Chinese Ancient Coins 中国古钱币

The currency is a medium for the exchange of commodities. It was an inevitable outcome of such exchanges. In ancient China the currency came in different forms and was made variously from shells, jade, gold, silver, and paper.

Brief introduction about variety of ancient coins.
Shell money. Shell money was the oldest form of currency in ancient China. As the shells were small and hard in texture, they came in handy as money. By the Shang (shāng 商) and Zhou (zhōu 周) dynasties the use of shell money reached its top, and shell money became a symbol of wealth.

 

 

Hoe-like Money. The hoe-like money was evolved from an ancient Chinese farming toll. In the early days it bore close resemblance to a hoe. Because the hoe is similar to the shovel. This is why the hoe-like money is also known as “shovel money”.

Knife-shaped money. Cast of bronze during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States (chūn qiū zhàn guó 春秋战国) periods, the money’s knife-like shape was derived from a certain weapon from old days.

alt

Bronze money in the design of seashells. With the development of commodity exchange, the supply of natural shells as the currency ran out of supply. Imitation shell money made from stone, bone, ceramics and bronze was thus invented to make up for the shortage. But eventually it was bronze shell-shaped money that replaced natural shells. It was nor until Qinshihuang (qín shǐ huáng 秦始皇) unified the currency in 221 B.C. that shells finally were withdrawn from commodity circulation.

Chinese coins are essential ingredients in the practice of Feng Shui (fēng shuǐ 风水). It is the most potent symbol of wealth, especially when tied with red thread. They are rounded shape with a square hole in the center. The circle represents heaven while the square represents earth. When used by humans, they represent the cosmic trinity of luck of "Heaven-Earth-Man".There is the Yang side (yáng miàn 阳面) (with four chinese characters according to reign of emperor) and the Yin side (yīn miàn 阴面) (2 characters) on every chinese coins. The Yang side should always be used facing up. Feng Shui masters (fēng shuǐ shī 风水师) often focus only on Ching Dynasty coins compared to other dynasties because Ching was the most powerful dynasty in China, while other dynasties usually collapsed in less than a century. The Chinese coins, particularly of those of the Kang Hsi or Chien Long Emperors' reign are deemed most auspicious. Chinese coins are creation of old advisors of emperors and that is why chinese coins are powerful emblems of wealth, endless fortune and prosperity.

中国古钱币
      中国是世界上最早使用铸币的国家。距今三千年前殷商晚期墓葬出土了不少“无文铜贝”，为最原始的金属货币。至西周晚期除贝币外还流通一些无一定形状的散铜块、铜锭等金属称量货币，这在考古发掘中也有出土。

      在原始社会末期，人们用实物来充当货币。由于牛、羊、猪等牲畜不能分割，五谷会腐烂，珠玉太少，刀铲笨重，所以最后集中到海贝这一实物货币。海贝可作颈饰，有使用价值，便于携带与计数，因此在长期商品交换中被选为主要货币。贝壳、贝币可以说是我国使用时间最早而且延续时间最长的一种实物货币，直到明朝末期和清朝初期，云南少数民族地区还在沿用这种货币。在考古发掘中，夏代，商代遗址出土过大量天然贝，贝作为实物货币一直沿用到春秋时期。因此中国汉字中和财富，价值有关的字大多与“贝”字有关。如：贵、资、贪、贫、财、购等。

      自西周到春秋，由于青铜器制作技术不断提高，青铜制作的生产工具大量出现，青铜工具的重要性已经在于作为装饰品用途的贝壳，所以在交换、贸易的过程中，有些生产工具如刀、铲、纱轮就成为流通手段和支付手段发展成为一般等价物。青铜工具取代贝壳成为货币，因为把工具当作市场流通的一般等价物，毕竟太过笨重了，交换太不方便。人们开始接受形似工具的青铜货币。战国时期的货币主要有三大体系：布币、刀币、环钱。

     布币不是用布制作的货币，那时没有布，而是仿农具铲类演进而成一种金属铸币。最早的布币，完全保留着铲的形状。布币的流通区域非常广泛，春秋时的晋国，战国时的赵、韩、魏等国都使用布币。刀币一看知是实用的刀演变过来的，是当时的一种渔猎工具。刀币的流通范围没有布币广，偏于东部的齐、燕等国。这是因为古代西部地区的人多以农殖为主，所以用农具为货币。东部地区为近海，河流亦多，人民多从事渔猎生活，所以用刀币为货币。环钱是圆形的，中间有一圆孔。古代的璧就是玉环。环钱大小不等，上面的文字有多有少，它流通的范围比起布币、刀币要小得多，据专家们考证，环钱是秦国早期的货币。

      秦始皇统一全国后，将秦国的币制推行于全国，以黄金为上币，单位为镒，即二十两，以铜钱为下币，即“半两”钱。秦代“半两”钱的出现，标志着中国金属货币进入一个新的时期。
汉王朝建立以后，于武帝元狩五年（公元前118年）开始铸五铢钱。一直到隋灭唐兴，五铢钱才消亡。五铢钱是中国历史上使用得最久、最成功的一种钱币。

       武德四年，废五铢钱，开始发行开元通宝钱。开元通宝钱的问世，结束了自西汉以来延续七百余年以重量五铢命名铸币的传统，开创了通宝、元宝钱体系。自武德四年铸行开元通宝钱起，至1916年“洪宪通宝”止，通宝、元宝钱体系沿用了近一千三百年，其生命力之长久，在世界货币史上罕见。

       随着商品经济的恢复和高涨，加上明中后期以来巨额贸易顺差，海外白银大量流入，白银的使用日益广泛，成为主要的法定货币。银铸币有银两和银元两种。我国长期使用银两，属称量货币，有银饼、银锭、银元宝和零碎银子等各种形制。

      北宋初年，商品经济有了较大发展，贸易也随之增加，“每一交易，动即十万”，这样货币的需求量也越来越大。当时市场上流行的货币是铜钱、白银和铁钱，个别地区还盛行铁钱。宋真宗初年，四川成都的十六家富商联合印发了一种比金属币携带方便的纸币──“交子”。它是在一张小纸片上，印上房屋、树木和人物的图画，并作上暗号以防别人仿印：交子的出现代替了铁钱。这是我国使用纸币的开端，也是世界上最早的纸币，是我国货币发展史上的一大进步。