Why are copper coins round on the outside and square on the inside?
Since the Tang Dynasty, the round coin with square holes has changed from the baht system to the era name and Baowen system with "wen" as the unit. It has evolved from the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. This is the second stage of currency development.
1. Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty pioneered the "Baowen" and "Reign Name Money"
The Tang Dynasty was a powerful dynasty with developed economy and culture. According to research, the "Kaiyuan Tongbao" coin was minted in 621 during the Wude reign of Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty. This ended the coin system named after the weight of two bahts since the Qin and Han Dynasties, and created the era name with "wen" as the unit after the Tang and Song Dynasties. The Baowen system copper coin. "Kaiyuan" means founding and pioneering, and "Tongbao" means treasures in circulation. It made a big breakthrough in the unit of weight. In ancient times, twenty-four baht was equal to one tael. "Kaiyuan Tongbao" pioneered the decimal system. Each coin weighed two baht and four were one penny, and accumulated ten pence weighed one liang, that is, ten coins and one liang were "money instead of baht". Kaiyuan Tongbao was minted in the Tang Dynasty for more than 200 years, which made the currency system stable for a long time. In the Tang Dynasty, "wen" was used for counting, and the Baowen money system with Qianliang as the unit of weight was followed to the Qing Dynasty for thousands of years. It is also said that the "Kaiyuan Tongbao" made by Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty was written by Ouyang Jian, a master of calligraphy in the early Tang Dynasty, and was praised as a calligraphy coin.
After the Anshi Rebellion, Emperor Suzong of the Tang Dynasty made large sums of money to deal with financial difficulties and called it "Qianyuan Chongbao". This was the first money to be called "heavy treasure". One penny of heavy treasure was equivalent to ten yuan of yuan, which caused currency depreciation, soaring prices, serious piracy and uneasiness. In the late Tang Dynasty, Emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty abolished Buddhism and cast a large number of "Huichang Kaiyuan" coins from Buddhist bronzes, which alleviated the deflation phenomenon that had lasted for half a century. "Qianyuan" and "Huichang" are both chronological dates.
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms were a period of warlord rule and chaos. Due to the numerous political powers and various currencies, it was a period of currency chaos. In addition to copper, coin materials also include tin, iron, etc. Large-denomination coins are worth ten to a hundred, or even thousands to ten thousand. The chaos and complexity of the money system reflected the economic deterioration caused by the wars between separate regimes.
To sum up, the copper coins with square holes and round coins changed from the baht system to the era name, and the Baowen system was a turning point in the development of currency.
(4) In addition to the elimination of copper coins from the Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, the paper money and silver system was also produced, which was another turning point in the development of currency.
1. "Era Name Money", "Yushu Coins" and "Paper Money" in the Two Song Dynasties
The copper coins of the Two Song Dynasties are characterized by the use of era names. According to research, the era name was first created by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and the "era name money" began with the "Han Xing Qian" made by Li Shou in Chengdu, Sichuan during the Sixteen Kingdoms. The last coin with an era name was cast in the first year of Hongxian's reign by Yuan Shikai and was worth ten copper coins. This coin followed Yuan Shikai's collapse and existed for less than four months. "Reign Name Money" is minted with an era name and indicates the casting time, so that people can clearly see the age of ancient coins when researching. This is an improvement in the development of coin forms. Among the year-name coins of the past dynasties, coins from the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties are the easiest to collect.
In addition, among the calligraphy of all dynasties, the Song Dynasty is the most famous. According to legend, the Yuanfeng coins cast during the Yuanfeng period of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty had four calligraphy styles: seal, official script, regular script, and cursive script. Among them, the official script coins written by Su Dongpo were calm and bold, and were called "Dongpo Yuanfeng". During the reign of Emperor Zhezong of the Song Dynasty, Sima Guang and Su Dongpo wrote the text "Yuanyu Tongbao" in two kinds of calligraphy: seal script and running script. In the Song Dynasty, book coins and coins became popular. The emperor who was good at calligraphy couldn't bear the loneliness and often showed off his skills in Qian Wen. According to research, the first "Yu Shu Qian" written by the emperor was Song Taizong Zhao Jiong, and among the emperors of the past dynasties, the highest calligraphy achievement was Song Huizong Zhao Ji. He was incompetent in governing the country and was "the disgrace of Jingkang" and was taken prisoner by the Jin soldiers together with his son Qinzong. But he has a special liking for calligraphy, chess, calligraphy and painting, especially the "thin gold body" calligraphy, iron painting and silver hook, which is unique. The popularity of calligraphy coins in the Song Dynasty is not unrelated to the emperor's personal practice and praise, especially the popularity of imperial calligraphy coins with reign titles. This style of Qian's writing changed in the Ming Dynasty. Starting from the middle of the Ming Dynasty, all Qian texts were written by craftsmen. The fonts were dull and did not pay attention to the layout and structure, so the art of calligraphy was out of the question.
During the Song Dynasty, copper and iron coins were minted in parallel. Because copper utensils were more valuable than copper coins, there was a phenomenon of destroying coins and making utensils. Copper coins were rare and iron coins appeared. In addition, as the economic center of gravity moved southward, currency circulation expanded, and the banknotes produced in the two Song Dynasties were the earliest banknotes in the world. This paper currency is a kind of symbolic currency. It is the product of the development of social commodity economy to a certain stage. It is also related to the advancement of papermaking and printing technology. The main banknotes of the Northern Song Dynasty were Jiaozi, while those of the Southern Song Dynasty were Huizi and Guanzi.
Jiaozi and Huizi were the common names for bills, securities, and exchangeable securities at that time. Whether the currency value is stable has become a barometer of the economic and financial situation.
Northern minority regimes such as the Liao, Song, and Xixia were influenced by the economy and culture of the Central Plains in their interactions with the Han people. In addition to using copper coins minted in the Tang and Song Dynasties, they also issued copper coins in national characters and Chinese characters.
2. The currency system of the Yuan Dynasty was mainly paper money
A small amount of copper coins were minted in the Yuan Dynasty, but the currency was mainly paper money. This was more prominent in ancient China. The banknotes of the Yuan Dynasty were called banknotes. The original banknotes are not allowed to be misappropriated, and the circulation of banknotes is strictly limited. However, at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, political corruption, royal luxury, huge military expenditures, and fiscal expenditures could not make ends meet. The government had to rely on the indiscriminate issuance of banknotes to make up for it, causing prices to skyrocket. In addition, the Yellow River changed its course and flooded, causing natural and man-made disasters, so it was called "the source of disasters caused by the change of river banknotes". It can be seen that the excessive issuance of banknotes was closely related to the demise of the Yuan Dynasty.
3. The Ming Dynasty shifted from a paper currency policy to a system dominated by silver and supplemented by money.
Although the issuance of paper money is a progress in the history of currency, rulers of all ages have used it to exploit and plunder the people, causing the paper money policy to collapse. For example, in the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang implemented a paper currency policy and issued "Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes" for use together with copper coins. However, the Ming Dynasty's treasure banknotes had no fixed issuance limit and no reserve, which soon led to inflation. Therefore, after the Jiajing period in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the treasure banknotes were no longer circulated, and the people mainly used silver and copper coins. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, "banjiang" used silver to pay wages for labor and hired workers, and rich people accumulated their wealth mainly in silver. The amount of silver was cast into silver ingots of a certain standard starting from the Yuan Dynasty. From the Yuan Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, the silver ingots were named "Yuanbao". This was the beginning of China calling silver ingots "Yuanbao". At the same time, it was popular among the people to make copper coins, and the material was changed from bronze to brass, and Tongbao coins with the year number as their name were cast.
4. Copper coins, banknotes and machine-made coins of the Qing Dynasty
The copper coins of the Qing Dynasty followed the system of the Ming Dynasty, and Xiaoping coins were mainly minted. Among the copper coins of the Qing Dynasty, Xianfeng coins were the most complex. The money inscriptions were divided into Tongbao, Chongbao and Yuanbao, with different face values and different money patterns. In the Qing Dynasty, folk business used silver for large amounts and money for small amounts. Money and banks went hand in hand.
In the first hundred years of the Qing Dynasty, silver ingots were used as the main currency. To collect taxes of more than one tael, cash must be collected. In the Qing Dynasty, states and counties levied land taxes in summer and autumn every year, and the finished grain must be full of silver. Because the central government does not mint unified silver coins for circulation, the silver used by the people may not be pure silver. The form, fineness, and flat size of silver ingots vary from place to place. Therefore, before paying taxes, silversmiths and silver shops melt and cast folk loose silver into pure silver and are deceived. Some silversmiths colluded with officials and took the opportunity to exploit the quality and weight of the silver, causing many complex social problems.
In the late Qing Dynasty, silver ingots began to transform into silver coins. Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, foreign merchants used their silver coins to buy Chinese silk, tea, porcelain, etc. in foreign trade, making various foreign silver coins popular in China. During the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, starting from the signing of the unequal Treaty of Nanjing, the silver coins used for compensation were all "foreign money". At that time, China did not have silver coins. The inventory of foreign money was insufficient to offset the sharp increase in external indemnities, so the late Qing government was forced to start minting its own silver coins. The earliest machine-made foreign-style silver dollar in China is the "Guangxu Yuanbao" from the Guangxu period, commonly known as "Longyang". It is named after the dragon pattern on the back of the silver dollar. At the same time, machine-made copper coins, also known as "copper plates" appeared. The emergence of machine-made silver coins and copper coins has had a huge impact on China's traditional silver coins and copper coins with mainly square holes and round holes.
The types of banknotes issued in the Qing Dynasty were complex, including official banknotes and private banknotes. Official banknotes were issued by government financial institutions, while private banknotes were issued by private financial institutions. Banknotes can also be divided into copper coins (which can be There are four types: copper coins with square holes), copper dollar tickets (can be exchanged for copper dollars), silver coins (can be exchanged for silver), and silver dollar tickets (can be exchanged for silver dollars). The issuance of banknotes begins with treasury silver reserves and banknote certificates.
To sum up, from the Song Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the production and circulation of banknotes, the status of silver currency increased day by day, the Ming and Qing Dynasties began to establish the silver-standard banknote system, and the machine-made currency system appeared in the late Qing Dynasty, which provided China with The late second stage of the development of monetary history.
The above is listed as the history of circulating coins. There are also many non-circulating currencies in the coin industry, such as pressure coins used to suppress evil spirits, tomb coins used to pray for blessings and ward off evil spirits, and to commemorate major historical events and outstanding historical figures. Commemorative coins and the like are not listed here one by one.
These coins are commonly known as "spending money" and are insignificant in currency circulation, but they can provide precious historical materials for folklore research.
In short, numismatics is a science. Combining historical teaching activities with the knowledge of ancient coins is helpful for understanding and interpreting the changes in ancient Chinese history and broadening the historical horizon. I hope this article can be enlightening and reference for you. For corrections.