對於想了解中國商業史的歷史學家來說，馬克斯．韋伯（1864－1920）的研究非常重要，但他對於中國的看法卻極不正確。然而此處，目的不在於辯駁韋伯的觀點，而是要抉發他的洞見並加以學習。韋伯認為行動的意義必須在行動者的主觀理解中尋找，因此，人類必須要創造出能夠預期並計算行動結果的方法。在商業制度發展史上，中國在明代達到了官僚系統的專業化，並發展出合夥制，積累資本的手段（包含必要的會計操作），及透過鹽業獨占之形式而衍生的種種國債。可以說，資本主義方法在中國發生得很早。然而，朝廷卻廢除了這一切而轉向保護（俸祿）制度。這個轉折妨礙了銀行制度的發展，也使得中國商業在十九世紀中葉蒸汽科技引進時，處於相當不利的地位。

Max Weber (1864-1920) is extremely important for the China historian who wants to understand the history of Chinese business. Yet, he was very wrong about China. However, the point is not to argue with Weber about China but to learn from his insights. Weber taught that meaning in action has to be sought in the subjective understanding of the actor, and, therefore, the means have to be created for human beings to calculate in anticipation of the results of their actions. In the history of business institutions, during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), China arrived at bureaucratic professionalism, partnerships, means for pooling capital (including the accounting needed) and even a variation of the national debt in the form of the salt monopoly. The means for capitalism, therefore, arose quite early in China. Nevertheless, the Chinese imperial state abolished it and turned to patronage (the prebendal state). That particular turn had major effects on the development of banking, much to the detriment of Chinese business as steam technology arrived in China in the mid-nineteenth century.