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The Wuzhu coin remained in use long after the decline of the Han dynasty: in fact, for almost eight centuries! And all coins in later times resembled the Wuzhu coin to a certain degree in size and shape. “Wu” is the number 5, “Zhu” a weight unit. did the Han emperor Wudi cast a new, standardized coin: the Wuzhu coin. For that reason smaller, lighter coins were cast, they were called elmseed coins. However, this coin was too heavy for daily use. They also adopted some important administrative structures from their predecessors, as well as the ban liang coin. The Han emperors declared the formerly persecuted confucianism to be the state’s leading doctrine. He founded a new dynasty of emperors: the Han dynasty. However, under the First Emperor’s successor the empire sank into chaos.įinally, one of the warlords forced the country to unite. He became known under the name of Qin Shi Huangdi. Now the king of Qin ruled as emperor over a Chinese empire, which was united for the first time in history. Over time, the king of Qin managed to conquer all the other states and to annex them to his own territory.īy 221 B.C., he had overpowered his last rival. This is the place where China’s further history would be decided.
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This coin was used mainly in the northern state of Qin.
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This is a ban liang coin: ban liang is “half a liang”, which is half an ounce, about 8 grams. All of these various coins co-existed as local currencies. Some other circulating coins were the bronze kauris, called “ant nose coins”, “yibi” – and ring coins. They were cast – not minted like the coins in the western world. Such coins were issued by the individual principalities. There were also knife coins in the shape of knives, like those that the hunters and fishermen used. They are shaped like the spades which were used for farming. These times of unrest produced new forms of money, for example these spade coins. Towards the final stages of that development, known as the “Age of Battling Empires”, there were only seven larger states left: it was a time of great and general insecurity. Many small states formed, which were then annihilated in bloody battles. Former vassals turned into powerful rulers, fighting against each other for supremacy. … or cast in bronze – which was particularly handy since they could be melted and recast into new coins.Īround 770 B.C., the Zhou empire collapsed. Kauris were often stolen in marauding attacks and stored in treasuries.īefore long, more and more Kauris were needed, so they were carved from cattle bones … Kauris were used for paying for goods, workmen and soldiers. The Kauri shells were pierced and threaded onto strings.
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The Kauri shell, known as “bei”, is an import from the coastal regions of the eastern and southern Chinese Sea and is considered to be the first prominent means of payment in Ancient China. The inscriptions on these bronze plates tell us that China was ruled by dynasties of kings: by the Shang dynasty from 1600 B.C., and the Zhou dynasty from 1100 B.C.īack then, bartering was a common way of doing business. In those ancient times, this whole area was inhabited by peasants and warriors. On its Great Plain the origins of Chinese culture emerged, and this was also where the great history of Chinese money originated. One of these rivers is the Huanghe, the Yellow River. It is, therefore, no wonder that Chinese mythology tells of rulers turning the soil into farmland and regulating the rivers. The commentaries by Dagmar Lorenz, sinologist and author of the DVD, complete the small tour d'horizon.Ĭhina – thousands of years of civilization.Īncient China lived on agriculture: the country’s crops were vital to its affluence and stability. This and other kinds of money from the Middle Kingdom are presented here in their historical context. And yet the history of its money has been characterised by its unique stability – cowry currency and the cash coin, for example, were in circulation for many centuries. The same can be said of China's money: in the course of its long development from a small cultural island on the Yellow River to the People's Republic, the Land of the Dragon has witnessed many forms of money come and go. States come and go," Luo Guanzhong wrote in his novel The Three Kingdoms.