一般來說，教育可以促進社會流動。問題是，哪個階層會是真正的受益者呢？本研究將以余英時《中國近世宗教倫理與商人精神》（1987）為例說明。我們在此提出挑戰，嘗試從韋伯（Max Weber）的角度出發，對余先生的結論、也就是最具原創性的部分－即上升中的商人階級是由追隨與尊敬士人的商人所組成――有所質疑。相反地，我們試圖論證屢試不第的士人不得不仰賴富商以糊口溫飽。再者，我們依《儒教與道教》的精神，力求展現韋伯的某些詮釋（尤其是關於中國官員），不僅得以動搖《中國近世宗教倫理》一書立論，亦得以提出一個近代中國社會史新命題。與其將余先生的詮釋評為有爭議性的，倒不如說詮釋的目的在於探索一段思想史，卻也引發其作者沒有充分意識到的一個問題，即社會階層流動。為了深入探討這個問題，研究者採用何炳棣傳世之作《明清社會史論》，作為參照點，形成余英時、韋伯、何炳棣三人在這個主題上，一次作品比較與對話。透過何炳棣關於近代中國社會流動的經典研究，除了韋伯所言，我們還能主張官職不是完全保留給士人，藉此闡明：社會流動才是韋伯理論與余英時這部作品真正相遇的主題。

Generally speaking, the educational factor can favor the social mobility. But the problem is launched in the following way: what social class is the one which will take advantage of it? This research will give an explanation by the case of ＂Modern Chinese religious Ethics and Merchant's Spirit＂ (1987) written by Yü Y-S. We're going to challenge, from the weberian point of view, refuting the conclusion of Yü, that is what is the most original, stating that the class of merchant on the rise consists of those who follow and respect of Confucians. However, we try to demonstrate that the Confucian who can not succeed in official examinations is forced to depend on rich merchants to earn his bread. Moreover, in the spirit of ＂Confucianismus und Taoismus＂, we seek to show that certain interpretations of Weber, especially with regard to Mandarin, not only make it possible to shake the argumentation of Yü but also to advance a new thesis for the modern social history of China. To deepen this question, by referring to the famous work of Ho P-T, ＂The Ladder of Succes in Imperial China＂, we build as well a comparison as a dialogue on this subject between Yü, Weber and Ho. By this canonical study of Ho, as regards the social mobility in modern China, except what Weber expresses, we can clarify the theme which really connects works of Weber to those of Yü.