學界在郊商資料不多的情況下，對郊商內部經營與生活型態研究實屬稀少。許家文書不僅有商業性質的書信，尚有為數不少提及私人生活的家書，能一窺郊商實際生活的狀況。本文將許志湖家族生活動向放入一個時代脈絡中，結合臺海變動政治、經濟與社會因素，將生活多樣性呈現出來。文章內容涉及到家人往來、觀感、生活基本模式、商人交際形式、訊息來源、適應動向與認同歸屬，嘗試深入瞭解郊商文化。

Due to lack of sources, there are not so many researchers studying the intra management and lifestyle of guild merchants in the history academia.Both business-oriented letters and personal letters of the Hsu family presented, offering a perspective to the real living condition of the guild merchants.This article discusses the living conditions of the Hsu family under a specific period of time, combining the elements of political, economic and social changes of the Taiwan Strait region.The content of This article contains family relationship, feeling, living conditions, merchant interactions, sources of information, the sense of adaption and belonging. This article tries to lead the researches about the culture of the guild merchants to a deeper level.