The Four Occupations and the Lowly Status of Merchants
In China’s feudal era, rulers classified the populace into four distinct social strata known as the “Four Occupations”: scholars (shi), farmers (nong), artisans (gong), and merchants (shang). This hierarchical system, first articulated by the influential statesman Guan Zhong during the Spring and Autumn period in his work “Guanzi,” positioned merchants at the bottom rung of society despite their economic contributions. The text famously stated: “These four occupations – scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants – are the foundation stones of the state.”
Yet in an agrarian society that prized agricultural production above all else, merchants occupied the most precarious social position despite their wealth. The legendary Fan Li, recognized as the progenitor of Chinese commerce, exemplified this paradox. After helping King Goujian of Yue destroy the rival state of Wu, Fan Li retired from politics and reinvented himself as the merchant Tao Zhugong, amassing fabulous wealth in the state of Qi. Despite his commercial success, Fan Li faced humiliating restrictions – merchants were required to wear mismatched black and white shoes as a visible marker of their inferior status. His decision to abandon officialdom for commerce earned him the contempt of scholar-officials, and historical records consistently downplayed his achievements compared to his former colleague Wen Zhong.
Mi Zhu: The Merchant Prince of the Eastern Han
Against this backdrop of systemic discrimination, merchants like Mi Zhu sought alternative paths to power and influence. Born in Qu County of Donghai Commandery (modern-day Lianyungang, Jiangsu), Mi Zhu hailed from a family with deep roots in commerce. The region, once part of the ancient state of Qi, had long been renowned for producing merchant princes, and the Mi family represented one of its most successful commercial dynasties.
By Mi Zhu’s generation, Donghai Commandery had been incorporated into Xu Province, a critical transportation hub and strategic military crossroads. Mi Zhu’s merchant caravans plied the routes between Xu Province and the imperial capital at Luoyang, amassing a fortune that reportedly reached hundreds of millions in cash – making him arguably the wealthiest man in the Eastern Han dynasty.
Unlike the infamous merchant-politician Lü Buwei, whose Machiavellian schemes earned him both power and infamy, Mi Zhu adhered to the mercantile virtues of integrity and trustworthiness inherited from Fan Li. Folklore preserved in works like Gan Bao’s “In Search of the Supernatural” and Wang Jia’s “Records of Gleanings” recounts miraculous tales of Mi Zhu’s virtue being rewarded by divine intervention that saved his fortune from celestial fires. These stories, while fanciful, reflect the very real anxieties of a fabulously wealthy merchant in turbulent times.
The Merchant’s Dilemma in an Age of Chaos
The collapse of Han authority created both danger and opportunity for men like Mi Zhu. As warlords carved up the empire, merchants found themselves – in Mi Zhu’s vivid metaphor – “like unarmed children carrying treasure through bandit country.” Mi Zhu recognized that in this new era of competing warlords, commercial wealth without political protection meant little.
His response was characteristically bold and multifaceted. He armed his thousands of retainers and servants, transforming his commercial empire into a private army. Simultaneously, he cultivated popular support through charitable works and disaster relief throughout Xu Province. These moves gave the Mi family tremendous influence – enough that the provincial governor Tao Qian sought to co-opt them by appointing Mi Zhu as his Chief Clerk (Biejia Congshi), a position roughly equivalent to a modern provincial chief of staff.
Mi Zhu’s assessment of Tao Qian proved prescient. The governor, while well-intentioned, suffered from critical flaws – a violent temper, poor judgment in subordinates, and an excessive devotion to Buddhist temple construction that drained public coffers. When Tao Qian’s subordinate Zhang Kai murdered the family of the influential Cao Song (father of the rising warlord Cao Cao), it provided Cao Cao with the perfect pretext to invade Xu Province in 193 CE. The subsequent massacre left the province devastated, with contemporary records describing corpses clogging the Si River until it ceased to flow.
The Fateful Alliance with Liu Bei
In this crisis emerged Liu Bei, then a minor warlord commanding barely 2,000 troops with a small cadre of followers including the legendary Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. To most observers, backing Liu Bei seemed a fool’s gamble – the equivalent of investing in a penny stock. Yet Mi Zhu saw potential where others saw only risk.
His recommendation secured Liu Bei’s appointment as Inspector of Yu Province and command of Xiaopei, a strategic position in Xu Province. When Tao Qian lay dying in 194 CE, his final words to Mi Zhu – “Only Liu Bei can bring peace to this province” – set the stage for Mi Zhu’s masterstroke. With the merchant’s backing, Liu Bei assumed control of Xu Province despite his modest forces, a corporate takeover enabled by Mi Zhu’s political and financial capital.
The alliance nearly collapsed in 196 CE when the treacherous warlord Lü Bu seized Xu Province, capturing Liu Bei’s family and forcing him into desperate flight. Reduced to near-starvation with reports of soldiers resorting to cannibalism, Liu Bei’s prospects appeared hopeless. Most supporters abandoned him, but Mi Zhu made the opposite calculation – doubling down on his investment with a staggering display of loyalty and resources.
Leading his entire household on a perilous journey, Mi Zhu presented Liu Bei with 2,000 armed retainers, a fortune in gold and horses, and an extraordinary personal offering – his own younger sister in marriage. This total commitment forged an unbreakable bond between merchant and warlord, with Liu Bei appointing Mi Zhu as a General of the Standard (Pian Jiangjun), outranking even his most trusted early followers.
The Long Game of a Political Investor
The subsequent years tested Mi Zhu’s resolve as Liu Bei suffered repeated reversals – losing Xu Province to Lü Bu, then being driven out by Cao Cao, and finally finding precarious refuge with various warlords. Through each disaster, Mi Zhu remained steadfast, following Liu Bei on what amounted to a Three Kingdoms-era Long March across northern China.
Even when Cao Cao offered Mi Zhu the governorship of a newly created commandery and similar honors for his brother Mi Fang, the merchant-prince refused. He recognized that as an outsider without personal connections to Cao Cao’s inner circle, his prospects in that camp were limited. Better to stay with his chosen champion through thick and thin.
This patience ultimately paid off spectacularly after the Battle of Red Cliffs in 208 CE marked Liu Bei’s dramatic resurgence. By 210 CE, when Sun Quan “lent” Liu Bei the vital territory of Jing Province (a decision that reportedly made Cao Cao drop his writing brush in dismay), Mi Zhu’s long-term investment began yielding extraordinary returns.
Liu Bei, now establishing himself as one of the three major powers of the Three Kingdoms, showered Mi Zhu with honors. Despite lacking military or administrative talents, Mi Zhu was appointed Chief Clerk to the General of the Left (Liu Bei’s title) and later created General Who Pacifies Han – a prestigious sinecure that placed him above even Zhuge Liang in ceremonial precedence. His brother Mi Fang received the critical post of Administrator of Nan Commandery, serving as deputy to the formidable Guan Yu in defending Jing Province.
The Bitter Fruits of Family Loyalty
The Mi family’s rise nearly ended in disaster when Mi Fang, resentful of Guan Yu’s harsh treatment, surrendered the strategic city of Jiangling to Sun Quan’s forces in 219 CE. This betrayal led directly to Guan Yu’s death and the loss of Jing Province, dealing Liu Bei’s cause a blow from which it never fully recovered.
Yet in a remarkable display of loyalty to his early benefactor, Liu Bei refused to punish Mi Zhu for his brother’s treachery, publicly declaring that “a brother’s crimes do not extend to his sibling.” This magnanimity, so different from the vindictiveness common among warlords of the period, speaks volumes about the genuine bond between Liu Bei and his merchant patron. Mi Zhu, overcome with shame at his brother’s actions, soon died of illness – a tragic end for one of the most astute political investors of his age.
Legacy of a Merchant Strategist
Mi Zhu’s descendants continued to prosper in the Shu Han regime, with his son Mi Zhao serving as Leader of the Tiger Guard and grandson Mi Wei as Supervisor of the Tiger Cavalry – both elite imperial guard units. In just one generation, the Mi family completed its transformation from wealthy merchants to respected members of the scholar-official class, a social mobility almost unheard of in the rigid hierarchies of imperial China.
The story of Mi Zhu offers a fascinating case study in the intersection of commerce and politics during China’s tumultuous Three Kingdoms period. His career demonstrates how economic power could be leveraged for political gain even within a system theoretically hostile to merchant influence. More than just a financier, Mi Zhu displayed remarkable strategic vision in backing Liu Bei early and remaining steadfast through adversity – a lesson in long-term political investment that still resonates today.
Mi Zhu’s ability to navigate the treacherous waters of warlord politics while maintaining his reputation for integrity sets him apart from more notorious merchant-politicians like Lü Buwei. In the end, his story encapsulates the complex realities of social mobility, political patronage, and the enduring human tensions between family loyalty and public duty that characterized one of China’s most romanticized historical eras.