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This classic work by the famous sinologist Bu Zhengmin shows how business gradually changed the daily lives of people in the Ming Dynasty. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, China experienced an economic transformation, and the booming development of commerce prompted a series of changes in society and culture. In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang built a communication network for a small country with few people, which became the cornerstone of the growth of the business world. People chase fashion and enjoy material pleasures. Wealthy businessmen exchanged their real money for a pass to the upper class. In this bizarre world of the late Ming Dynasty, money seems to have become the only bargaining chip, and old social identities and even moral boundaries are blurred to the point of confusion. With his superb narrative skills, Bu Zhengmin connects officials, tourists, diplomatic envoys, bricklayers, businessmen, textile workers, prostitutes and other characters and their stories into vivid social scenes. At the same time, he retains the rigor and profundity of academic writing. His insights into the culture and society of the Ming Dynasty are still inspiring.