司馬遷의 경제관에 관한 몇 가지 검토 ― 경제지리와 도시경제에 따른 致富 양상을 중심으로

Abstract

Sima Qian has more positive perspective on individual’s desire to create wealth than on national wealth, and stresses the importance of geographical environment and individual’s competence in the process of accumulating wealth. Sima Qian emphasizes the spontaneity of the market, stresses the importance of the distribution, and explains specifically and explicitly that whoever can upgrade one’s own status with wealth. Sima Qian recognizes that the development of logistic economy is related with environmental conditions and that it is hard to accumulate wealth unless using this aspect. In other words, he argues that the selection of location considering traffic conditions is the fundamental prerequisite for investment strategy, and that, with examples, explains this point as the key to accumulating wealth. Sima Qian also relates economic conditions with political situation, noting on the changes of political situation caused by financial fluctuation. Sima Qian’s outstanding insight, which is greatly influential, can be seen through his analysis on geographical environment and his completion of economic map focusing on the pattern of local goods production and urban economy. His insight was derived from his detailed investigation on the correlation between geography and economy. The noticeable point is that Sima Qian thought that a group of merchants were basically formed by the activation of goods exchange and distribution industry through the development of commerce and industry, the revolution of production tools triggered by such things as the invention of iron, and the activation of urban economy.