As early as in the Spring and Autumn period and Warring states period, business activities began to take place in the city of Yuncheng. The County of Anyi had become a famous business town in Duke Jinwengong. And Yidun who lived in the county of Linyi, the city of Yuncheng was the first person that opened China trade. It can be said that China's business industry began in Shanxi Province and was rooted in Yuncheng.
Yidun lived in the Warring States period (now the town of the Yi-surnamed clan, the county of Linyi).When he was young, his family was poor. He always suffered cold and hunger. When he struggled to promote family, the duke of Taozhugong Fan Li became a recluse in a nearby village. Yidun consulted him. The duke told him that you would become rich by way of rearing livestock and poultry. Yiton suddenly understood and went back home. He spent all his savings buying some small livestock and poultry. After a few years, he was a rich man.
With the flourishing of animal husbandry, he purchased three areas and put his three sons in charge of managing them separately. He carefully observed and analyzed the living habits of all kinds of livestock and poultry, and gradually explored and summarized the rules of raising cattle, horses and pigs. He created the methods of livestock drinking salty water, raising chicken with less rice and removing testicles for male livestock, which greatly improved the feeding efficiency. He not only improved the quality of breeding animals by keeping the strong and eliminating the weak, but also interbred local and foreign breeds to breed offspring, making great contributions to the improvement of livestock and poultry breeds. Even today, cattle raised in the city of Yuncheng are bigger and donkeys taller than any other places, especially the big cattle which are known as one of the "five best breeds" in China.
After his success, Yidun organized the people to use the hillside to have opened up apricot garden, peach garden, mulberry garden nearly one thousand Mu. He cultivated more than 30 varieties of apricot, some of which are still famous today. There are more than 300 varieties of fresh peaches, each with its own shape, color and taste. Yidun not only planted mulberry garden, but also opened a silk reeling factory known as "embroidery garden". The place where Yidun lives soon became a big village.
Yidun accumulated a strong capital through animal husbandry and devoted himself to a new field—produce and sell salt. He opened up two transport lines to sell salt produced in the city of Yuncheng to Shandong, Sichuan, Shaanxi provinces, western regions and the Persian Gulf and other places.
Yidun shipped salt to the western regions, and brought a batch of pearls, agates, jewelry jade back from the western region in return. He also set up more than 50 jewelry stores along the way and extended his business to Qi, Lu, Yan, Chu and other states. Yidun eventually became a very famous jewelry tycoon. Business jewelry not only made Yidun rich than the princes and his jewelry appreciation reached a very high level.
In the Han Dynasty, the book Huai Nan Zi by Lin A praised Yidun for his appreciation ability of jade. With the expansion of the scale of foreign trade, more and more merchants from all sides came to have businesses with Yidun. Yi dun's village also gradually evolved from a livestock area into a well-known trading town. Later, Yidun built the first mall in Chinese history which was called the city of Yidun and its ancient walls still exist now.
Yidun made use of his own advantages and started the history of the long-distance trafficking in China. After he became rich, he practiced benevolence and did charitable work. He helped the state and poor people when they were in urgent need. They paid great respect for him. He collected his thoughts, experiences and ways of doing businesses, and formed a book The Collection of Proverbs, which is still circulating today.
It produced tremendous influence to later generations. Therefore, they respected it as the founder of the trade industry. Yidun's commercial thought undoubtedly played the role of enlightenment and foundation in the development of the trade industry in the city of Yuncheng, Shanxi province and even other places in China.
