清代中期我国商业高速发展,商品经济异常活跃,商人地位日益提高。此时期也是我国长篇白话小说重要的发展阶段,《歧路灯》就是这个时代的产物。小说假托明朝叙述故事,而以写实手法反映了清代中期的商人及其经营状况。《岐路灯》中反映的主要商业人物的社会关系异常复杂,其多样化的家庭背景不仅展现了商业的繁荣和商品买卖的活跃,也说明当时从事商品交易已成为极为普遍的社会现象。此时期商人的生活状态也较为复杂,突出表现为文化水平普遍不高;行走天涯,备尝艰辛;经济条件相对优越;社交圈子极为广泛、活跃;信仰神灵极为虔诚等。此外,商人在生意营运过程中也形成了一套基本哲理和观念,影响深远。小说还描述了商人的社会认同和自我认同在不同历史阶段的显著变化,从中不难看出我国传统的重农抑商观念在这个时期受到了前所未有的挑战,商人已经凭借其雄厚的经济实力受到了广泛的社会尊重。 In the mid-Qing Dynasty, the rapid development of China’s commerce led to the unusually active commodity economy and the increasing status of traders. This period is also an important stage of development of the long vernacular novels in our country. The “crossroads lamp” is the product of this era. The novel pretended to tell the story of the Ming dynasty, but in a realistic way reflects the mid-Qing merchants and their business conditions. The social relations of the main commercial characters reflected in “Qiqi Lamps” are extremely complicated. The diversified family background not only shows the prosperity of commerce and the active trading of commodities, but also shows that it was an extremely common social phenomenon to engage in commodity trading at that time. At this period, the living conditions of the merchants are also complicated. The performance of the merchants is generally not high. The walking is difficult, the hardships are ripe, the economic conditions are comparatively superior, the social circles are extremely extensive and active, and the gods are extremely devout. In addition, businessmen also formed a set of basic philosophies and concepts in the course of business operations, which have far-reaching impact. The novel also describes the significant changes in the social identities and self-identities of businessmen at different historical stages. It is not hard to see that our traditional concept of focusing on agriculture and business management has been hitherto an unprecedented challenge during this period, and businessmen have been relied on for their strong economic strength Extensive social respect.