《二十年目睹之怪现状》,清末吴沃尧著。书中记述了“我”在1884中法战争至1904年间的所见所闻。此前后二十多年,正是中国社会激荡风云、波澜起伏面临着“生存与灭亡”危机的时期。社会各个阶层的剧烈变动,城市人口的膨胀,等级观念的淡薄,社会思潮的风起云涌,以及与之相对应的人们价值观念的改变等等,这一切构成了风雨飘摇中晚清社会的特质。新式商人正是在此背景中脱颖而出。新式商人是晚清社会大变动下派生的新兴社会力量。自汉以来,“士、农、工、商”的定序以及及至清初长期采取重本抑末之政策,商人及商人之业得不到社会的肯定与尊重。然而自十九世纪中期始,西方依靠船坚利炮,挟其物质文明及其价值 “Twenty years have witnessed the strange situation”, the late Wu Woyao. The book chronicles what I saw in the 1884 Sino-French War to 1904. After more than two decades, it is exactly the period of Chinese society’s turmoil and ups and downs that face the crisis of “survival and demise.” The drastic changes of all social strata, the expansion of urban population, the weakness of hierarchy, the surging of social thoughts, and the corresponding changes in people’s values ​​have all formed the peculiar trait of society in late Qing Dynasty. It is in this background that new businessmen stand out. New businessmen are emerging social forces derived from the great changes in the society in the late Qing dynasty. Since the Han Dynasty, the order of “people, peasants, workers, traders and merchants” and the policy of restraining capital through long-term repayments by the early days of the Qing dynasty have not been affirmed and respected by the community. However, since the middle of the nineteenth century, the West relied on the ship Jianliu and relied on its material civilization and its value