ABSTRACT
The significant growth of commerce in the lower Yangtze River region during the Ming and Qing dynasties created excellent banking opportunities and accelerated the development of native banks in Shanghai. Shanghai had developed its own indigenous banking system well before the Western political and economic intrusion of mid-nineteenth century. The rise of modern Shanghai banking can be traced back to the origins of native banks (qianzhuang) or "money shops." These native banks, with roots in a longstanding agrarian economic society and a Confucian cultural background, retained small business size and self-regulation, as well as simplicity, coherence, and generality. The native banks emerged in response to the commercial integration of Shanghai urban society.
