1, the origin of "coin"
The seashells of the "copper shell of the shell coin in Shang Dynasty" were originally decorations. Because they are portable, durable and have natural counting units, they were first used as currency in the history of China, so that most Chinese characters in China are related to wealth, such as treasure, tribute, wealth, poverty, reward, gift, greed, harmony, wealth and purchase. Later, the supply of natural shells was in short supply, so imitation shells such as mussel shells, jade shells, bone shells and copper shells were added to supplement their shortcomings. The copper shell cast from the middle and late Shang Dynasty to the Western Zhou Dynasty is the earliest metal coin of mankind, which is nearly a thousand years earlier than the earliest metal coin recognized by western countries-Lydia Kingdom Coin (640 BC). The shape of copper shell completely imitates the shape of natural shell. It is oval, with a cavity in the abdomen, a groove from top to bottom in the middle of the surface, and the same number of short tooth lines are cast on both sides. There are also "gilded copper shells" and "gilded copper shells", which are covered with a thin layer of gold skin or coated with a layer of gold powder for the use of princes and nobles to hire or reward.
The word "brother" comes from Lu Bao Zhuan Shen Qian Lun in the Western Jin Dynasty: "A bosom friend is like a brother, and the word is Confucius." Money-shaped square holes have a long history. From 22 1 year BC, Qin Shihuang unified the currency to cast square hole "half Liang", and the square hole round coin became a custom, which was not abolished until the early years of the Republic of China, and * * * was used for more than two thousand years. "Brother Kong Fang" became the homonym of money.
According to A Dou's Shi Shuo Xin Yu, Wang Yifu (Wang Yan) never talks about money because of his elegant taste. The woman wants to try and let the maid use money to turn around the bed, but she can't. In the morning, for money, Yi Fu called the maid and said, "Go to this traffic jam!" " Since then, the plug has become another name for money.
Deng Tong is a favorite of Emperor Wen of the Western Han Dynasty and also a doctor. Deng Wendi once gave Deng Tong a copper mine and made an exception to allow Deng Tong to mine and coin freely. Therefore, Deng Tong's privately minted half-taels of money spread all over the world, making it the richest country in the world. Therefore, Deng Tong became another name for coins in later generations.
2. Four monetary systems in the Warring States Period:
During the Warring States period, a relatively complete monetary system was gradually formed. Money is rich and varied, including pearls, jade, tortoise shells, gold and silver, copper and tin, and even livestock, leather, horns, grains and cloth. And gold has gold nuggets and gold shells, and the shells are covered with gold and covered with gold; Silver has a silver shell and silver cloth; Copper includes copper blocks, copper coins, etc. "pipe? Guo Xuyou described Zhu Yu as the upper currency, gold as the middle currency, and knife cloth as the lower currency. Hanshu? "Shihuozhi" also said: "Taigong legislates for the nine governments of Zhou Li, which is gold square inch and weighs one catty; "Qian Huan's letter was written in Thai baht; This cloth is two feet and two inches wide. It is four feet long. " In the Qin dynasty, it was uniformly stipulated that gold was the upper currency and copper was the lower currency. These jade, jade, turtles, shells, silver and tin belong to treasures, not coins. And the form of money, colorful, sigh for the time being. As far as copper coins are concerned, due to the different shapes of coins circulating in different regions, different countries and even different regions of a country, four major currency systems, namely cloth coins, knife coins, love coins and ant nose coins, have been formed in general. In addition, there are unearthed Ge coins, fish coins and bridge coins. The gold of Chu has actually entered the primary stage of making gold coins. Although gold plates and cakes are weighing currencies, they are obviously different from gold used in other countries at that time, that is, they have relatively fixed shapes and weights (including their units of measurement). As far as the unit of measurement of money is concerned, it is equally wonderful, such as the distribution of coins, such as gold, gold, gold, Zhu and Liang. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, gold, as a hard currency, had a strict price comparison with other physical currencies. "pipe? Riding on a horse: "A golden gun is enough for a hundred times a night. If there is no gold, use its silk, and the silk is thirty-three. If there is no silk, use its cloth and make a pot after 120 pieces of cloth. "It is particularly worth mentioning that as early as the twenty-first year of King Jing of Zhou (524 BC), Qi Dan put forward the theory of mother-child mutual rights of metal coins, which is the earliest theory of distribution and circulation of metal coins in the world.
The shovel shape of cloth coins evolved from the agricultural tools "money" and "shovel" in farming economy, which is why money is called "money". "No" is a foreign word for "Qi". The circulation scope of cloth coins is mainly in the agricultural economic zones in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, such as Zhao, Wei and Yan. Cloth coins have a variety of shapes, generally engraved with words, dates, place names and coins. Wang Mang once minted cloth coins when he was in the retro department. To this day, people still regard cloth coins as China coins. It is the image of a "person" composed of three gold coins. The emblem of China Agricultural Bank is also composed of cloth coins and wheat ears. The existence of cloth coins can also be seen in the watermark pattern of RMB in China.
Knife coins are cut into various shapes and originated from economic tools for fishing and hunting. Mainly distributed in the eastern vassal States of the Yellow River Basin, such as Qi, Yan and Zhao. Knife coins vary in size and shape from country to country, among which Qi is the most simple and exquisite. The original knife coins were similar to knives. Later, some knife coins cast outlines, which not only looked beautiful, but also enhanced the firmness of the coins and prevented the wear and tear of Qian Wen.
The round hole of money originated from the spinning wheel or butterfly ring of handicraft economic tools, and mainly circulated in Qin and Wei countries. After the mid-Warring States period, Qin first used square holes to round money, and later Qi and Yan followed suit. There are ancient seal characters on coins, and coins have gradually replaced other shapes with their unique charm and superior convenience.
Ant nose money and silver ant nose money, also known as grimace money, are copper coins cast in the southern state of Chu, with irregular shapes and inscriptions on them. There is a kind of Qian Wen that crawls on people's noses like ants, hence the name Ant Nose Money; The other is like an ugly ghost face, called grimace money. It is more convenient to use gold units. Due to its rich gold, Chu became the only country where gold coins prevailed during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The earliest existing gold coins were Chu's "coins". "Ying" is the capital of Chu State (now Jiangling, Hubei Province), and "Gui" is the proper name of Chu State's weight unit or gold coin. It is plate-shaped and is printed and cast from a fixed metal plate. Each metal plate has 12 squares, 14 squares, 16 squares, 20 squares and 54 squares. When in use, it is cut into small pieces, each small piece is 1.4- 1.5 cm square and 0.5 cm thick. Its gold content is generally above 90%, and some even as high as 99%;
3. Qin Shihuang unified the currency and the circulation of square hole round money. Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, established a centralized political power, unified the writing, unified the measurement, and unified the currency. Since the Qin Dynasty's "Half Liang", China coins have been customized with square holes, civilized and heavy coins.
4. The "five-baht" money system of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was used until Emperor Wu ascended the throne for five years at the end of Sui Dynasty (BC 1 18), and it was changed to "five-baht" money. It's the right size, beautifully made and very popular. After that, it was repeatedly cast in the Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and it was used for more than 700 years in the early Tang Dynasty.
5. In the early Tang Dynasty, China coins with the square hole of Kaiyuan Bao Tong were called Bao Tong, Yuanbao and Chongbao from Kaiyuan Bao Tong, and the weight unit was no longer used as the inscription, which realized the transformation from Thai baht binary to Bowen decimal. Qian Wen was inscribed by Ou Yangxun and stippled by Fang Ya, with a cheerful and healthy structure, which created a precedent for famous calligraphers to enter Qian Wen.
6. Two Song, Copper and Iron coins and paper money appear at the same time.
In the Song Dynasty, copper and iron were used to cast coins, and there were many kinds. Every emperor minted a new currency every time he changed RMB. Qian Wen's calligraphy styles are diverse, "money for money" prevails, and the art of coins has reached the highest level in China's history.
China is the first country in the world to use paper money. In the first year of Tiansheng in the Northern Song Dynasty (1023), Jiaozi, the world's earliest paper money, was produced in Sichuan, China, hundreds of years before the European exchange certificate. Jiaozi in the Northern Song Dynasty and Huizi in the Southern Song Dynasty were the earliest official banknotes, and after that, they became one of the main currencies in various dynasties. The issuance and circulation system of precious paper money in Yuan Dynasty is the earliest and most complete paper money circulation system in the world. It stipulates and implements a set of perfect monetary laws and regulations, such as unlimited legal compensation for paper money; Establish a stable bank to ensure the implementation of the issuance reserve system and ensure the stability of currency and price. These have become the reference of the world monetary system. Until the 191920s, it was still adopted by European countries.
7. The monetary system of "mainly silver, supplemented by money" in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.
During this period, silver was used for bulk transactions, and copper and paper money were used at the same time. Ethnic minority languages such as Khitan, Jurchen, Mongolian and Manchu are also used as Qian Wen, which has become a historical witness of multi-ethnic cultural integration.
8. In the late Qing Dynasty, silver and copper coins were used.
Silver coins and copper coins are round and nonporous, and are cast by machine drums. They have standard specifications, novel styles and convenient use, and are very popular in society. Therefore, they quickly replaced coinage and became a model of the blending of eastern and western coin cultures.
(B), the generation and circulation of paper money
The appearance of paper money is the function of paper money replacing money to implement circulation means.
From the wear and tear of coins, people have discovered a secret, that is, even if its actual content is separated from its nominal content, it will not affect its continued performance as a means of circulation. Therefore, paper money can be used instead of metal money to implement circulation means.
The advantages of paper money instead of coinage are: first, low cost; The second is to avoid the wear and loss of precious metals, the third is to avoid the poor circulation caused by criminals cutting or melting metal currency, and the fourth is that paper money is easier to keep, carry and transport than metal currency.
Paper money is a compulsory currency symbol issued by the state.
1, Jiaozi in Northern Song Dynasty, Huizi in Southern Song Dynasty.
The emergence of paper money is also a symbol of economic development to some extent. Historians generally believe that Jiaozi, which originated in the Northern Song Dynasty, is the earliest paper money in the world.
Yizhou (Chengdu) was a region with prosperous commerce and developed commodity trade in the Northern Song Dynasty. Salt, silk and tea rich in this area are sold all over the country, but the local currency is iron money. This kind of iron coin is heavy, but its value is very low. It is said that at that time, people had to pay about 70 or 80 kilograms of iron to buy a piece of cloth, which was even more troublesome when they encountered large-scale business, which was extremely inconvenient for businessmen.
The inconvenience of using iron currency prompted some businessmen to invent a paper coupon in their transactions. They hide the marks and passwords on the coupons and use coupons instead of iron money, which greatly facilitates the merchants' commodity trading. At that time, this kind of volume was called "Jiaozi", which was similar in nature to the current deposit certificate.
With the popularity of "Jiaozi", there have been shops specializing in "Jiaozi", and storage fees have to be paid when using the exchange. However, some businessmen are mercenary, misappropriate customers' money and fail to cash it, resulting in disputes. So around 1005, the Yizhou magistrate reorganized all the "Jiaozi" shops and unified 16 wealthy businessmen, but there were still some disputes.
In the first year of Song Renzong Tiansheng (1023), the government seized the right to issue banknotes privately, and set up a communication bureau in Yizhou, which was responsible for printing and distribution. Jiaozi is subject to iron money, and the issuance amount of each board (period) is1256.34 million, and another 360,000 iron money is reserved to ensure that Jiaozi can be exchanged at any time. The second anniversary is the boundary of intercourse. When the border is full, the new jiaozi will be made and the old jiaozi will be replaced. Businessmen trade in the old for the new from the government, and each piece of paper and ink costs 30 pence. At first, Jiaozi was only distributed in Sichuan. Later, the number of Jiaozi increased, and the distribution area of Jiaozi expanded to Shaanxi, Hedong and other roads. The government has set up a Jiaozi service office in Kaifeng, which is responsible for the printing and distribution of Jiaozi.
1 105, Song Chaoyan renamed "Jiaozi" as "Yin Qian", which was widely used in most parts of the country. During the Southern Song Dynasty, due to the rapid economic development, the manufacture of copper coins could no longer meet the needs of circulation. In addition, the economy of the Southern Song Dynasty mainly relied on overseas trade, which led to the loss of a large number of coins overseas and the emergence of the "Huizi" which could be used for private transactions. In A.D. 1 160, Lin 'an Prefecture took the lead in issuing the "Huizi" by the government. As he was promoted to be the official of the Ministry of Housing, that is, the "Huizi" of the Yuan Dynasty, the paper money system was further improved.
When the Italian traveler Kyle Polo came to China, he discovered the paper money used in the Yuan Dynasty. In "Kelpolo" written by 1298, he introduced the printing technology, distribution and circulation of China paper money in detail. Since then, Europeans have learned about paper money. It was not until 500 years later that paper money appeared in Europe and Sweden. American scholar Ropot Temple said, "The earliest paper money in Europe was issued by Sweden in 166 1 year under the influence of China.
Jiaozi, widely used in Sichuan, has not been found. It is said that the famous "Jiaozi" banknote version handed down from the Northern Song Dynasty has been collected by the Japanese. As the earliest paper money issued in China and even in the world, Jiaozi occupies an important position in the history of printing, printmaking and currency.
2. During the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, there was no silver standard for currency in circulation, which led to economic turmoil.
Since the appearance of paper money in the Northern Song Dynasty, rulers of past dynasties used paper money to meet the huge financial expenditures such as court consumption, official salaries and military expenses, and issued paper money without restraint, which eventually led to the expansion and depreciation of paper money and even the collapse of the paper money system, thus aggravating the crisis of feudal rule.
The annual casting amount of copper coins in the Southern Song Dynasty decreased to about100000 kronor. The most years are 150,000 to 60,000. Due to the outflow of a large number of copper coins, the money shortage is getting worse. In addition to casting iron money, paper money has gradually become the main currency. There are four main types of paper money in the Southern Song Dynasty. Yin Qian, Huguang, Huizi and Huaibei Jiaozi in Sichuan are all based on iron coins, while Huizi in Southeast China is based on copper coins. All kinds of paper money have specified circulation areas and have certain exchange rates with each other. The government didn't have enough copper and iron coins as exchange capital, and in order to make up the fiscal deficit, it issued a lot of paper money indiscriminately. When Southeast Huizi was in Song Xiaozong, it was stipulated that two circles should be parallel, and each circle would be issued with 10 million crowns. In the sixth year of Chunyou (1246), Huizi in the southeast of 17th and 18th circles issued 650 million kronor. The indiscriminate issuance of paper money has caused serious currency depreciation and inflation, caused great pain to people's lives, and the government's financial crisis has become increasingly serious. On the eve of the national subjugation in the Southern Song Dynasty, Jia Sidao presided over the issuance of new paper money, stopped using the 17 th Southeast Jiaozhou, and stipulated that the 18 th Southeast Jiaozhou would be folded into one level, but the result was more intense inflation.
In the Yuan Dynasty, paper money was first issued as the main currency in the whole country. In October of the first year of reunification (1260), the central wing banknotes were issued. The face value ranges from 10 to 2, and * * * is 10. It is customary to say that banknotes 1 are1; 50 penetration is 1 ingot; Hundreds of compositions 1 money, 10 composition 1 point. The banknotes in the central unified system are based on silver, and the legal parity is 2 (two) per banknote, silver 1. The central government has set up various banknote printing departments to be responsible for currency issuance. Local banks (also known as banks) are established as exchange institutions.
3. The paper money system based on the ancient silver standard in Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Song, Jin, Yuan and Ming Dynasties issued paper money, but it could not effectively control the number of paper money issued. In addition to the active abandonment of paper money in the Ming Dynasty, paper money in the Song, Jin and Yuan Dynasties caused great social disasters, and their demise was closely related to the issuance of paper money. Paper money was once suspended in Ming and Qing dynasties, which is directly related to this.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the policy of "closing the country to the outside world" was implemented, and Taizu was not allowed to go to sea, so the economic development was sluggish. In the monetary system, the policy of money and banknotes is implemented, and gold and silver are prohibited, and even silver mining is prohibited. The government promotes currency and prohibits private exchange of gold and silver. This policy of prohibiting gold and silver was not loosened until the first year of Ming Yingzong orthodoxy (1436), and then "silver was used by officials, but not by small officials". During the Hongzhi period (1488∽ 1505), all government banknotes were converted into silver. Since the mid-Ming Dynasty, silver has become the main currency in circulation. In the forty-first year of Jiajing (1562), "Banjiang" levied silver, and in the ninth year of Wanli (158 1), people from all walks of life widely needed silver. During this period, with the rapid development of urban handicrafts, the commercialization of agricultural and sideline products improved, and capitalism sprouted in some industries. In the late Ming Dynasty, silver was used not only for large transactions, but also for small businesses, which was vividly and accurately recorded in unofficial history's miscellaneous notes and opera novels in the Ming Dynasty. At that time, merchants were rich in silver, and millions of silver were called Dajia; Dozens and tens of thousands are called Zhongjia; One hundred and twenty is Xiao Jia. Emperors, bureaucrats, and small and medium-sized landlords competed for cash registers. For example, Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen is an emperor who loves to save money; During the years of Zheng De and Jiajing, ministers Liu Jin, Zhu Ning and Yan Song all owned tens of millions of taels of silver. According to historical records, the use of silver in the Ming Dynasty was still dominated by ingots, and their ingot shape was basically the model of the Yuan Dynasty, which was an "ingot" weighing about "fifty taels". Not only silver bars are rare, but also brick-sized ingots are rare, because "ingots" are easier to carry.
The import of foreign silver in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties was closely related to the relaxation of the sea ban policy. In the first year of Qin Long (1567), the imperial edict of "quasi-trafficking in things" triggered the vigorous development of maritime trade in the southeast coast, and also opened the source of foreign silver dollars flowing into China. In trade, foreign countries' desire for China's goods far exceeds China's demand for foreign goods. Robert Hart, who was the General Tax Department of China Customs in the late Qing Dynasty, once sighed helplessly: "China has the best food in the world, rice; The best drink, tea; And the best clothes, cotton, silk and fur. With these goods and countless local by-products, they don't need to buy a penny from other places. " In this way, foreign businessmen can only exchange silver for China goods.
The silver imported by foreign countries in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties was mainly South American silver and Japanese silver.
/kloc-In the middle of the 6th century, silver mines with extremely rich reserves were discovered in South America, and countries such as Peru and Mexico mined an amazing amount of silver. 1 At the beginning of the 6th century, the average annual output of silver in the world was about1,5 1 1, 000 ounces. However, in the middle of16th century, that is, in the twenty or thirty years of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty, the average annual output has increased to1001700000 ounces, and the world silver output has remained between 900- 1700000 ounces until the middle of18th century, that is. During the period from 16 to 18 century, South America's silver production accounted for nearly 80% of the world's total output. As for Japan, its silver reserves are also huge, and it is called "Silver Island" by Europeans. It is estimated that before the beginning of17th century, Japan's silver production accounted for about 20% of the world. It is precisely because the other side of the trade with China "has no other property", but has abundant silver reserves and reserves, so "Yi people know how to barter money, so they return to the ship without him". While China is rich in natural products and short of silver, silver is naturally regarded as a rare commodity. China and foreign countries found a meeting point in trade, which led to the outflow of silk and ceramics and the inflow of silver coins.
Before foreign silver coins entered China on a large scale, the traditional silver shapes in China were mostly collar shapes, cakes and silver ingots, which were extremely inconvenient to carry and use. When trading, it is necessary to weigh with a shovel, complete the sale with clumsy cutting, and there is no uniform standard for the identification of silver color. This was incongruous with the increasing use of silver at that time. Therefore, it is not surprising that foreign silver coins with uniform standards and moderate size are loved by the people and quickly circulated as soon as they enter Guangdong and Fujian.
There are dozens of foreign silver imported into China in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. "There are big bun, small bun, fluffy head, bat, double column, sabre and other names". Among them, the foreign silver coins with large inflow and wide circulation range are local silver coins, and there are versions such as Shuangzhu, Carlos III, Charles IV of Spain and Ferdinand VII. ), Ma Jian (17 and 18 centuries were cast by the Netherlands, and because the surface of the coin was cast by a knight riding a horse and holding a sword, it was called Ma Jian) and Yingyang (commonly known as Angelababy and Mexico).
The import of foreign silver had a decisive influence on China's monetary system, and finally pushed China to complete the transformation to the silver standard. In the fifty-seventh year of Qianlong, China began to cast its own silver dollar. Moreover, since then, the shapes and styles of gold and silver coins and copper coins have all imitated foreign silver dollars, and China's monetary unit has also completed the transition from "two" to "yuan".
4, the law of paper money circulation
Paper money must be issued by the state and used compulsorily. No unit or individual may forge or print paper money, and offenders will be punished by law. Renminbi in China is issued under the authorization of the head office of the People's Bank of China.
Paper money is just a currency symbol, so it has no value in itself.
Paper money is issued by the state, so can paper money be issued at will? No, because paper money is based on metal money, and the circulation of paper money must be based on the amount of money needed in circulation, neither too much nor too little. The circulation of paper money should be limited to the amount of metal money needed in circulation.
At present, all countries in the world use paper money instead of metal money. Since the 1970s, the issuance of paper money in the world is no longer directly linked to gold, and the circulation of paper money is no longer directly determined by the amount of metal money needed in circulation, but is restricted by the availability of goods and the circulation speed of paper money. When the circulation of paper money is too large and the paper money depreciates, it will inevitably lead to rising prices, that is, inflation. Since the law of paper money circulation is derived from the law of metal money circulation, Marx's law of money circulation can be written according to the law of paper money circulation:
Perceptual quantization
M=——
V
Where m is the circulation of paper money; P is the average price of goods; Q is the quantity of goods; V is the circulation speed of paper money. This shows that in the case of paper money circulation, commodity prices rise and fall with the increase or decrease of paper money quantity. The value represented by paper money is inversely proportional to the circulation of paper money, and the price of goods is directly proportional to the circulation of paper money.
Law of currency issuance [currency circulation = (total number of goods for sale × price)/currency turnover times]
5. Inflation and its harm
Inflation refers to the phenomenon that the excessive issuance of paper money exceeds the amount of money needed in circulation, which leads to the depreciation of paper money and the rise of prices. "Price" in inflation refers to the price level of goods and services, excluding financial assets such as stocks and bonds and other financial assets. Inflation refers to the continuous and general rising process of the overall price level. Therefore, some commodity price increases caused by seasonal, temporary or accidental reasons should not be regarded as inflation. Inflation is characterized by the devaluation of paper money and rising prices, but the rising prices are not entirely caused by inflation. The inevitable result of inflation is rising prices, but rising prices do not necessarily reflect inflation. The rise of prices depends on many factors, such as the shortage of commodities, the rise of intrinsic value of commodities, the decline of the value of money itself, and the artificial rise of commodity prices. The rise in prices caused by these factors cannot be regarded as inflation. In addition, if prices do not rise, inflation does not necessarily exist. Under the highly centralized planned economy system, the government strictly controls prices and wages, and implements the phenomenon of excessive supply of paper money that prices do not rise due to insufficient commodity vouchers, compulsory savings and commodity supply, which is called hidden or disguised inflation. Because as long as the government relaxes price control, prices will rise immediately.
Inflation is a unique economic phenomenon under the circulation of value symbols. Since the appearance of paper money, its development has always been linked with inflation. Almost every kind of paper money in the world is caused by excessive issuance, which leads to inflation and finally ends in devaluation. With the development of inflation, the public will be aware of the coming of inflation and will try their best to convert paper money after meals into commodities, thus increasing the purchasing power of society and raising the price of commodities. During the period of severe inflation, the government increased the supply of paper money indefinitely, and people lost confidence in paper money and began to snap up and hoard goods, resulting in a sharp drop in bank deposits and a sharp rise in prices.
As for the meaning and meaning of money, this formulation itself is based on human cognition and there is no objective standard to measure it. 100 people will have 100 opinions, so there is no need to interfere.
Economists generally believe that money is a tool to express, measure and buy the value of other goods or services without obstacles, and it is also a temporary residence for the unified form of economic value.
Therefore, the essence and function of money should be a tool of exchange. However, human society has become increasingly complex in the long history, which has made the status of money constantly improve, so that it has a certain symbolic meaning, which makes the landlord raise this question.