Monetary units of China: from silver to "mulberry" banknotes

In Central and East Asia, there are many states that can boast of their centuries-old history. One such country is China. More than a billion people live on the territory of the modern state. The most densely populated country in the world has one of the longest histories of its existence. Along with the millennia of the formation of the state system, the monetary units of China have also been a long process of development.

Liang, iamb and fyn

In the ancient state, silver was very much appreciated. Until the end of the twentieth century, in the territory of the modern state, this metal was not subject to coinage. Instead of coins, the use of small ingots was common. They had their name - lian. At that time, these ingots were the national monetary units of China. One liang had a mass of just over 31 grams. Silver bullion could be exchanged for coins made of copper. They had a square hole right in the center. For one lian they gave about 1200 coins.

The rule of almost every new Chinese emperor was marked by the introduction and new for the empire of the monetary system. Thus, during the reign of the Qing dynasty, ten Mao were given for one liang. Those, in turn, could be exchanged for 100 fyn. However, these monetary units of China were not the smallest. In those days in the Celestial Empire (the second name of the country), one fen could be "broken" into 10 li.

The ancient monetary system of China provided for the presence of larger means of payment than liang. They were quite large silver ingots, whose name is similar to the literary term - iambic. Each monetary nugget weighed about 1.5 kg, which by mass was approximately 50 lanas.

"Pioneers" in the production of paper bills

From the history of high school history, many know that the Celestial Empire is the birthplace of silk and tea. However, not many people know that this country is also the place where paper notes first appeared in the world. These monetary units of China were first used in the second century BC. E. The mention of this event contains documents that came down to us from the era of the reign of Emperor Wu Ti. According to historical manuscripts, paper bills were made of parchment, obtained from reindeer skins. After a while, the masters of the Celestial Empire created a technology for making paper from the bark of the mulberry tree (mulberry). This achievement made it possible to simplify the process of making paper assignments.

Introduction of paper money

The prerequisite for the appearance of paper means of payment was the small purchasing power of copper coins, which at that time were minted by the imperial mint. In addition, metal roundworms with a square hole had a large weight. This also had a certain effect on the government's desire to replace heavy coins with lighter material.

In order not to carry a few kilograms of copper monetary elements, the population of the country began to take metal round kruptsy to merchants. Those in return gave people receipts, which were a means of payment. However, in the early 11th century AD. E. The government banned the merchants from engaging in such activities. In order to facilitate market relations and settlements between the population, the imperial court began issuing receipts. Paper assignments were a full-fledged replacement for copper coins. Each of the receipts had its value.

Modern payment system

In 1835, the country began to produce new money. In China, the name of the "fresh" unit sounded like "RMB". In translation, this difficult-to-pronounce word means "people's money". Worldwide, the name of a new unit is known as the yuan. However, this money became a national means of payment relatively recently - in the late 40-ies of the 20th century. Up to this point, the payment system of the Celestial Empire has experienced numerous crises and innovations.

Up to the beginning of the 20th century, the silver standard was circulating in the country. The population in rural areas also used ancient Chinese coins, which were called nannies (caches). As such, a unified payment and settlement system was not available in the country until 1949. On the hands of the population at the same time could be Chinese lans and US dollars, Hong Kong bills and copper coins.

Unified means of payment

In 1948, the government of the country withdrew from the use of silver and included in its monetary system gold standard. It was then that the yuan was recognized as the single national means of payment.

At the moment, the question of how to call money in China, you can easily answer - Yuan. However, in addition to this means of payment, the National Bank of the country also produces jiao and feng (fen). In free circulation, you can find about 22 banknotes. Jiao and Feng are emitted in denominations of 1, 2 and 5 units. The same notes have a yuan. In addition, banknotes of 10, 50 and 100 RMB are issued.