Hu Xue-yan(1823-1885)

Hu Xue-yan was born in ji xi country Anhue province. In the childhood his family was very poor. As a apprentice he worked in an old-style Chinese private bank in Hangzhou. through his realtive's recommendation.By the active support of Wang You-ling(an officer in Qing government) business soon ranked among the big shots in Jiangsu and Zhejiang province by his Chinese pvivate band". He began to gain fame and fortune. He also energetically managed the business of silk and tea. The broad scale of the paistaking management. While Zuo Zong-tang was in the "fighting west" to take XinJiang, Hu Xue-yan was the "chief logistics". Because he dispatched with the proper method and guaranteed the support of various types of military supplies in time, and also because Zuo Zong-tang chose,and recommended, the emperor awarded to him "the first grade top hat and yellow ceremonial robe". He won promotion from a businessman to an officer. He is an officer as well as a businessman. He became a powerful and influential "red top official merchant" in his later years. In 1874, Hu Xue-yan set up Hu Qing Yu Tang "store of traditional Chinese medicine" in DajingXiang near Hu Hill of Hangzhou. Because he adhered to the motto of "Avoiding Deception", "Benevolent enterprise", "Net price" he successfully managed Hu Qing Yu Tang and made it reach the peak of perfection. The people called him "the medicine king in south of the Yangtze River".