1. If the current monthly household income of 5,000 yuan is 60,000 yuan a year, then a family in the middle and late Qing Dynasty would need 280-400 taels of silver a year.
2. In the middle and late Qing Dynasty (Kangxi and Yongzheng belong to the middle period), one tael of silver was worth about RMB 150-220.
In the mid-Ming Dynasty, it was worth 600-800 yuan; in the mid-Northern Song Dynasty, it was worth 600-1,300 yuan (or 1,000-1,800 yuan); in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, it was worth 2,000-4,000 yuan.
It’s just that the monetary value of silver in each dynasty is different. Some people have tried to calculate the value of silver using rice as a unit of measurement. Although the conversion figures are not necessarily accurate, the conversion method is worth reference. For example: During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, one tael of silver could buy two stones of rice of average quality. If one stone was about 94.4 kilograms at that time, one tael of silver could buy 188.8 kilograms of rice, which is 377.6 kilograms;
Now in our country, the average The rice that families eat is between 1.5 yuan and 2 yuan per pound. Calculated based on the central price of 1.75 yuan, one tael of silver in the Ming Dynasty can be calculated to be equal to RMB 660.8 yuan;
Another example is that during the Zhenguan period of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, a bushel of rice was sold for only 5 Wen coins, usually one tael of silver is converted into 1,000 Wen copper coins (also known as Yiguan), which can buy 200 buckets of rice. 10 buckets of rice is one stone, which is 20 stones. One stone in the Tang Dynasty was about 59 kilograms. Today, the general price of rice is 1.75 yuan. Calculated in kilograms, one tael of silver is equivalent to the purchasing power of RMB 4,130. During the Kaiyuan period of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, due to inflation, the price of rice rose to 10 cents per dou, and one tael of silver was equivalent to RMB 2,065.
Extended information
What needs to be added is that before the Song Dynasty, the total amount of silver was too small, the value was too high, and it had not yet become a currency in circulation (think about it, take a denomination of more than 2,000 yuan) paper money to buy things in the market?), only existed in court rewards and accounting settlements, such as taxes and state payments (such as the amount of annual coins "silver silk" sent to Jin and Xixia). In fact, before the Ming Dynasty, Copper coins were used in market circulation (paper money appeared in some areas in the Northern Song Dynasty).
It was only after the Ming and Qing dynasties that foreign trade was active and foreign silver poured in that silver taels became a currency in circulation. But why do many people always think that silver coins have always been the currency in circulation? The author believes that it is mainly because of the popularity of novels in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which described the previous dynasties based on common sense based on the living conditions at that time, such as "Water Margin" and "Jin Ping Mei" , "Sanyan Erpai", etc.;
The silver value in these works is based on the silver price of the Ming Dynasty, mixed with the original currency units such as Wen, Guan, Min, and Baht. Together, it has a great influence on later generations. Therefore, many historical novels and martial arts novels written by people today with ancient China as the background, such as "The Condor Shooting", also refer to ancient circulating currencies as "silver coins".
But after all, modern people are farther away than people in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and have less understanding of the monetary system of the previous dynasty and the actual purchasing power of silver coins. Readers or viewers who are curious about the economic situation in ancient times should have a clearer understanding of the value of "silver tael".
People's Daily Online - How many RMB was one tael of silver worth in ancient times?
People's Daily Online - How many RMB was one tael of silver worth in ancient times?