The main currency used by the people of the Song Dynasty was Jiaozi
The prosperity of the social economy was the fundamental reason.
Banknotes are a form of currency commonly used in countries around the world today, and the earliest banknotes in the world were the "Jiaozi" in Chengdu, Sichuan during the Northern Song Dynasty in China.
China is the first country in the world to use currency. According to documentary records and a large number of unearthed cultural relics, the origin of my country's currency has a history of at least 4,000 years, from primitive shell coins to cloth coins, knife coins, round coins, ant-nosed coins and the square-hole coins that became popular after Qin Shihuang unified China. The development of China's currency culture has a long history. By the Northern Song Dynasty, paper currency-"Jiaozi" appeared in our country.
The emergence of paper money is a major progress in the history of currency. Some people in the numismatic community believe that the origin of Chinese banknotes can be traced back to the "white deer skin coins" of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and the "flying coins" of the Tang Dynasty's Xianzong. During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, due to long-term wars with the Huns, the national treasury was empty. In order to solve financial difficulties, while minting "three baht coins" and "platinum coins" (alloy coins made of silver and tin), they also issued "white coins". Buckskin Coin”. The so-called "White Deer Skin Coin" uses white deer skin from the palace as the currency material. Each piece is one square foot and surrounded by colorful paintings. Each leather coin is worth 400,000 yuan. Since its value is far from the value of the leather currency itself, the "White Deer Skin Coin" is only used as a tribute between princes and is not used in the circulation field. Therefore, it is not a paper currency in the true sense, it can only be said to be a paper currency. pioneer. "Flying money" appeared in the mid-Tang Dynasty. At that time, merchants had many inconveniences when bringing large amounts of copper coins when going out for business, so they first went to the official to issue a voucher, which recorded the place and the number of coins, and then used the voucher to withdraw money and purchase goods in other places. This certificate is "flying money". "Flying money" is essentially just a kind of exchange business. It does not participate in circulation and does not perform the function of currency, so it is not a paper currency in the true sense. "Jiaozi" in Chengdu, Sichuan during the Northern Song Dynasty was the beginning of real paper money.
The appearance of paper money in the Northern Song Dynasty is not accidental. It is an inevitable product of social, political and economic development. The commodity economy developed rapidly in the Song Dynasty, and more currency was needed in commodity circulation. However, there was a shortage of copper coins at that time, which could not meet the demand in circulation. At that time, iron coins were popular in Sichuan. Iron coins were low in value, heavy in weight, and extremely inconvenient to use. At that time, one copper coin was worth ten iron coins. The weight of each thousand iron coins was 25 catties for the big coin and 13 catties for the medium coin. It costs 20,000 yuan to buy a piece of cloth, which weighs about 500 kilograms and needs to be carried in a car. Therefore, there is an objective need for lightweight currency, which is also the main reason why banknotes first appeared in Sichuan. Furthermore, although the Northern Song Dynasty was a highly centralized feudal autocratic country, the national currency was not unified. There were several currency zones, each of which was independent of each other. At that time, there were copper coins for Route 13 (administrative units in the Song Dynasty) and iron coins for Route 4. In Shaanxi and Hedong, copper and iron coins were used for both. Each currency zone strictly prohibits the outflow of currency. The use of banknotes can prevent the outflow of copper and iron money. In addition, the Song Dynasty government was often attacked by Liao, Xia, and Jin. It spent a lot on military expenditures and indemnities, and it also needed to issue banknotes to make up for the fiscal deficit. Various reasons contributed to the creation of paper money - "Jiaozi".
The original Jiaozi was freely distributed by merchants. In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, "Jiaozi Shop" appeared in Chengdu, Sichuan, which specialized in cash custody business for businessmen carrying huge sums of money. The depositor delivers the cash to the merchant, and the merchant temporarily fills in the amount of cash deposited by the depositor on a roll made of paper, and then returns it to the depositor. When the depositor withdraws the cash, he pays the merchant an interest of 30 cents each time. , that is, a 3% storage fee is paid. This paper coupon with the deposit amount temporarily filled in is called "Jiaozi". "Jiaozi" at this time is just a deposit and withdrawal certificate, not currency.
With the development of the commodity economy, the use of "Jiaozi" has become more and more widespread. Many merchants have jointly established Jiaozi shops specializing in the issuance and exchange of "Jiaozi" and set up Jiaozi branches in various places. shop. Because Jiaozi shopkeepers abide by credit and can pick up goods at any time, the "Jiaozi" printed pattern is exquisite, with hidden marks, alternating black and red, and handwriting, which is difficult for others to forge, so "Jiaozi" has won a high reputation. . For large transactions between merchants, in order to avoid the trouble of moving coins, there are an increasing number of cases where the payment for goods is paid directly with "Jiaozi", which can be turned into cash at any time. It is in the repeated circulation process that "Jiaozi" gradually acquires the character of credit currency. Later, Jiaozi shop owners discovered during their operations that using only part of their deposits would not jeopardize the reputation of "Jiaozi". So they began to print "Jiaozi" with a unified denomination and format, and issued it to the market as a new means of circulation. This "Jiaozi" has become the symbol of coinage and has truly become paper money. However, at this time, "Jiaozi" had not yet been recognized by the government, and was still a "private friend" issued by the private sector.
But not all Jiaozi shops are law-abiding and trustworthy. There are some profit-seeking and greedy shopkeepers who maliciously commit fraud and close their doors and cease business after issuing promiscuous jiaozi; In this way, when depositors are unable to withdraw their money, troubles and lawsuits often arise. Therefore, during the Jingde period (1004-1007), Zhang Yong, the magistrate of Yizhou, rectified the Jiaozi shops, eliminated lawbreakers, and left them to 16 wealthy merchants. So far, the issuance of "Jiaozi" has been recognized by the government.
In the first year of Tiansheng of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty (1023), the government set up Yizhou Jiaozi Affairs, with one or two officials from the Beijing Dynasty serving as supervisors to preside over the issuance of Jiaozi, and "set up a paper-making courtyard to reform "Disadvantages of Forgery" and strictly enforce its printing process. This is the earliest banknote officially issued by the government in my country - "Guanjiaozi". It is six to seven hundred years earlier than the issuance of banknotes by Western countries such as the United States (1692) and France (1716), so it is also the earliest banknote issued in the world.
In the early days of the issuance of "Guanjiaozi", its shape was modeled after private "private relations" and stamped with the state seal. Only the amount of money temporarily filled in was different, usually from one to ten, and the circulation was stipulated. scope. During the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, all styles were changed to two types: five guans and ten guans. By the time of Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, it was changed to two types: Yiguan and Wubaiwen. There is also a limit on the amount of issuance, which stipulates that the issuance is divided into sectors, and each sector is issued for three years (two years in total), and the old is replaced by the new. The first Jiaozi issued 1,256,340 Guan, with a reserve capital of 360,000 Guan (based on Sichuan iron coins), and the reserve was equivalent to 28% of the issuance. The circulation scope of "Jiaozi" was basically limited to Sichuan. Although it became popular in Shaanxi and Hedong later, it was abolished soon.
In the first year of Emperor Huizong’s reign (1107), the Song government changed "Jiaozi" to "Qian Yinwu" and "Jiaoziwu" to "Qian Yinwu". Except for Sichuan, Fujian, Zhejiang, Huguang and other places that still use "Jiaozi", other roads have switched to "Qianyin". Later, Sichuan also changed Jiaozi to Qianyin in the third year of Daguan (1109). The biggest difference between "Qian Yin" and "Jiao Zi" is that it uses "痯" as the unit. The paper, printing, drawings and seals of "Qianyin" are all excellent. However, "Qian Yin" did not have a banknote book and was not allowed to be exchanged. Additional issuances were made at will. Therefore, the value of the paper notes plummeted. By the Jiading period of the Southern Song Dynasty, each coin was only worth one hundred cash in cash.
The emergence of "Jiaozi" has facilitated business transactions and made up for the shortage of cash. It is a major achievement in the history of my country's currency. In addition, "Jiaozi", as the earliest banknote issued in my country and even the world, also occupies an important position in the history of printing and printmaking, and is of great significance to the study of ancient my country's banknote printing technology.