From the emergence of merchants to the production of money
To speak of money begins with merchants and commerce. Commerce in the Xia and Shang dynasties also began to sprout, and jade from the eastern coast, Qinghai, Xinjiang and other places has been sold as a valuable item in various places. By the time of the Western Zhou Dynasty, people had begun to be allowed to sell goods farther afield, and some of them began to make a living by reselling goods, so merchants were born. However, at that time, farming was the mainstay, and the status of merchants was very low, but with the emergence of merchants, the economy gradually prospered. In the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Qi implemented the land system of "expropriation of land with each other", as well as the policy of "dividing the land equally among the people" and "dividing the goods among the people", which stimulated the enthusiasm of peasants in production and greatly improved agricultural production. The improvement of agricultural production also promoted the related handicraft industry, all utensils became exquisite and lightweight, accelerated the circulation of commodities, and made commerce also develop extensively. By the time of the Warring States period, there was a scene of social and economic prosperity. With the large increase of the population, agriculture and handicrafts have developed considerably, and commerce has become more prosperous. With the development of the economy and the need for trade between people, various forms of money have emerged. Money is the medium of wealth exchange or circulation. With the progress of the productive forces, the abundance of materials, the emergence of private property, and the inevitable emergence of money in the circulation of materials.
The earliest form of Chinese currency: shell coins
In our primitive society, due to the low productivity and extremely poor material abundance, a tribe or a family may not have too much surplus product to exchange, and the exchange activities that occur occasionally in tribes or families are at most barter, and this state of exchange, money may not be able to come in handy.
With the development of productive forces and the progress of society, people's needs in material life are constantly expanding, and the way of barter exchange can no longer meet the needs of social life. We find that during the Xia Shang Zhou period, people began to use shells as intermediaries for exchange. Grown in the shallow seas of tropical subtropics, the shellfish is small, colorful, strong and durable, and is often found in Stone Age sites. Because of its moderate size, easy to carry, easy to count and other characteristics, natural shellfish gradually acted as a monetary function for commodity exchange. Exactly when this shell began as a medium of exchange is uncertain. At least in the late Neolithic period, shells have become precious materials, and we find cases of burial shells in tombs in the new period. However, at this time, whether the shell has been used as currency, it is still impossible to confirm. Even in the Xia Dynasty, it is impossible to explain the role that Bei played in life.
The unit of measurement of the shell as currency is "friends". The original meaning of the ancient word "Peng" refers to two strings of connected "bei", and there are shells in the bronze inscriptions of the Shang Zhou Dynasty, and the unit used is the peng, such as the "Xiaozi Zi Ji Jie" in the Shang Dynasty Emperor Yi period, which says "Shang (Reward) Bei Erpeng", and the "Zai Tang Jiao" in the Di Xin period says "Yi (give) Bei Wu Peng", and so on. Moreover, these inscriptions also record that the use of these rewarded shells as bronzes such as Zun Yi indicates that the shells of this period should be very valuable materials at that time. Otherwise it will not become a reward material, nor will it be used as a bronze vessel. Coupled with the records of the handed down documents, it can be determined that during the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, Bei did act as an intermediary for money. However, with the development of the economy, the shell gradually withdrew from the currency stage, and we found that the reward of the shell was rarely seen in the bronze inscriptions of the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, which also asked us the question, was the shell still playing the role of currency during the Western Zhou Dynasty?
Kid
The fact that "bei" became a currency also had a certain impact on Chinese culture. We see that many of the characters with shells on the side of Chinese characters are related to money, such as: goods, tribute, trade, jia, bribery, wealth, greed, poverty, fees, compensation, ransom and so on. There are also some areas that wear shells to drive away evil spirits and make money. And many of our current parents call their children "baby". In short, the shell has become a currency, which not only plays an important role in China's economic development, but also has a profound impact on China's culture.