Historical events related to currency in ancient China

After Qin Shi Huang was in the same six countries, did he mint half a tael of coins count?

With the development of handicrafts and commerce, the exchange of products is becoming more and more frequent. The ruler stabilizes society, develops the economy, and maintains the need to rule. The growing development of business **, the commercialization of products.

Money is the intermediary of commodity exchange and the tool of the ruler to maintain his rule, so the currency is issued by **.

Evolution:

1) Before the Xia Dynasty, people used natural shells as currency.

2) During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, people used artificial shell coins.

3) During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, coins of various forms with bronze as the main material appeared.

4) After Qin Shi Huang unified the whole country, he unified the implementation of the round square hole coin, and the "round square hole" laid the basic shape of the Chinese copper coin for more than 2,000 years.

5) Five baht coins were minted during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

6) In the early Tang Dynasty, Kaiyuan Tongbao was issued.

7) A large number of copper coins were issued in the Song Dynasty, and the world's earliest paper money - Jiaozi also appeared in Sichuan.

8) The Yuan Dynasty implemented paper money as the main currency, which was the first regime in the world to implement the circulation of paper money.

9) At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, paper money was abolished, and a parallel currency circulation system was formed with silver as the main and money as the supplement.

The ancient Chinese dynasty that used paper money as the main currency in circulation was the Yuan Dynasty.

The Yuan Dynasty promoted commerce, and the commodity economy was very prosperous. Yuan Dadu was the world-famous commercial center at that time. In order to adapt to the exchange of goods, the Yuan Dynasty established the world's first complete paper money circulation system, and was the first dynasty in Chinese history to use paper money as the main circulation currency.

Yuan ** first forced the circulation of paper money by way of administrative order, forced the Guanzi and Huizi in the south of the Yangtze River to exchange and pay banknotes, and then took measures to ensure that paper money and gold and silver have the same monetary role, prohibiting private trading of gold and silver, and prohibiting copper coins.

Under the promotion of the policy, the use of banknotes "surpasses the Yang Mountain in the north, the quicksand in the west, the Liaodong in the east, and the sea surface in the south". Whether it is a commercial transaction, a payment of taxes, a wedding, a funeral, or a reward, it is paid with paper money.

Features of the Yuan Dynasty on the use and management of banknotes:

1. Long time. The circulation of banknotes in the Yuan Dynasty went through three periods: Zhongtong banknotes, Zhiyuan banknotes, and Zhengzheng banknotes. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, all kinds of payments, calculations, transactions, etc. were based on paper money, and this social state was very close to the way paper money was used in modern society.

2. Strict management. In order to ensure the health and stability of the banknote system, the "Zhiyuan Treasure Banknote Passage Strip Painting and Grinding" was promulgated, which provided a special legal basis for the issuance and circulation of banknotes at that time. The "Strip Painting" has a profound impact on the history of Chinese currency and the history of world currency, and is an irreplaceable milestone as an excellent ancient Chinese monetary cultural heritage.

Jane. The above content reference: Encyclopedia - Yuan Dynasty.

The above content reference: Encyclopedia - to the ingot banknote passage strip painting.

(1) Pre-Qin: The people of the Shang Dynasty were good at doing business and used shellfish as currency; During the Warring States Period, iron coins appeared in various countries, and the Qin State used round square-hole coins, called half taels of coins (Qi used knife-shaped coins, Zhao used shovel-shaped coins, and Chu used ant-nose coins).

2) Qin and Han dynasties: Circular square-hole money was stipulated as the currency of the whole country. In the Han Dynasty, ** and copper coins were the main coins. The weight of copper coins in the Han Dynasty changed several times, and it was not until Emperor Wu minted the five-baht coins that it stabilized.

3) Three Kingdoms: At that time, the currency decreased, and cloth and grain became the main means of circulation. Cao Wei once abolished copper coins in the form of a decree and used them for physical transactions, which were not abolished in the future.

4) Sui and Tang Dynasties: still mint five baht coins, and prohibit the use of old coins of different sizes in the previous generation, which is conducive to the development of **. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the currency system was reformed, and Tang Gaozu ordered to "abolish the five-baht money and open the Yuan Tongbao".

The newly minted "Kaiyuan Tongbao" became the common currency of the Tang Dynasty, and later issued a large amount. Subsequent generations of currencies have used it as a model. It was the earliest prototype of a bank in China, six or seven hundred years earlier than the financial institutions in Europe and the Mediterranean.

5) Song and Yuan Dynasties: During the Northern Song Dynasty, the world's earliest paper money "Jiaozi" appeared in Sichuan. The development from metal money to paper money is the inevitable result of social and economic development.

The promotion of paper money reduced the burden of merchants carrying metal money, which was conducive to the exchange of goods, reflecting the high development of commerce.

6) Ming and Qing dynasties: At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the main currency was paper money, and the auxiliary currency was copper money, and the use of gold and silver transactions was prohibited. By the middle and late Ming Dynasty, ** became the main currency in general circulation.

Initially, it was bartering, such as giving sheep in exchange. The currency of primitive societies was shells. The currency of the slave society was bronze coins, such as knife coins, shovel coins, etc.

In feudal society, gold, silver, and copper coins (round square hole money) indicated the round heaven and the earth. By the middle of the feudal society, the earliest invention of paper money in China was the "Jiaozi" in Sichuan, and the capitalist society circulated metal money and paper money such as gold and silver coins. At this stage, it is paper money or metal coins, commemorative coins and so on.