from about 15 to 16, Japan was in a continuous war, and various vassals (known as "big names", which means feudal lords) constantly conquered each other and competed for territory. This period of history is the so-called "Warring States Period". In the last 4 years of this period, Japan was finally unified in the early 17th century through the efforts of three outstanding generals. These three extraordinary generals are Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Their brilliant military exploits and great achievements are highly praised in Japanese history and folklore. There is an auspicious Japanese proverb: "Nobuyoshi Oda works hard, Toyotomi Hideyoshi is well-off, and Tokugawa Ieyasu enjoys happiness." To put it more clearly, although all three generals have contributed to Japanese reunification, only the last of the three generals, Tokugawa Ieyasu, became a shogun. From 1615 to 1867, Tokugawa Ieyasu and his family ruled the Japanese territory, a historical period known as the Tokugawa shogunate.
This hundred-year war swept through Japan, so it can be seen everywhere in the technical terms of candle diagrams. On the other hand, if we think about it carefully, it is not difficult to find that many kinds of skills and methods similar to military strategy are really needed in the process of participating in market transactions. In these skills, including strategy, psychology, confrontation, strategic retreat, and even luck (yes, there is a problem of good or bad luck), so it is not surprising that in this book, you can encounter candle chart technical terms originally from battlefield jargon everywhere. Among these terms, there are so-called "dawn attack and night attack", so-called "three soldiers advancing", so-called "counterattack line" and "tombstone line", and so on.
under the rule of the feudal centralized system founded by Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japan experienced a relatively stable peaceful era, so everything was flourishing and opportunities were everywhere. Agricultural production is developing day by day, and more importantly, domestic commercial activities have a relaxed environment and are more developed. By the 17th century, Japan had formed a national market system, replacing the isolated local small markets in the past. The birth of this unified and centralized big market indirectly gave birth to Japan's technical analysis theory.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi recognized Osaka as the capital of Japan, and vigorously supported its development, making it a commercial center. Osaka has excellent port conditions, and under the historical conditions at that time, land transportation was not only slow, but also unsafe and costly. In this way, Osaka has become a national material distribution center and gradually evolved into Japan's largest commercial and financial center. Osaka has both huge wealth and huge material warehouses, and it has truly become the so-called "Japan's big room". When there is an imbalance in the supply of materials in various places, Osaka can immediately adjust the surplus and shortage, thus making great contributions to the stability of market prices. For the residents of the big version, life is immersed in the desire to chase profits. At the same time, other cities still hold a traditional contempt attitude towards commercial profit-making, which is in sharp contrast with Osaka. Japanese society at that time was composed of four hierarchical classes. From top to bottom, they are warriors, farmers, craftsmen and businessmen. It was not until the 18th century that the merchant class finally broke all kinds of social barriers. Even today, in Osaka, the traditional greeting is still "Mokarimakka", which means "Are you rich?"
Toyama in Osaka is the agent of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (one of the three great militarists who unified Japan) for military supplies. Dianwo has extraordinary talent in the transportation and distribution of rice and in setting the price of rice. The front yard of the Dianwo family was so important that the first rice exchange in Japan sprouted from here. He himself has become extremely rich, but from the result, it is obvious that he is too rich. In 175, the shogunate (the warlord government under the leadership of General Zheng Yi) announced that the luxurious life he enjoyed was not commensurate with his humble social status, so all his property was confiscated. With the increase of wealth in the hands of businessmen, the influence of some of them is also expanding day by day, and the shogunate is wary of this. As early as 1642, officials colluded with businessmen in an attempt to manipulate the rice market. They were severely punished by the authorities, and the merchants' children were executed, and the merchants themselves were exiled, and all their property was deprived.
in the second half of the 17th century, the rice trading market, which originated in the front yard of Dianwo family, finally developed into a formal institution in Osaka, Tangdao Rice Club (Rice Exchange). In this exchange, merchants set the standard of rice grade and set the price of rice through bargaining. Until 171, the exchange had been trading rice in kind. After 171, this rice exchange began to accept and grant warehouse receipts (i.e. rice warehouse receipts) for rice. The rice warehouse receipt is called "rice warehouse voucher". These rice warehouse receipts are the earliest futures contracts in the world.
The brokerage of rice business constitutes the foundation of Osaka's prosperity. At that time, in Osaka, the total number of rice traders was about 13 or more. At that time, because there was no reliable monetary standard (people tried to use coins as hard currency as the pricing standard, but this attempt was aborted with the deterioration of coins), rice became a de facto medium of exchange. If a big name needs funds, then he will transport the surplus rice to Osaka and store it in Osaka's warehouse with his account. He will get the corresponding rice voucher as a receipt for this batch of rice. Then, he can decide the time to sell these rice coupons at will. As a matter of fact, many famous brands have financial difficulties, and they often sell the next rice tax (the donations and taxes collected by famous brands are paid in the form of rice-usually these rice accounts for 4%-6% of farmers' harvest) as rice coupons in advance. In some cases, they may even mortgage all the rice harvests in the next few years in this way.
the trading of rice coupons is very active. This kind of rice coupon was sold in advance with the future rice harvest, so it became the earliest futures contract in the world. Tangdao Rice Club engaged in the trading of such rice coupons, which became the first futures exchange in the world. Rice coupons are also called "empty rice" coupons "empty rice", which means that it is not specific physical rice. So, to what extent did rice futures trading prevail at that time? To help you form a clear impression, please look at the following set of figures; In 1749, there were 11, packages of empty rice coupons in Osaka (at that time, rice was measured by "packages"). However, there were only 3, packages of physical rice in Japan that year.
it is against this background that our hero, the famous "god of the market", has appeared for a long time. Ben Zongjiu was born into a wealthy family in 1724 (according to other data, 1729). At that time, people thought that this family was incredibly rich, so a proverb spread: "I will definitely win the throne of the Lord in my life, but don't imagine that this family is as rich as Zongjiu's." In 175, this family took over the business of their family and started his rice trading career in the rice trading market of Sakata, a port city in his hometown. Sakata is a distribution center for rice. Because Zongjiu started his career in Sakata, the expression "Sakata Tactics" is often heard in the language of Japanese candle drawing technology. This term refers to the long-standing trading method of this house.
after Ben's long-lived father died, he began to manage all their property, even though he was only the youngest son in the family. In those days, it was usually the eldest son who inherited his father's footsteps and took power. ) this may be because this room has an extraordinary market knowledge for a long time. With this abundant capital, Zongjiu stepped into the gate of Osaka Tangdao Dog Rice Club, Japan's largest rice trading market, and devoted himself to rice futures trading.
Our family owns a large rice plantation. Because their family has strong strength in rice spot, the information about rice market usually can't escape his eyes and ears. However, Zongjiu was not satisfied with this. He also recorded the weather information year by year. In order to grasp the psychology of investors, Zong Jiu studied the historical record of rice price deeply, and traced it back to the time when the exchange was still open in Dianshou's front yard. Zongjiu also created his own communication system. From Osaka to Sakata. Zongjiu set up a transit station at regular intervals, and arranged for people to board the roof at the appointed time, waving small flags, and relay messages in a baton.
in this way, sosuke dominated the market in osaka. After that, he turned to the local exchange in Edo (now Tokyo) for new conquest. With his profound research on the rice market, he has accumulated great wealth. It is said that he once had an amazing record of 1 profitable transactions in a row.
His reputation is so great that a folk song once sang in the streets of Edo: "Sakata (the hometown of Tsukuba) is sunny, Tando Island (the Tando Rice Exchange in Osaka) is cloudy, and it rains before Edo's reduction (the former exchange of Edo's reduction)." The meaning of this ballad is that when the rice in the wine field catches up with the good years, the price of Tangdao Rice Exchange will fall, while the price of rice in Edo will plummet. This little tune shows that this family has the ability to call the shots in the Japanese rice market for a long time.
in his later years, this family lived as a financial adviser to the shogunate and was awarded the title of samurai as an honorary title. This family lived for a long time and died in 183. His market research works (Sakata Tactics and Wind, Forest, Fire and Mountain) are said to have been written in the 18th century. The trading strategy he adopted in the rice market gradually evolved into the candle chart method used by modern Japanese investors. (Translate the notes: "Wind, forest, fire and mountains" four words, and code the "Military Argument" in Sun Tzu's Art of War. The original text is "... its disease is like the wind, its Xu Rulin is like a fire, and it doesn't move like a mountain ..." It means roughly "quick action, like a disease of the wind, the ranks are purged, and its neatness is as slow as a forest; When attacking, it is like a fire, and when defending, it is like a mountain. " )