中国传统商业文明渊源于华夏民族的上古天文智慧，发轫于神农氏时期。即《易经·系辞》中所载：“包牺氏没，神农氏作，斫木为耜，揉木为耒，耒耨之利，以教天下，盖取诸‘益’。日中为市，致天下之民，聚天下之货，交易而退，各得其所，盖取诸‘噬嗑’。” 

The traditional Chinese business culture originates from Chinese nation’s wisdom of astronomy in the period of Shen Nung. According to The Book of Changes·the Great Treatise，“After Baoxi's death, Shen Nong became a tribal leader... The market was opened at noon, where all goods gathered. After exchanging, people got what they wanted and left. The above practice was called ‘Shi He’”. 

噬嗑者，取象于天，求天（生态）、地（社会）、人和谐共生之商业模式也！因其禀天而生，所以是替天行道的智慧。也即老子所云：“天之道，其犹张弓欤！高者抑之，下者举之，有余者损之，不足者与之，天之道损有余而补不足。人道则不然，损不足，奉有余。孰能有余以奉天下？其唯有道者。”

“Shi He” originates from the heaven. It is a business model that strives for the harmony between the Heaven (ecology), the Earth (society) and the people. For it originates from the Heaven, it represents the wisdom of the Heaven. Just as Lao Tzu put it: "The Tao (way) of Heaven, is it not like the bending of a bow? The top comes down and the bottom-end goes up, the extra (length) is shortened, the insufficient (width) is expanded. It is the way of Heaven to take away from those who have too much and give to those who don’t have enough. But it’s not so with man’s way: he takes from those who don’t have enough and gives to those who have too much. Who can have enough to spare and give the extra to the entire world? Only the man of Tao. "

“道之所存，利之所在”。诸子百家中，商家是最入世的修行者。经商之路是最云波诡谲的修行之路。

“Where there is Tao, there are benefits”. Among the Hundred Schools of Thought, those in the School of Shang were most down-to-earth. For the path of doing business is the most unpredictable one.

故而华夏商祖白圭说：“吾治生产，犹伊尹、吕尚之谋，孙吴用兵，商鞅行法是也。是故其智不足与权变，勇不足以决断，仁不能以取予，强不能有所守，虽欲学吾术，终不告之矣。”

So the Chinese ancestor of business, Bai Gui said, "When I do business, I learn from the resourcefulness of Yi Yin and Lv Shang, Sun’s and Wu’s military capability and Shang Yang’s Reform. Some people are not wise enough to be adaptable, not brave enough to make decisions, not benevolent enough to take and give in a right way and not adamant enough to stick to their beliefs. That’s why though they want to learn from me, I won’t teach them my methods.”

《白虎通·商贾篇》：“‘商’之为言章也；商其远近，度其有亡，通四方之物，故谓之‘商’也。贾之为言固也；固其有用之物，以待民来，以求其利者也。”“服牛乘马，引重致远，为天下利”是为华商！“君子爱财，取之以道”是彼商道。

Bai Hu Tong·Merchants put it that,  “ ‘商’ (Shang), as a Chinese character, means ‘章’ (measurement), which means to measure the distance and availability, so as to circulate all kinds of goods. ‘贾’ as a word means ‘固’，which means that businessmen store useful materials and wait for people to buy them so as to make profits.” Chinese merchants are those who “tame the oxen and horses, making them bear burdens and contribute to the world.” “A man of noble character gains wealth in the right way” is the principle of Chinese merchants.

庖丁有云：“今臣之刀十九年矣，所解数千牛矣，而刀刃若新发于硎。彼节者有间，而刀刃者无厚；以无厚入有间，恢恢乎其于游刃必有余地矣，是以十九年而刀刃若新发于硎。”

A Chef whose surname was Ding once said, "My knife has been in use for nineteen years and has cup up several thousand oxen, and yet its edge is still sharp as if it were newly whetted. There are crevices in the joints, but the blade of the knife has no thickness. There is certainly plenty of room for the blade of a knife without thickness to enter the joints where there are crevices. This is why the blade of the knife that has been in use for nineteen years is still sharp as if it were newly whetted."

经商之道，何异于解牛？

Isn’t doing business the same as cutting up cattle ?

“为天下利，取之有道” ，则可以“以无厚入有间”，进退自如，游刃有余。

“Gaining wealth in the right way”. Only by doing so can people have room to maneuver and do their job with skill and ease.

《东方营销学》 开课在即，书上文，以待有志于华商之道者。

The course East Marketing is about to commence. We welcome everyone who aspires to learn about Chinese merchants.