Chapter 3 Section 1 Qin Unified Currency

In the late Warring States period, the shapes and systems of various cloth coins, knives, and coins gradually tended to be unified, and won coins were widely circulated, penetrating into the Qin State, which was still economically backward at that time, and impacting the social economy of Qin State.In order to deal with and control this situation and meet the needs of eastward expansion, Qin State adopted a series of effective measures to unify its currency and strengthen its national power.In 336 BC, King Huiwen of Qin decided to centralize currency issuance, unify the currency value standard, cast Qin Yuan coins, and engrave the Qin Dynasty's mark on the coin surface in units of two.Implement the policy of "the royal family exclusively mints currency, and the royal family exclusively specializes in salt and iron".In this way, the currency of the Qin State was first unified in form and system, and the royal family controlled the right to cast and issue currency, and then unified into Qin Banliang, laying the foundation for the future unification of the national currency system.

Before Qin unified the six countries, he fought wars for decades, which cost a lot of money and economy.They also built the Great Wall, ruled the roads, built palaces, toured various places, and suppressed resistance. The financial burden was even heavier, and the social economy was very unstable.In addition, the currency of Qin State was unable to cover the whole country, and the original currencies of various countries continued to circulate. It was not until eleven years after the reunification (210 BC), that is, the thirty-seventh year of Emperor Shihuang, that China's earliest currency legislation was promulgated to reform the currency and stipulate that " The law of the Qin Dynasty is the same as the law of the world, and the currency of the Qin Dynasty is the same as the currency of the world"; gold is the upper currency, and the unit is 镒 [yiyi], and each yi is 20 taels; half taels is the lower currency, which is as important as the text.Both are legal currencies, and the imperial court has the unified control of casting and distribution rights. Silver, tin, pearls, jade, turtles, shellfish, etc. can no longer be used as currencies.The regulations belong to the regulations, and it is actually difficult to achieve unified casting and distribution.According to recent unearthed cultural relics, the shape of Qin Banliang varies greatly, some weighing more than 27 grams, and the light ones are only five or six grams.Qin II intends to further strengthen the unified casting and distribution rights of currency, but the world is in chaos and it is difficult to do so.

The Qin unified currency has great historical significance to the development of Chinese currency culture.First of all, unifying the currency is an important part of consolidating feudal rule, which is conducive to eliminating the long-standing abuses and regional differences caused by the long-term division and separatism, and preventing the remnants of the Eastern princes from resurging.Secondly, the unified currency is conducive to the development of the feudal economy.Finally, the unified currency has a far-reaching impact on the future development of the currency system. It not only reflects the ancient cosmology of "round sky and place", but also is convenient to use.