에도(江戶)시대 민중의 상업 윤리 - 우키요조시(浮世草子)『세켄 데다이 가타기(世間手代気質)』를 중심으로 -

Abstract

This study is for understanding what is the significance and ethics of business in the Ukiyozoushi Seken Tedai Katagi written by Ezima Kiseki in Edo era. There were many merchants called Tedai in Seken Tedai Katagi, and they worked for their owners and the family(家). Tedai thought the business was not for themselves. Their attitudes seemed almost same as the loyalty of chivalry to the lord, so the merchants themselves thought business was not so different from the chivalry's conduct. Then the merchants thought business ethics were changeable, because the result of business was more important than the process of business. If the merchants earned the money by unethical conduct, the business could be eulogized by case, because the earning money was not for themselves but for the owner and the family ultimately. On the other hand, the business was also built up from trust, repute, etc. in Seken Tedai Katagi. So the business was not only the hylic conduct but also the mental conduct for the merchants, then the idea showed the business was not the social ills. In the Edo era, the chivalry and the Confucianists thought the business was social ills, so the merchants should build up the significance and ethics of business by themselves. Seken Tedai Katagi was the one of the cultural conduct to build up the significance and ethics of business of merchants', as we could see them in the stories.