Qin and Han · Merchant

Bing of Cao 曹邴氏

Cao Bing Shi

Attested BC 150

Passages: 2
Chapters: 1
Histories: 1

Overview

Bing of Cao was a Merchant.

Life and dates

Attested activity

BC 150 曹邴氏尤甚，以鐵冶起
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 129, passage 247

Family

Kinship Role father-elder-brothers-sons-grandsons · strict family economy across generations · Count 2
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 129, passage 248

Career and standing

iron smelting, credit and trade 鐵冶…貰貸行賈
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 129, passages 247-248

Assessments and attributes

Assessment inspired Zou and Lu to abandon scholarship for profit · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 129, passage 249
extreme frugality
Character
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 129, passage 247

References in the histories

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 129Biographies of Money-Makers · 2 passages

魯人俗儉嗇，而曹邴氏尤甚，以鐵冶起，富至巨萬。 The people of Lu are by custom frugal and thrifty, and the Bing family of Cao was the most extreme case. They rose through iron smelting and amassed an enormous fortune.

鄒、魯以其故多去文學而趨利者，以曹邴氏也。 The reason so many in Zou and Lu abandoned scholarly pursuits and rushed after profit was the example of the Bing family of Cao.