Friends who like to listen to cross-talk and book reviews may be familiar with the numismatic unit of "Daiko".
The famous cross-talk actor Guo Degang often said stand-up comedy in the early years, and when talking about stand-up comedy in the Republic of China period, Guo Degang often said such a sentence: "The boy does not sell, the eldest son is a piece." Impressed many "Gang Silk".
But most netizens only know that the boy and the eldest son should represent a currency at that time, but they do not know the actual value of this currency.
Today, let's have a good chat with you, a big son and a piece of ocean in the Republic of China period, which is more valuable? How much yuan is equivalent to a big son?
In 1914, Yuan Shikai, president of the Republic of China, issued the "Regulations on national currency", and the silver dollar (silver dollar also known as dayang, Yuan Datou) became one of the main circulating currencies in the market.
However, throughout the Republican period, social unrest, unstable prices, low incomes of ordinary people, and they did not use silver dollars in their daily lives, but copper plates. The copper plate is the eldest son said in Guo Degang's cross-talk.
During the Republic of China, the government did not issue a single copper plate, during the Qing Dynasty, a copper coin was minted, and a series of currency reforms caused inflation at that time. In order to stabilize the economy, Hunan, Sichuan, Beijing, and Shandong provinces began to mint a copper plate with a minimum denomination of 10 yuan.
Later, the provinces cast another 20 copper plates on the basis of 10 copper plates. Therefore, the 10 copper plates of the Republic of China period are commonly known as "children", and the 20 copper plates are commonly known as "big sons".
Mr. Ji Xianlin, a master of traditional Chinese studies, recalled in his later years that in 1927, when he was in middle school, he could never eat enough for lunch. In middle school, Ji Xianlin lived a life under the fence, and every day at noon, the family only gave him two eldest sons.
At lunchtime, Ji Xianlin used two eldest sons to buy a bowl of tofu brain, a few fried mung bean balls, and a pot cake. For middle school students who are growing up, these foods can only barely be hungry, but they are not enough to eat.
This self-narrated recollection of Mr. Ji Xianlin can help future generations understand the actual purchasing power of a eldest son during the Republic of China period.
Today, a bowl of tofu brain plus a few fried mung bean balls, and a piece of pan cake, the total price will not be less than eight yuan. The two eldest sons are at least worth 8 yuan, and the eldest son is almost 4 yuan.
According to the exchange rate at that time, a piece of ocean can be exchanged for 100 sons, so the ocean is more valuable than the big son.
Scholar Li Kaizhou examined that in Shanghai in 1914, a silver dollar could buy 44 kilograms of rice. Prices in the south are higher than in the north, and a silver dollar in the same period can buy 50 catties of rice in the Beijing market.
Now the price of a pound of high-quality Northeast rice in the supermarket will not be less than five yuan, so the actual value of a silver dollar is equivalent to 250 yuan today. A piece of silver dollar for 100 eldest sons, a large son is almost equivalent to 2.5 yuan.
Previously, according to Mr. Ji Xianlin's recollection, one eldest son was equivalent to about four yuan. This calculation method is based on the final conclusion of the price of goods and rice at that time, and the gap should not be too large.
Some people may say: such a simple conversion of rice into the price of large sons and silver dollars is not convincing. Because according to the actual purchasing power at that time, Mr. Lu Xun spent 800 yuan of ocean in 1923 to buy six small courtyards in the west three hutongs of Fucheng Gate.
According to the previously converted silver dollar price, it is equivalent to Mr. Lu Xun buying this courtyard with only 200,000-300,000 yuan.
Everyone knows that the price per square meter of houses in Beijing's West Second Ring Road is now at least more than 100,000 yuan, not to mention a small courtyard with six houses.
In addition, through the efforts of Mr. Yuan Longping and other scientists, the actual yield of rice per mu has easily exceeded 700 jin, and the yield of rice per mu in the Republic of China period is about 200-300 jin.
In general, whether it is the price of rice or the price of silver dollars and the price of the eldest son, it seems unrealistic.
Indeed, the currency of the Republic of China period was not much comparable to the renminbi. Just as the prices of townships far from the cities are now slightly lower, in the big cities, the prices of daily necessities, including food, will certainly be higher.
According to the experience of those around him, during the Liberation War, an ordinary worker in the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai was paid two dimes of silver every day. The two-dime silver coin is equivalent to 60 copper coins, and 60 copper coins can buy 60 large cakes.
Today, a flatbread without any filling is about two dollars, so the worker's daily salary is about 120 yuan.
300 copper coins can be exchanged for a silver dollar, and that silver dollar is equivalent to 600 yuan.
At that time, a silver dollar could buy 44-50 kilograms of rice and 8-10 kilograms of pork. According to today's analogy, the average monthly wage of factory workers is about 4,000-5,000 yuan.
During the Republic of China period, the monthly wage of workers was calculated by 6 oceans, which was equivalent to about 600-700 yuan for one ocean, and about 6 yuan for one eldest son.
This calculation method is more reliable and will not be too out of touch with reality. After all, it doesn't make much sense for any dynasty to calculate only the income of the upper nobility and the price of luxury goods. Only by calculating the income and purchasing power of ordinary people can we make a reliable comparison.
Therefore, the exchange rate between silver dollars and the eldest son in the Republic of China period should be calculated according to 1:100, and the two eldest sons were able to buy a bowl of tofu brain and several fried mung bean balls and a piece of cake at that time, which is about 7-8 yuan today, and the monthly income of an ordinary worker is about 6 silver dollars.
The price of rice and meat in the Republic of China period was somewhat high compared to today's price, so it is not difficult to understand that many people have not had enough to eat and even become beggars in the past few decades.
Mr. Lu Xun's famous article "Kong Yiji" also has a similar record. Kong Yiji spent nine yuan of money to buy a bowl of wine and a plate of fennel beans.
Today's bowl of bulk liquor costs at least 20 yuan, and a plate of fennel beans costs about five yuan.
Therefore, there is no actual average value conversion of ancient and modern coins, even in the same period, but the price of goods will vary greatly from region to region.
The best calculation method is to find the actual monthly income of ordinary people during the Republic of China period, convert the purchasing power of the time through the actual income, and then compare it with the value of the renminbi.