抄録
Since the collapse of the socialist state, it has been common for Mongolians to engage in commercial activity. In the socialist era, however, commercial activity was thought to be immoral, and people who engaged in business were condemned as "resellers." A drastic change in morality regarding commercial activity has occurred, and this poses certain questions, for example: has the socialist-era conception of morality regarding commerce disappeared completely? How has the introduction of the free market economy influenced the understanding of commerce in Mongolia? By analyzing the life story of one trader, I illustrate the state of commerce in the socialist period and the transfiguration of ethical discourse that has occurred in contemporary Mongolia. My findings show that the moral justification for contemporary commerce takes the form of historical interpretations that reconfigure traders' reputed notoriety, and that furthermore, there is a discourse of cursing traders engendered by envy.
