Metal money, paper money is actually the invention of our Chinese?
Shang Dynasty ancient metal coins
Shang Dynasty metal coins
It is said that the contemporary international financial center is in the West, in fact, China is the birthplace of metal money and paper money. When our great ancients traded with money, the rest of the world was still stuck in the backward era of "barter".
Paper money in the true sense of the word appeared in the Song Dynasty in China in the 11th century AD, nearly 2000 years after the earliest known use of metal money.
Paper coins
folding money
The earliest money
The earliest use of metal currency is China, in China's Shang Dynasty tombs found in the 11th century BC minted copper coins. Metal currencies, made from copper, silver, gold or other metals, have the advantage of being durable, difficult to counterfeit, and intrinsically valuable. The biggest disadvantage is that it is inconvenient to carry, not easy to circulate on a large scale and over long distances. It is precisely because there is a problem of inconvenient to carry, so many copper coins or other metal currencies in ancient China have holes in the mint, so that they can be carried in large quantities with rope strings.
The birth of paper money
During the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), merchants began depositing heavy metal currency with trusted agents, who would record the amount of the merchant's deposits on a piece of paper. This piece of paper is actually a kind of promissory note, which can be traded for goods, and the seller can go to the agent and exchange the paper money for a string of coins. As trade along the Silk Roads flourished further, the currency greatly simplified the transportation process. However, these privately produced promissory notes are still not real paper money.
At the beginning of the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD), the government licensed specific deposit shops where people could exchange paper and metal currency. In 1100 AD, the Song dynasty authorities in our country decided to officially control paper money that was produced directly by the government. The original name of this banknote was "dumplings". The emergence of paper money is a product of the social environment and economic development. The Song Dynasty was prosperous in commerce and trade, and more money was needed in the circulation of commodities, and at that time, due to the successive years of war, the shortage of metals, especially copper, could not meet the huge circulation. At that time, the Sichuan region was replaced by iron money, the value of iron money was low, at that time, a copper coin was worth ten iron money, and it took iron money to buy a piece of cloth for twenty thousand, weighing about 500 pounds, and the transportation was extremely inconvenient. Therefore, it is objectively necessary to have a lightweight currency, which is also an important reason why paper money first appeared in Sichuan in the Northern Song Dynasty.
Song Dynasty Jiaozi
Song Dynasty banknotes
Song under the dumplings
The Song people built factories and printed banknotes on woodblocks, using six colors of ink. These factories are located in Chengdu, Hangzhou, and Huizhou, and each uses a different fiber mixture in paper to prevent counterfeiting. It can only be used in certain areas of the Song Empire.
In 1265, the Song government created a real national currency, printed to official standards, that could be used throughout the territory, and backed by silver or gold. However, the currency lasted only nine years, but due to mongol invasion, the paper money was issued in 1279 and fell into The Mongols.
Mongolian influence
The Mongol Yuan Dynasty, founded by Kublai Khan (1215-1294), began to issue new paper money, called "Dynasties"; the Mongols spread this invention to Persia, which in turn influenced the monetary development process in the West.
Although the subsequent Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) also began printing unacried banknotes, the Ming Dynasty suspended the printing of banknotes in 1450. Silver became the currency of choice because foreign trade was developed at that time, and the trade surplus for many years brought a large number of silver ingots from Mexico and Peru. Only in the last two years of Ming rule did the government print paper money in an attempt to fend off the rebellious Li Zicheng and his army. It was not until the 1890s that the Qing Dynasty began to produce paper money again due to a shortage of silver.
Whether it is paper money or metal money, the roots are spontaneously created by the general public, and when our great ancients traded with money, the rest of the world was still stuck in the era of "barter". The production and development of paper money in the West was also largely inspired by our country.
It can also be seen from the history of the development of money that our ancient people have never lacked imagination and creativity. The only thing lacking is a stable and up-to-date government. If such a government exists for a long time in the historical process of our Chinese civilization, then the history of the world is estimated to be rewritten in a large scale.
Dear friends, what do you think?