Abstract: Because of Confucian mainstream position in Chinese traditional culture, businessmen, who pay attachment to their profits, have always been ignored and underrated. Of course, there is also the opposite view. For example, in the middle and later Tang Dynasty, quite a few scholars, consciously or unconsciously, display a view on merchants that is against the mainstream. Li Shangying and his elders such as Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan, etc, all express praises in their works about merchants, which not only reflect on their feeling and thinking of social life but also confirm the development and evolution of the times.

Key words: market moral, old family friends, scholar moral, view on merchant