In primitive society, there were no business cards. At that time, the land was vast and sparsely populated, and the environment was sinister. People lived a hard life and had little communication. The writing was not formally formed, and the early knotting notes only existed within the same tribe, and the tribe had no connection with other tribes.
In slave society, although there are simple words, there are no business cards. Slaves' social economy is still underdeveloped, most people are fixed on the land, and slaves have no right to education; A few hereditary slave owners formed a small ruling group. Because the ruling circle has not changed much for a long time, there is not much literacy, and it does not have the conditions to form a business card.
The earliest appearance of business cards began in feudal society. During the Warring States Period, China began to form a centralized state. With the use of advanced production tools such as iron, the economy has also developed, which has led to the development of culture. Confucianism represented by Confucius and other schools have formed a scene of contention. All countries are committed to expanding their territories, supporting and spreading their own cultures, and a large number of emerging nobles have emerged in the war. In particular, Qin Shihuang unified China, started a great reform, unified the national character, and enfeoffed governors. Xianyang has become the center of China, and governors from all walks of life will report to Beijing every once in a while. In order to close the relationship with the imperial authorities, it is inevitable that princes should keep in touch frequently, so early business card names began to appear. The so-called "phone call" means that visitors write their names and other introductory words on bamboo or wood chips (paper was not invented at that time) as an introduction document to the interviewee, which is now a business card.
In the Han dynasty, the centralized state developed further, and with the expansion of the territory in the early Han dynasty, the use of "Yi" became more and more common. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, "Ye" was renamed as "thorn". Since the paper invented by Cai Lun in the Eastern Han Dynasty was widely used, the "thorn" changed from bamboo to lighter paper.
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the feudal society in China entered its heyday, which promoted the great development of social economy and culture. In the early Tang Dynasty, the imperial examination system was implemented, allowing some talented ordinary people to join the ruling class by their own efforts. In order to compete with the hereditary nobles for power, they helped each other in officialdom, and the door of cliques began to take shape. After each imperial examination, new subjects and candidates should visit former criminals and high-ranking people everywhere and worship them as teachers in order to be promoted in the future. To learn from a teacher, you have to hand in the "door" first, and then the name of "thorn" is changed to "door".
The rulers of Ming Dynasty followed the imperial examination system of Tang and Song Dynasties and popularized it. Reading has become the only way for ordinary people to improve their lives, and the number of literate people has greatly increased. The opportunities for people to communicate have increased. When students meet teachers and junior officials meet senior officials, they must first introduce themselves with "business cards", which is the "door type" in the Tang and Song Dynasties. At this time, the "famous post" has something to do with the word "name". The "famous posts" in the Ming Dynasty are rectangular, usually seven inches long and three inches wide, and the face of the post should be filled with the name of the poster. If you post to your elders or superiors, the title of the "famous post" should be large, and the name on the "famous post" should be large to show humility, while the name on the "famous post" will be regarded as arrogance.
It was not until the Qing Dynasty that the name "business card" was officially called. The Qing Dynasty was the end of feudal society in China. Due to the constant invasion of the west, the contact with the outside world has increased, and foreign trade has also accelerated the popularization of business cards. Business cards in the Qing Dynasty began to be miniaturized, especially in officialdom, where officials used larger business cards to show humility and officials used smaller business cards to show their status.