The paper money of the Qing dynasty (Traditional Chinese: ) was periodically used alongside a bimetallic coinage system of copper-alloy cash coins and silver sycees; paper money was used during different periods of Chinese history under the Qing dynasty, having acquired experiences from the prior Song,Glahn, Richard von (2006). "Re-Examining the Authenticity of Song Paper Money Specimens", Journal of Song-Yuan Studies, 36: 79-106. Jin, Yuan, and Ming dynasties which adopted paper money but where uncontrolled printing led to hyperinflation.Bernholz, Peter (1997). "Paper Money Inflation, Prices, Gresham's Law and Exchange Rates in Ming China", Kredit und Kapital, 30/1: 35-51.Chen, Chau-Nan, Chang Pin-Tsun, Chen, Shikuan. "The Sung and Ming Paper Monies: Currency Competition and Currency Bubbles", Journal of Macroeconomics, 17/2: 273-288.Li, Kangying (2007). "A Study on the Song, Yuan and Ming Monetary Policies against the Context of Worldwide Hard Currency Flows during the 11th-16th Centuries, and their Impact on Ming Institutions and Changes", in Angela Schottenhammer, ed. The East Asian Maritime World 1400-1800: Its Fabrics of Power and Dynamics of Exchanges (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz), 99-136. During the youngest days of the Qing dynasty paper money was used but this was quickly abolished as the government sought not to repeat history for a fourth time; however, under the reign of the Xianfeng Emperor, due to several large wars and rebellions (most notably the Taiping Rebellion), the Qing government was forced to issue paper money again.Huang Da (黃達), Liu Hongru (劉鴻儒), Zhang Xiao (張肖), ed. (1990). Zhongguo jinrong baike quanshu (中國金融百科全書) (Beijing: Jingji guanli chubanshe), Vol. 1, 94. (in Mandarin Chinese)Wu Chouzhong (吳籌中) (1993). "Zhongguo gudai zhibi (中國古代紙幣)", in Zhongguo da baike quanshu (中國大百科全書), Wenwu boguguan 文物·博物館 (Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe), 784. (in Mandarin Chinese).Xie Tianyu (謝天宇), ed. (2005). Zhongguo qianbi shoucang yu jianshang quanshu (中國錢幣收藏與鑒賞全書) (Tianjin: Tianjin guji chubanshe), Vol. 2, 506, 508. (in Mandarin Chinese).
The reason why the government was forced to reform the imperial monetary system with a very complex system during the Taiping Rebellion was because the rebels had blocked the access of mint metals from the southwest of China, but more money was still needed to fight the ongoing insurgency. The advisors of the Xianfeng Emperor not only introduced copper-alloy cash coins with higher denominations than one, as well as introducing new cash coins made of metals other than brass, but also revived paper money in the shape of the Xianfeng baochao ().Williams, S. Wells (1975). "Paper Money among the Chinese", T'ung Pao: Journal of the Society for Oriental Numismatics, 1/2: 38-40 [reprinted from The Chinese Repository, 20 (1851)].Rowe, William T. (2010). "Money, Economy, and Polity in the Daoguang-Era Paper Currency Debates", Late Imperial China, 31/2: 69-96. Quite important for the war effort is the fact that the imperial Qing government earned some revenue by issuing these new types of currencies.Kaske, Elisabeth (2015). "Silver, Copper, Rice and Debt: Monetary Policy and Office Selling in China during the Taiping Rebellion", in Jane Kate Leonard, Ulrich Theobald, ed. Money in Asia (1200 – 1900): Small Currencies in Social and Political Contexts (Leiden/Boston: Brill), pages 343–397.
During the latter half of the 19th century various foreign banking corporations and credit institutes started doing business in China. The paper notes issued by these companies started circulating in China leading to many local companies imitating their designs and even outsourcing the production of paper money. The strong influence of these foreign banks had a modernising effect on both the economy and the currency of the Qing dynasty, leading to the imperial government issuing their own versions of modern paper money. The denominations on the paper money were as chaotic as that of the coinage types and the different exchange rates used regionally were also applied locally, while banknotes denominated in copper-alloy currency had a different value than banknotes denominated in silver currency. Concurrently banknotes issued by different branches or different banks were also discounted with paper bills issued by more reliable banks being both valued more and in higher demand than those issued by institutions with a less favourable reputation.
In the early 20th century the government of the Qing dynasty attempted to decimalise the currency among many other economic reforms and established a central bank to oversee the production of paper money; however, the chaotic monetary situation continued to plague interregional trade and would later be inherited by the Republic of China.
History
and other early Qing paper money
During the transition from Ming to Qing, the Manchu government issued banknotes known as Hubu guanpiao () or Shunzhi guanpiao (). They were first issued in the year 1651 on initiative of the Minister of Revenue, Wei Xiangshu () during the war with the remnants of the Ming dynasty to cover the more immediate expenses of the Manchus; as the finances of the Qing during this period were in dire distress, these banknotes were declared void only a decade after their issue. Peng Xinwei suggests that the Manchus started issuing banknotes in response to the treasury of the Qing dynasty experiencing funding shortfalls which were occasioned by the a campaign to occupy the island of Zhoushan (near modern Shanghai).Yang Lien-sheng (1954) Money and credit in China: a short history. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, p. 68.Shi Yufu (石毓符) (1984) Zhongguo huobi jinrong shilüe (中國貨幣金融史略). Tianjin renmin chubanshe, Tianjin, pp. 109–11. (in Mandarin Chinese). An annual amount of 128,000 guàn () were issued, with a total sum of 1.28 million being produced before they were abolished. The denominations of the followed the pattern of the Ming dynasty period paper notes, but as historiographical sources about the early Qing era paper money are scarce, not much can be known about them.Nei Menggu – Inner Mongolian numismatics (1992): Pl. 16. (in Mandarin Chinese).
After the it was only rarely suggested by court officials to reintroduce paper money to the Qing Empire. Among these were Cai Zhiding () in 1814 and Wang Yide (王懿德) in his treatise on money known as (). Peng Xinwei suggested that the Manchu rulers of the Qing were very much atavistic towards the inflationary pressure that the earlier Jurchen Empire experienced after they had abused their ability to print Jiaochao banknotes. Modern scholars argue that the banknotes issued during the Shunzhi period, while only brief, likely entrenched the reluctance of the Qing dynasty to issue banknotes because this issue also proved inflationary confirming their fears.Wei Jianyou (魏建猷) (1986) Zhongguo jindai huobisi (中國近代貨幣史). Huangshan shushechuban, p. 83. (in Mandarin Chinese).Peng Xinwei (彭信威) (1958) [rev. 1970, 1988, 2007] Zhongguo huobishi (中國貨幤史). Shanghai renmin chubanshe, Shanghai, pp. 556–559. (in Mandarin Chinese).
During this era, privately produced paper notes and promissory notes known as () were used in the Chinese market that were mostly issued by private banks () and other merchants. These banknotes were known as (, 'corporate notes', (, 'silver notes'), or (, 'cash notes'). As is usual for China, the names designating privately produced banknotes varied greatly across the country, with names being used such as (), (), (), (), or (). The denominations used on them varied greatly with some reaching as high as 5 diào (, 'string of cash coins'). It has been suggested by Taiwanese economic historian Lin Man-houng that Chinese money shops did not start the production of their own private banknotes until the end of the Qianlong period. These shops were very likely to have been more developed in Northern China, where these money shops produced banknotes which were mostly denominated in cash coins, while banknotes from Southern China tended to be denominated in taels of silver.Lin Man-houng (2006) China upside down: currency, society and ideologies. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, pp. 1808–1856, pp. 36–37. It is also possible that private-order banknotes could have emerged earlier in the 18th century and that their presence would become very common by the 1820s.Hou Houji (侯厚吉), Wu Qijing (吴其敬) (1982) Zhongguo jindai jingji sixiang shigao (中國近代經濟思想史稿). Heilongjiang renminchubanshe, Harbin, vol. 1, p. 11. (in Mandarin Chinese).
By the middle of the 1800s various Western credit institutes and foreign banking corporations were operating in the Qing dynasty. During the late 1840s they began producing bills of exchange, promissory notes, or other forms of paper money for the Chinese market, which the Chinese referred to as (). This introduced modern credit instruments to the traditional Chinese business worldNei Menggu qianbi yanjiu hui (內蒙古錢幣研究會), Zhongguo qianbi bianjibu (《中國錢幣》編輯部), ed. (1992); Cai Mingxin (蔡明信) (transl.). Zhongguo guchao tuji (Beijing: Zhongguo jinrong chubanshe). (in Mandarin Chinese). and greatly bolstered the reformist monetary discourse in China and would later be emulated by homegrown Chinese modern banks. This affected both the private market and the imperial Chinese bureaucracy.Horesh, N (2014) Chinese Money in Global Context: historic junctures between 600 BCE and 2012. Stanford University Press, Stanford.Cheng Linsun (2003) Banking in modern China: entrepreneurs, professional managers and the development of Chinese banks. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp. 1897–1937
Xianfeng era paper money
During most of the Manchu Qing dynasty, the monetary system largely relied mostly on copper-alloy cash coins () denominated in wén () for small transactions and the general retail market and silver sycees ( or ) denominated in taels () for larger transactions and the wholesale market. The general exchange rates between these two currencies fluctuated based both on time and on the location they were traded in, however the official exchange course was set by the imperial government as 1000 of copper-alloy cash coins for 1 tael of silver. Prior to 1800, the exchange rates were actually closer to 700 or 800 for 1 tael, but by the 19th century this had increased to 1200 . By the second half of the 19th century the imperial government of the Qing decided to experiment with cash coins that had a denomination higher than 1 which were known as Daqian, (, 'large money') because of copper shortages, but as the shortages ran higher the government decided to reintroduce paper money.