The Making of "Convergence Codes": Trade Networks and Cultural Interweaving in Multi-Ethnic Merchant Guildhalls of Early Qing Beijing

Abstract

This article takes the multi-ethnic merchant associations in Beijing during the early Qing Dynasty as the research object, and explores the mechanism of ethnic communication, exchange, and integration under the dual dimensions of "trade network" and "cultural interweaving". By analyzing the distribution pattern and background of multi-ethnic merchant associations in Beijing during the Qing Dynasty, the construction mechanism of cross ethnic trade networks, and the micro manifestations of cultural interweaving, the "fusion code" of "economic symbiosis cultural identity" is extracted. Research has found that during the Qing Dynasty, the Beijing Merchant Guild Hall served as an important platform for multi-ethnic trade and cultural exchange. Through institutional innovation and cultural adjustment, it successfully constructed a mechanism to promote ethnic communication, exchange, and integration, providing valuable historical experience for contemporary ethnic exchanges.