Traditional China took a repressive attitude towards business, so in the eyes of the ancients, only being an official was something to be proud of. And at that time, many books encouraged people to be officials. So nobody wants to be a businessman in that environment. There are not many outstanding Hunan businessmen now, mainly because most of these Hunan people pay attention to entertainment or sports, and few people pay attention to economic content. It can be said that at that time, these Hunan people themselves were unwilling to seriously hurt them, and they were not concerned about the economy. But this does not mean that there are no well-known businessmen in Hunan.
There are two main reasons why ancient Hunan merchants were not famous. The reason for 1 is the situation and environment at that time. The economic conditions in Hunan were not as developed as in the Central Plains at that time, and most people still made a living by farming. Because of this way of working, many people in Hunan have no motivation to do business. Most Hunan people still want to change their destiny through the imperial examination. People from poor families only think that they can change their fate by passing the imperial examination, and only when they become officials can their future become better.
The second reason is the influence of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement in Qing Dynasty also had a great influence on Hunan. Under the impact of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, Zeng Guofan began to organize Xiang troops in the local area. At that time, the expanding size of the army also affected the business plans of these Hunan people to some extent. There are many people from Hunan in the economic circle now, but most of them still focus on entertainment and sports.