China is the first country to use money in the world. According to documents and a large number of unearthed cultural relics, the origin of China currency has a history of at least 4,000 years. China's currency culture has a long history, from the original Beibi coins to the popular cloth coins, knife coins, money, ant nose coins and square hole coins after Qin Shihuang unified China. In the Northern Song Dynasty, paper money-"jiaozi" appeared in China.
The appearance of paper money is a great progress in the history of money. Some people think that the origin of China paper money can be traced back to the "White Deer Skin Coin" of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty and the "Flying Money" of Tang Xianzong. During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the national treasury was empty because of years of fighting against Xiongnu. In order to solve the financial difficulties, while casting "three baht money" and "white gold coin" (a kind of gold coin made of silver and tin), the "white deer skin coin" was issued. The so-called "white deerskin coin" takes the white deerskin of the court as the coin material, each piece is one square foot, and the periphery is painted. Each deerskin coin has a fixed value of 400,000 yuan. Because its value is far from the value of leather coins, "White Deer Original Leather Coin" is only a gift between princes and has not been used in the circulation field, so it is not a real paper currency, and can only be said to be a pioneer of paper currency. "Flying money" appeared in the middle of the Tang Dynasty. At that time, it was inconvenient for businessmen to bring a lot of copper coins when they went out to do business. They first issued vouchers to the government, which recorded the number of places and money, and then took the vouchers to withdraw money from different places to buy goods. This kind of voucher is called "flying money". "Flying money" is essentially just a kind of exchange business. It does not interfere with circulation and does not exercise functions of money, so it is not a real paper money. The "Jiaozi" in Chengdu, Sichuan in the Northern Song Dynasty was the beginning of real paper money.
It is no accident that paper money appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty. It is the inevitable product of social, political and economic development. With the rapid development of commodity economy in Song Dynasty, commodity circulation needed more money. There was a shortage of copper coins at that time, which could not meet the demand in circulation. At that time, iron money was widely used in Sichuan, which was inconvenient to use because of its low value and heavy weight. At that time, a copper coin was worth ten iron coins. Every thousand iron coins weigh 25 Jin, and the middle money 13 Jin. It costs 20 thousand yuan to buy a piece of cloth, which weighs about 500 Jin and needs to be carried by car. Therefore, there is an objective demand for light money, which is also the main reason why paper money first appeared in Sichuan. Furthermore, although the Northern Song Dynasty was a highly centralized feudal autocratic country, the national currency was not unified, and there were several currency areas, which were not common. At that time, there were 13 roads (administrative units in Song Dynasty) dedicated to copper coins, 4 roads dedicated to iron coins, and Shaanxi and Hedong used copper coins and iron coins together. Currency outflow is strictly prohibited in all currency areas, and the use of paper money can prevent the outflow of copper and iron currency. In addition, the Song government was often hit by Liao, Xia and Jin dynasties, and the military expenditure and compensation expenditure were very large, so it was necessary to issue paper money to make up for the financial deficit. Various reasons have contributed to the emergence of paper money-"Jiaozi".
The initial jiaozi was freely issued by businessmen. In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, a kind of "cross-store" appeared in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, which was dedicated to cash deposit business for businessmen carrying huge sums of money. The depositor delivers the cash to the shopkeeper, and the shopkeeper temporarily fills in the cash deposited by the depositor on a paper roll and then returns it to the depositor. When the depositor withdraws the cash, he pays 30p interest to the shopkeeper, that is, he pays 3% storage fee. This kind of paper voucher that temporarily fills in the deposit amount is called "jiaozi". At this time, the "jiaozi" is just a deposit and withdrawal voucher, not money.
With the development of commodity economy, "jiaozi" is used more and more widely. Many businessmen jointly set up a jiaozi store dedicated to the distribution and exchange of "jiaozi", and set up jiaozi sub-stores in various places. Because the shopkeepers in jiaozi are trustworthy and can take them at any time, and the printed "jiaozi" pattern is exquisite, hidden as a sign, black and red, and the handwritten words are difficult for others to forge, so "jiaozi" has won a high reputation. For large transactions between merchants, in order to avoid the trouble of dealing with coins, it is more and more common to pay for goods directly with "jiaozi" that can be turned into cash at any time. It is in the process of repeated circulation that "Jiaozi" gradually has the nature of credit currency. Later, shopkeepers in jiaozi found that using only part of their savings would not endanger jiaozi's reputation. So they began to print "Jiaozi" with uniform denomination and format, which was circulated to the market as a new circulation means. This "jiaozi" is already a symbol of coinage, and it has really become paper money. However, the "friends" at this time have not been officially recognized, and they are still "relatives" issued by the people.
However, not all shopkeepers are law-abiding and trustworthy. Some mercenary and insatiable shopkeepers, malicious fraud, shut up and stop business after spamming; Or misappropriation of deposits, unable to operate other businesses and bankruptcy, so that the issue of "Jiaozi" can not be cashed. In this way, when depositors can't withdraw money, they often stir up trouble and trigger lawsuits. Therefore, during the Jingdezhen period (1004- 1007), Yizhou became well-known in Zhang Yong, rectified Jiaozi Store, and eliminated criminals, which was exclusively operated by 16 wealthy businessmen. So far, the issue of "Jiaozi" has been approved by the government.
In the first year of Song Renzong Tiansheng (1023), the government set up Yizhou Jiaozi Department, which was headed by one or two officials from Beijing and North Korea, presided over the distribution of Jiaozi, and "set up a paper copying office to correct the disadvantages of counterfeiting" and strictly controlled its printing process. This is the earliest paper money officially issued by the government in China-"Guanjiaozi". It is six or seven hundred years earlier than the United States (1692), France (17 16) and other western countries, so it is also the earliest banknote issued in the world.
At the initial stage of the release of Guanjiaozi, its shape was modeled after the folk "ethics" and was stamped with the national seal, but the amount of money temporarily filled varied, generally equal to ten, and the circulation scope was stipulated. Song Renzong, shall be changed to five penetration and ten penetration. When I arrived in Song Shenzong, I changed it to Concord and 500 languages. There are also restrictions on the amount of issuance, stipulating that each plate will be issued in three years (exactly two years) to replace the old with the new. First Bank issued bonds 1256340 with a reserve of 360,000 yuan (in Sichuan Tieqian), which is equivalent to 28% of the circulation. The circulation scope of "Jiaozi" is basically limited to Sichuan. Although it was popular in Shaanxi and Hedong, it was soon abolished.
In the first year of Song Huizong Daguan (1 107), the Song government changed Jiaozhou to Yin Qian and Jiaozhou to Yin Qian. Except Sichuan, Fujian, Zhejiang, Huguang and other places still use "Jiaozi", all other roads are changed to "Yin Qian". In the third year of Daguan (1 109), Sichuan was changed to Yin Qian. The biggest difference between "Yin Qian" and "Jiaozi" is that it is based on "money". Yin Qian has excellent paper, printing, pictures and seals. However, "Yin Qian" does not give paper money, nor is it allowed to exchange it, so the value of paper coupons has plummeted. To Jiading in the Southern Song Dynasty, each bundle was only worth100p in cash.
The appearance of "Jiaozi" facilitates business contacts and makes up for the shortage of cash, which is a great achievement in China's monetary history. In addition, Jiaozi, as the earliest banknote issued in China and even in the world, also occupies an important position in the history of printing and printmaking, which is of great significance to the study of printing technology of ancient banknotes in China.
On the development history of money
China is one of the earliest countries to use money in the world, with a history of 5,000 years. In the process of its formation and development, China's ancient currency experienced six major changes:
First, the evolution from natural currency to artificial currency
In China's Chinese characters, most of the words related to value come from "Bei". It can be seen that shellfish is the earliest currency in China.
With the rapid development of commodity exchange, the demand for money is increasing, and shells can no longer meet people's needs. People began to imitate shells with copper. The appearance of copper shell is a significant evolution from natural currency to artificial currency in the ancient currency history of China.
With the extensive use of artificial coins, seashells, a natural currency, gradually withdrew from the currency stage in China.
Second, the evolution from messy shape to standard shape.
From the appearance of bronzes in Shang Dynasty to the Warring States Period, China's currency gradually formed four systems characterized by feudal lords dominating the whole country, namely shovel currency, knife currency, ring currency and Chu currency (gold and ant nose currency).
After Qin unified China, Qin Shihuang promulgated the earliest monetary law in China in 2 10 BC, "taking Qin coins as the world's currency", which stipulated that the whole country should use Qin's square and semi-written language.
The circulation of coins of round square hole, Qin and semi-Liang in the whole country ended the chaotic state of different forms and different weights in ancient China, which was a major evolution from chaotic form to standardized form in the history of ancient China currency. The shape of this circular square hole determined by Qin Banliang Qian continued until the early Republic of China.
Third, the evolution from local currency to central currency.
According to the Records of Hanshu Shihuozhi, after Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty, private minting of coins was allowed. Rich gentry, businessmen and local forces took the opportunity to make profits by casting bad money. Wendi was Wendi, "Dr. Deng Tong also made money to win the king."
In the fourth year of Ding Yuan (before 1 15), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty recovered the right to coin coins in counties and counties, and the central government unified the casting of five baht. From then on, it was decided that the central government would manage the casting and distribution of coins in a unified way, which was a major evolution from local coins to central coins in the ancient currency history of China.
Since then, coins of past dynasties have been directly managed by the central government. The return of the right to coin to the central government played an important role in stabilizing the political situation and economic development of the dynasties.
Fourthly, from emphasizing documents to the evolution of Bao Tong and Yuanbao.
Coins minted since the Qin and Han Dynasties usually clearly indicate the weight of money in Qian Wen, such as "half two", "five" and "four" (twenty-four baht is one or two).
In the fourth year of Tang Gaozu Wude (62 1), Li Yuan made up his mind to reform the currency system, abolish ancient coins with different weights, take the meaning of "creating the world" and uniformly cast "Kaiyuan Bao Tong" money. Kaiyuan Bao Tong opposed the old system of Qin and Han Dynasties, while Qian Wen did not attach importance to weight, which is the evolution of ancient currency in China from document weight to Bao Tong and Yuanbao.
Kaiyuan Bao Tong Coin is the earliest Bao Tong Coin in China. Since then, China's copper coins no longer take Qian Wen as the standard weight, but are commensurate with Bao Tong and Yuanbao, and have been used until the "Bao Tong of the Republic of China" after the Revolution of 1911.
The evolution of verb (verb's abbreviation) from metal money to paper money.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, due to the shortage of copper coins, the government cast a large number of iron coins in some areas to make up for the shortage of copper coins. According to "History of Song Dynasty", the total amount of cast iron money in Sichuan at that time weighed 25 Jin 82 Liang. In Sichuan, you have to pay 130 Jin of iron to buy a piece of silk. Iron money is too cumbersome and inconvenient, and paper money has appeared in Sichuan. The appearance of jiaozi is an important evolution from metal currency to paper currency in the ancient history of China.
Jiaozi is not only the earliest paper money in China, but also the earliest paper money in the world.
6. Evolution from hand-made coins to machine-made banknotes
In the late Qing Dynasty, with the gradual introduction of foreign advanced science and technology, Guangxu began to buy mint machines abroad to manufacture silver and copper coins. Later, Guangdong began to make ten copper coins without holes with machines. Because of the huge profits of manufacturers, provinces have followed suit.
The emergence of mechanism currency in the late Qing Dynasty was a re-evolution from manual coinage to mechanism currency in the ancient monetary history of China.
Since then, not only the process of casting money has changed greatly, but also the round square hole money that has been circulated for more than two thousand years has died.