Guiding light in a fog of ethics

If you want to know about the social mood on the mainland, you need only watch The Courtyard of the Qiao Family - a recent television series adapted from true stories about a merchant family in Shanxi in the late Qing dynasty.

Rated the most popular show of its kind on CCTV this year, it depicts the Qiao family's ups and downs as its business expands from the silk and tea trades to national banking. This occurs against a backdrop of social turmoil at the end of the 19th century.

So, what drew the millions of viewers? A close look reveals that it is the business ethics of the Qiao family - placing benevolence and trust before profit - that pressed the right buttons. The stories of the Qiao family suggest a new route to business success - something our fellow Chinese on the mainland have been searching for over the past two decades.

The family's approach breaks all the common rules of the market. Instead of competing with your business rivals, save them from bankruptcy. Instead of investing in projects with good prospects of return, hand out money to poor neighbours and beggars. If you don't become rich from such practices, then consider lending your hard-earned money to an imperial court that is on its way to collapse. The main character in show did all the above. Surprisingly, his business boomed and his family became the richest trading house in Shanxi.

How could such business tactics succeed? The storyline makes it clear. Benevolence breeds trust among traders, and trust enables a collective effort that eventually results in a bigger slice of the pie for everyone, as trade expands. Generosity leads to a broader social network, and valuable information that is channelled through the network paves the way to new adventures.

Lend money to a failing imperial court? Well, who knows? No one can prevent a dying leader - as the Dowager Empress does in the story - from showing appreciation by entrusting a private firm with the nation's banking business.