the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce. The story originated from the Qing government's establishment of the General Chamber of Commerce on the basis of integrating various merchant guilds in Shanghai in response to pressure from the British to amend the Treaty of Xinchou according to its terms. From the beginning, this association became a platform for various business gangs in Shanghai to compete with each other. The two increasingly powerful business gangs, Guangdong merchants and Ningbo merchants, fought against each other for dominance in the chamber of commerce. In the end, they both became pawns of the Taiji merchant gang led by Lord Shang Ding, a senior official of the Qing government, and Taiji merchants. Remember that after the fall of the Qing government, we finally lost control of the Chamber of Commerce, which allowed our protagonist to integrate the Chamber of Commerce according to an ideal model that conforms to the development of the times. Eventually, the Chamber of Commerce gradually transitioned from an authoritarian platform with exclusive authority to a democratic platform where various merchant guilds coexist harmoniously. This line explains the core of the drama from beginning to end, that is, the dignity of a group does not come from the authoritarian or dictatorial power of any gang or government or individual, but from the legitimacy of the system or procedure that ties the group together. "Chamber of Commerce" focuses on shaping the four male protagonists, Wu Jingju, Fu Shun'an, Chen Jiong and Zhang Hu. The four male protagonists respectively represent the four realms of dignity: the first male represents complete dignity, which is symbolized by complete independence of personality; the second male represents the lack of dignity, which is symbolized by complete dependence of personality; the third and fourth males represent , represents the incompleteness of dignity from two extremes, one from the perspective of the revolutionary party and the other from the perspective of the underworld. What they have in common is that both have independent personalities and lack of personality, because both of them seek benefits for some people, rather than standing on a higher dimension and seeking benefits for everyone in the world like Male One.
What Readers Think
Rating
Community(0)
Official(1)Scraped 22d ago
Compared with the previous work, it is more literary. The choice of the protagonist and the angle of view are very clever. The novel subject matter, the complex plot of seeing the big from the small, the more independent character creation, the richer spirit of the times, the general trend that is unstoppable by manpower, the ridiculous and lamentable weakness and compromise of all parties, the benevolent people who work hard to save the country and support the building, and the ordinary people who fight for food and face all their lives. However, it can be understood that It is obvious that the author prefers those fighters who die with honor, especially those with outstanding strategies. As for the core theme in the introduction, I deeply agree. However, even today, most fields are actually still obviously ruled by humans, although they are dominated by inhumans. In short, I hope that the day when truth will be crowned will come soon. This is not the wishful thinking of idealists, but a path that future generations can believe in.
Rating
Community(0)
Official(1)Scraped 22d ago
Compared with the previous work, it is more literary. The choice of the protagonist and the angle of view are very clever. The novel subject matter, the complex plot of seeing the big from the small, the more independent character creation, the richer spirit of the times, the general trend that is unstoppable by manpower, the ridiculous and lamentable weakness and compromise of all parties, the benevolent people who work hard to save the country and support the building, and the ordinary people who fight for food and face all their lives. However, it can be understood that It is obvious that the author prefers those fighters who die with honor, especially those with outstanding strategies. As for the core theme in the introduction, I deeply agree. However, even today, most fields are actually still obviously ruled by humans, although they are dominated by inhumans. In short, I hope that the day when truth will be crowned will come soon. This is not the wishful thinking of idealists, but a path that future generations can believe in.
