History of Currency Development in China

Ancient Currency: The Origin of Ancient Currency

China is one of the earliest countries in the world to use money, China's use of money has a very long history, legend has it that four or five thousand years ago or even earlier money has risen.

Development of Ancient Currency: The Earliest Currency

China's earliest currency was the shell coin that originated in the Shang Dynasty. With the expansion of commodity exchange, the number of shell coins in circulation became increasingly large. As the natural shells were limited in source and insufficient for application, imitation shells appeared. The first imitation shells were stone shells, bone shells, ceramic shells, and later developed to use copper to manufacture, which is copper shells.

Unification of Currency: In 221 B.C., Qin Shi Huang unified China, and then implemented a series of measures to consolidate the centralization of feudal power, and the unification of currency was one of them.

The significance of the unification of currency by Qin Shi Huang:

1. The unification of currency was an important measure to consolidate centralized politics and promote the unification of the feudal state.

2. The unification of currency was conducive to the exchange of materials and the development of trade in different parts of the world, and promoted economic prosperity.

3. Qin Shi Huang's regulations on currency were the first monetary legislation in the history of Chinese currency, and the half-two coins had a far-reaching influence on the form of coins in subsequent generations.

4, half-two money with weight as the name, and is the beginning of the Chinese measure name money.

Coinage Reform: In 621 A.D. (the fourth year of Wude), Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty carried out a major reform of the coinage by abolishing the five-baht coins and casting the Tongbao coins. Tongbao coins imitated the five-baht coins, each weighing 2 baht 4 stat, 8 minutes in diameter, 10 pieces weighing 1 tael, a thousand words weighing 6 catties and 4 taels, the color of copper, mixed with tin and pewter, the face of the coins were cast in the "Kaiyuan Tongbao" 4 characters, the text in clerical script.

The emergence and development of paper money

The reasons for the emergence and development of paper money, paper money is mainly economic:

First, the Song Dynasty commercial development, the requirements of a large number of lightweight currency, copper and iron money are due to regional constraints are not enough to apply, and cumbersome and inconvenient, greatly impeding the development of inter-regional commodity exchanges.

Second, the paper industry and printing industry developed, for the production of paper money provides the material basis and technical guarantee.

Thirdly, the Song dynasty was forced to raise heavy troops to prevent the threat and aggression of the Liao, Xia and Jin people in the north, which led to huge military expenditures and financial difficulties, and it relied on the issuance of banknotes to make up for the expenditures, and it also contributed to the further development of banknotes.

Currency exchange: exchange is gold, silver, money exchange. The Tang Dynasty's monetary system is the money standard system, gold mainly as a means of preservation of value, silver has begun to circulate as money. Therefore, gold, silver, money will have the need to exchange each other, the exchange business will arise.

Chan Chuang the rise :Ming Dynasty, due to the gold, silver, money, paper money exchange needs, so there are many people specializing in money exchange, as a business, opened the money store, which is the earliest money shop.

Ticket generation :ticket is an important credit institution in the Qing Dynasty, the initial exchange-based, and for the first time in Shanxi, so there are ticket bank, Shanxi ticket bank, Shanxi ticket and other titles.

Six Evolutions in the History of China's Currency Development

One, the evolution of natural money to artificial money

Two, the evolution of the shape of the messy to standardize the shape of the evolution of the shape of the evolution of the shape of the evolution of the shape of the standardization of the evolution of the evolution of the evolution of the local coins minted to the central coins minted

four, the weight of the instrument to the evolution of the Tongbao, Yuanbao

.

V. Evolution from metal money to paper money crosses

VI. Evolution from hand-cast to mechanism paper money

References:

Chinese Monetary History - Baidu Encyclopedia