Ming Dynasty Coinage
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Chinese coinage in the Ming dynasty includes many types of coins. During the
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
of China (1368 to 1644), the national economy developed and techniques of producing coinage advanced. The Ming dynasty cast comparatively few coins when compared with earlier
dynasties in Chinese history For most of its history, China was organized into various dynastic states under the rule of hereditary monarchs. Beginning with the establishment of dynastic rule by Yu the Great , and ending with the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor in A ...
, and the cash coins they did produce were not regarded to be as beautifully made as those of earlier times. Peng, Xinwei: ''A Monetary History of China''. vol I. and II. (Translated from the Chinese original Zhongguo Huobi Shi 1965 by Kaplan, Edward H.) 1994 (
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). Page: 553.
The majority of cash coins in circulation at the time of the Ming were actually from the Tang (618 to 907) and
Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
(960 to 1279) eras. This all indicates that the emperors of the Ming dynasty did not regard coins with the same importance as those who ruled before them.


Background

Zhu Yuanzhang, better known as the
Hongwu Emperor The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328– 24 June 1398), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Ming, personal name Zhu Yuanzhang, courtesy name Guorui, was the List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, founding emperor of the Ming dyna ...
, proclaimed the Great Ming in 1368. From the founding of the Ming until 1450, the emperors attempted to use
paper currency Paper money, often referred to as a note or a bill (North American English), is a type of negotiable promissory note that is payable to the bearer on demand, making it a form of currency. The main types of paper money are government notes, which ...
, but this caused the Ming to experience the same
hyperinflation In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real versus nominal value (economics), real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimiz ...
as its predecessors. For the most part, the country was starved for silver in the early part of the dynasty and much trade occurred via barter; in later years, silver mostly came in through
trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...
with either
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in the
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as part of the
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within the
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and
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. The flow of Chinese trade goods like
chinaware Chinese ceramics are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. They range from construction materials such as bricks and tiles, to hand-built pottery vessels fired in bonfires or kilns, to the sophisticated Chinese ...
were exported towards the rest of the
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in
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and Europe through the
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between
Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
in the
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to
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in
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and
Spanish treasure fleet The Spanish treasure fleet, or West Indies Fleet (, also called silver fleet or plate fleet; from the meaning "silver"), was a convoy system of sea routes organized by the Spanish Empire from 1566 to 1790, which linked Spain with its Spanish Empi ...
s from
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in
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to
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in Spain. Meanwhile, the return route also ensured constant supply of the Spanish silver dollar coins which were minted in
New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...
(Mexico), and mined from
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in Bolivia or Peru. The
Spanish dollar The Spanish dollar, also known as the piece of eight (, , , or ), is a silver coin of approximately diameter worth eight Spanish reales. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content fine silver. It w ...
coins were often stamped with Chinese characters known as " chop marks" which indicated that the particular coin had been assayed by a well-known merchant and determined to be genuine. The widespread circulation of the Spanish silver dollar not only affected the
Ming The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of China ruled by the Han people, t ...
but also became widespread across many countries in the Far East as a standard for trade. It remained embedded even until the
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
when banknotes started to be printed labeled as "Mexican Dollars" and even later when Western powers also later issued trade dollars, and colonial currencies such as the
Hong Kong dollar The Hong Kong dollar (, sign: HK$; code: HKD) is the official currency of Hong Kong. It is divided into 100 cents. Historically, it was also divided into 1000 mils. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is the monetary authority of Hong Kong an ...
, to the same specifications. This silver flowed into the country and was also melted down and traded as bullion now known as
sycee A sycee (;.. from Cantonese , zh, j=Sai3 Si1, y=sai-sī, ). or yuanbao ( zh, t= 元寶, s= 元宝, poj=Goân-pó, j=jyun4 bou2, p=yuánbǎo, l=primary treasure, first=t) was a type of gold and silver ingot currency used in imperial China from ...
. However, the emperors also periodically minted coins. Alongside copper coins
cowrie shells Cowrie or cowry () is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails in the family Cypraeidae. Cowrie shells have held cultural, economic, and ornamental significance in various cultures. The cowrie was the shell most widely used wo ...
continued to circulate during this period as well.


Coinage in the Ming era

After the Chinese became independent following the retreat of the Mongols back north and a bloody civil war culminating with the victory of
Zhu Yuanzhang The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328– 24 June 1398), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Ming, personal name Zhu Yuanzhang, courtesy name Guorui, was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1368 to 1398. In ...
the Ming dynasty rose to power and under it a long period of stability and growth came. Until 1505 cash coins circulated alongside the Da Ming Baochao banknotes,
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Chinese Ming Banknote
from the collection of the
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. Retrieved: September 14, 2018.
but as more silver currency entered the
Chinese market The People's Republic of China is a developing mixed socialist market economy, incorporating industrial policies and strategic five-year plans. —Xu, Chenggang. "The Fundamental Institutions of China's Reforms and Development." Journal of E ...
, currencies such as Spanish silver dollars started supplanting the cash coins. Privately minted cash coins of inferior quality became predominant in the south of China and 4 types of ''official cash coins'' were minted of varying quality of which one time with a weight of 1 qián was cast for payment to the imperial government, a second type of 0.9 qián for the salaries of officials, and the two types of lowest quality were mostly used by the commoners and circulated the most. Coins known as ''gold reverse'' coins were cast that were smelted four times as opposed to two and these were regarded as being more valuable, ironically because of this these ''gold reverse'' coins were being hoarded which prevented them from circulating causing even cheap and low quality counterfeit cash coins to circulate in larger numbers, after the government of the Ming dynasty started producing "milled rim" cash coins these were universally accepted so fast that at one point merchants accepted only these coins, but as the reputation of the ''gold reverse'' cash coins was so strong the "milled rim" coins were eventually viewed as worthless and deprecated. The amount of copper-alloy cash coins produced by the Ming dynasty was higher than under the preceding
Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...
(which had used paper notes, or ''zhibi'' (紙幣), extensively instead of metal coinages), but never reached the annual production outputs of the
Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
period. The term " Zhiqian" (制錢) was used to discern full-valued cash coins produced by the imperial government from older ones from the
Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
period, which were known as ''jiuqian'' (舊錢), and privately produced forgeries of non-standard weights and alloys that were referred to as ''siqian'' (私錢) or ''sizhuqian'' (私鑄錢). Other terms used during the Ming dynasty for various types of cash coins include ''yangqian'' (样錢, "Model coin"), also known as ''Beiqian'' (北錢, "Northern coin"), which referred to full weight (1 ''qián'') and fine quality cash coins had were delivered to Beijing as seigniorage revenue. ''Fengqian'' (俸錢, "Stipend coin") which referred to second rate cash coins that had a weight of 0.9 ''qián'' and were distributed through the salaries of government officials and emoluments. and ''Shangqian'' (賞錢, "Tip money") which is a term used to refer to cash coins that were small, thin, and very fragile (comparable to ''Sizhuqian'') that were used to pay the wages of employees of the imperial government (including the mint workers themselves) and was one of the most commonly circulating types of cash coins during the Ming dynasty among the general population. In the year 1393 there were a total of 325 furnaces in the mints all over the
provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...
which together had an annual production performance of 189,000 strings of cash coins (with a string being 1000 cash coins). This amount was only 3% of the annual mint production under the
Northern Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Ten Kingdoms, endin ...
. The raw material copper that was necessary for the production of Ming dynasty cash coinage came from mines in the provinces of
Jiangxi ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...
,
Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...
, and
Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...
. In the province of Jiangxi alone, a total of 115 furnaces were operating. In the other Chinese provinces, where
copper ore Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
s were not naturally found to be mined, the government of the Ming dynasty had ordered the local people to deliver their copper objects to the provincial government mints for melting down to produce more cash coins. Despite the government preferring
paper money Paper money, often referred to as a note or a bill (North American English), is a type of negotiable promissory note that is payable to the bearer on demand, making it a form of currency. The main types of paper money are government notes, which ...
over copper-alloy cash coins, the Chinese market had a high
demand In economics, demand is the quantity of a goods, good that consumers are willing and able to purchase at various prices during a given time. In economics "demand" for a commodity is not the same thing as "desire" for it. It refers to both the desi ...
for them, this demand would stimulate an overproduction of forgeries that inundated the markets of Ming China, often these forged cash coins were cast in such miserable quality that a single real Zhiqian could buy 300 fake ones. Consequently, this caused inflation in many different places. Under the reign of the
Jiajing Emperor The Jiajing Emperor (16September 150723January 1567), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizong of Ming, personal name Zhu Houcong, art name, art names Yaozhai, Leixuan, and Tianchi Diaosou, was the 12th List of emperors of the Ming ...
the government of the Ming dynasty would alleviate the situation by producing a large amount of Zhiqian with the inscription Jiajing Tongbao (嘉靖通寶) in the year Jiajing 5 (1527). In the year Jiajing 11 (1553) the government of the Ming dynasty cast 10,000,000 additional Jiajing Tongbao cash coins as well as Zhiqian with 9 earlier reign era names. In total, this amount of coinage amounted to 1,000,000 ''dìng'' (錠). Despite reigning only for one month, cash coins were produced that bear the reign title of the
Taichang Emperor The Taichang Emperor (28 August 1582 – 26 September 1620), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Guangzong of Ming, personal name Zhu Changluo, was the 15th List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, emperor of the Ming dynasty. He was the ...
. These cash coins with the inscription Taichang Tongbao (泰昌通寶) were produced by his son, the
Tianqi Emperor The Tianqi Emperor (23 December 1605 – 30 September 1627), personal name Zhu Youjiao, was the 16th emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1620 to 1627. He was the eldest son of the Taichang Emperor and an elder brother of the Chongzhen ...
, in large quantities as a sign of
filial piety Filial piety is the virtue of exhibiting love and respect for one's parents, elders, and ancestors, particularly within the context of Confucian ethics, Confucian, Chinese Buddhism, Chinese Buddhist ethics, Buddhist, and Daoism, Daoist ethics. ...
. In the early 17th century an increase in the price of copper caused the government to reduce the amount of copper in the composition of the Zhiqian in favour of lead. Cash coins with the inscriptions Tianqi Tongbao (天啟通寶) and Chongzhen Tongbao (崇禎通寶) were of poorer quality than those producing during preceding periods. These cash coins tended to be both thin and brittle, due to the lowered amount of copper in their compositions. Chinese people at this point started to refrain from using copper-alloy cash coins and the markets preferred the usage of silver ingots instead. In the year 1621, Wang Xiangjian, the minister of war, had requested the government to cast Tianqi Tongbao cash coins n the denominations of 10 ''wén'', 100 ''wén'', and 1000 ''wén''. The government granted him permission to cast 10 ''wén'' cash coins leading to
debasement A debasement of coinage is the practice of lowering the intrinsic value of coins, especially when used in connection with commodity money, such as gold or silver coins, while continuing to circulate it at face value. A coin is said to be debased ...
, in 1622 their production had ceased. Initially these cash coins weighed 1 tael but was reduced to 0.5 tael, because of their reduced weight they were only accepted for 6 to 8 standard cash coins. In 1644 the Manchus captured Beijing from the
Shun dynasty The Shun dynasty, officially the Great Shun, also known as Li Shun, was a short-lived Dynasties of China, dynasty of China that existed during the Transition from Ming to Qing, Ming–Qing transition. The dynasty was founded in Xi'an on 8 Februa ...
, and then marched south capturing the forces loyal to the Ming. One of the first monetary policies they enacted was accepting Ming dynasty cash coins at only half the value of Qing dynasty cash coins, because of this Ming era coinage was removed from circulation to be melted into Qing dynasty coinage, this is why in modern times even
Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
coins are more common than those from the more recent Ming dynasty. A known variant of the Chongzhen Tongbao cash coins have only mint marks on the reverse side of the coin. An example of these Chongzhen Tongbao cash coins with mint marks the Chinese character "Zhong" (忠) which translates as either "loyal" or "honest" located above the reverse side of the square centre hole. During the
Chongzhen Emperor The Chongzhen Emperor (6 February 1611 – 25 April 1644), personal name Zhu Youjian, courtesy name Deyue,Wang Yuan (王源),''Ju ye tang wen ji'' (《居業堂文集》), vol. 19. "聞之張景蔚親見烈皇帝神主題御諱字德約,行 ...
's reign, there were a total of 156 different mint furnaces producing cash coins in operation. It remains currently unclear if the Chinese character "Zhong" (忠) refers to a particular mint or if it doesn't. Cash coins with this character typically have a diameter of 24.8 millimeters and a weight of 3 grams.


List of Ming dynasty cash coins by inscription

Historically, Chinese coins were round with a square hole in the center. On the obverse side, there are usually words indicating the emperor's reign name or era name. On the reverse side, there are words or graphic patterns often indicating denomination or a
mint mark A mint mark is a letter, symbol or an inscription on a coin indicating the mint where the coin was produced. It is distinct from a mintmaster mark, the mark of the mintmaster. History Mint marks were first developed to locate a problem. If a co ...
. It is also possible that there is nothing on the reverse side. In the early period of the Ming dynasty, though, there were many different types of coin. Examples include: * "Da Zhong Tong Bao" () * " Hong Wu Tong Bao" () * "Hong Xi Tong Bao" () * " Yong Le Tong Bao" () * " Zheng De Tong Bao" () * "Hong Zhi Tong Bao" () * "Jia Jing Tong Bao" () * "Jia Jing An Bao" () * "Wan Li Nian Zao" () * "Wan Li Tong Bao" () * "Tian Qi Tong Bao" () * "Chong Zhen Tong Bao" () Most of the coinage names are derived from the
titles A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...
of the reigns during which they were produced. For example,"Hong Wu Tong Bao" was produced during the Hongwu years (1368–1398). No coins with the inscription Zheng De Tong Bao (正德通寶) were ever produced for circulation by the
Zhengde Emperor The Zhengde Emperor (26 October 149120 April 1521), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Wuzong of Ming, personal name Zhu Houzhao, was the 11th List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1505 to 1 ...
, however during the late Ming, and early Qing era many " lucky charms" with this inscription were produced. These charms usually contained more decorative reverses featuring various auspicious depictions. Some Chongzhen Tongbao cash coins were produced with the denomination 2 ''wén'', and Chongzhen Tongbao cash coins produced by the
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mint had the mint mark "工" (Gong) inscribed to its reverse.


Guizhou local issues

During the Hongzhi period from 1488 until 1505 some Tribal Commissioners in the province of
Guizhou ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_map = Guizhou in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_alt = Map showing the location of Guizhou Province , map_caption = Map s ...
issued their own cash coins, rather than being bases on reign titles the inscriptions were based on place names.


Unused reign titles

No cash coins are known to have been cast and put into general circulation with the following seven Ming dynasty period reign titles: Jianwen (建文), Hongxi (洪熙), Zhengtong (正统), Jingtai (景泰), Tianshun (天顺), Chenghua (成化), and Zhengde (正德).


Words on the coinage during the transitional period

During the transitional period between Ming and
Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
, various rebels and pretenders made their own money with different Chinese characters on it. Usually, there are four words on each side of a coin.


Hong Xi Tong Bao

"Hong Xi Tong Bao" (洪, 熙通寶) was produced in 1425, during Hongxi years, when Zhu Gaochi was the emperor of Ming. These coins are very rare. Until now, only two of them have ever turned up in public. Still, one has been lost and the other now is in the Chinese History Museum. "Hong Xi Tong Bao" has been regarded as a piece of national historical relics in China.


Yong Le Tong Bao

"Yǒng-Lè Tōng-Bǎo" (永, 樂通寶) was produced by
Zhu Di The Yongle Emperor (2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Chengzu of Ming, personal name Zhu Di, was the third emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424. He was the fourth son of the Hongwu ...
, one of the emperors of the Ming. In the earliest days of the dynasty, paper money was widely used. After Zhu Di came to the throne, he carried out a series of reforms covering all fields, including politics, economy, culture, military and diplomacy. Stemming from diplomatic and foreign trade needs, he produced the "Yǒng-Lè Bǎo-Tōng" in 1408. Originally, the "Yǒng-Lè Bǎo-Tōng" was not intended to circulate within China itself as cash coins had gradually been replaced by silver sycees and paper money. The coin was instead intended for trade with countries like Japan and the
Ryukyu Kingdom The Ryukyu Kingdom was a kingdom in the Ryukyu Islands from 1429 to 1879. It was ruled as a Tributary system of China, tributary state of Ming dynasty, imperial Ming China by the King of Ryukyu, Ryukyuan monarchy, who unified Okinawa Island t ...
.


Chong Zhen Tong Bao

"Chong Zhen Tong Bao" (崇, 禎通寶) was the coin produced by the last Ming Emperor, the
Chongzhen Emperor The Chongzhen Emperor (6 February 1611 – 25 April 1644), personal name Zhu Youjian, courtesy name Deyue,Wang Yuan (王源),''Ju ye tang wen ji'' (《居業堂文集》), vol. 19. "聞之張景蔚親見烈皇帝神主題御諱字德約,行 ...
. It was issued in various denominations. On the reverse side, there are numerous characters and dots, whose meaning are still not clear. At the time, there were mints run by the Board of Revenue in
Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...
and Beijing.


Xing Chao Tong Bao

"Xing Chao Tong Bao" (興, 朝通寶) was produced by Sun Kewang, in 1649 (sixth year of Shunzhi), when he became the Dongping King.Li Chongzhi (李崇智),《中國歷代年號考》,中華書局,2004年12月 . (in
Mandarin Chinese Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...
)
At that time, Sun produced a large number of "Xing Chao Tong Bao" and it had its distinct features with a profound influence. The style of the Chinese characters on the coinage was plain. Most of the coinage was made of copper. Though the work was a little rough, it was given full weight. This style was reflected in the later "Li Yong Bao Tong", "Zhao Wu Tong Bao" (昭, 武通寶) produced by Wu San-Gui and "Hong Hua Tong Bao" produced by Wu Shifan.


Xi Wang Shang Gong and Zhang Xianzhong

Zhang Xianzhong Zhang Xianzhong (張獻忠 or Chang Hsien-chung; 18 September 1606 – 2 January 1647), courtesy name Bingwu (秉吾), art name Jingxuan (敬軒), was a Chinese peasant leader who led a peasant rebellion from Yan'an wei, Shaanxi (today Yulin, ...
was the famous leader of a peasant rebel army in the late Ming dynasty. In 1630, he joined the peasant rebel army. In 1643, he was entitled "Da Xing Wang". In 1644, he dominated
Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...
and became the king of
Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...
, named the reigning dynasty as "Da Xi" and his reign as "Da Shun". Zhang produced his own money called the "Da Shun Tong Bao" (大, 順通寶) as the official currency. In order to honor those who made contributions to Da Xi dynasty, he produced another money called "Xi Wang Shang Gong" (西, 王賞功) as an award to them. There are four kinds of "Xi Wang Shang Gong", which are made of gold, gilding, silver and copper. At that time, the peasant rebel army won the people's great admiration and support. The "Da Shun Tong Bao" was often sewn onto clothing as a sort of celebration to honor the peasant rebel army. Since it was very difficult to acquire the "Xi Wang Shang Gong", it was very rare and precious. It was nearly impossible to get, enough so that ordinary people could not often get it. As a result, there are very few remaining today.


See also

*
History of Chinese currency The history of Chinese currency spans more than 3000 years from ancient China to imperial China and modern China. Currency of some type has been used in China since the Neolithic age which can be traced back to between 3000 and 4500 years ...
*
Ancient Chinese coinage Ancient Chinese coinage includes some of the earliest known coins. These coins, used as early as the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BCE), took the form of imitations of the cowrie shells that were used in ceremonial exchanges. The s ...
*
Zhou dynasty coinage Chinese coinage during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods includes some of the earliest coins produced in the world. However, they were mostly not the typical round shape of modern coins. They included cowrie shells, Ant-nose coin, ...
* Liao dynasty coinage * Southern Song dynasty coinage * Western Xia coinage *
Jin dynasty coinage (1115–1234) The Jin dynasty was a Jurchen-led dynasty of China that ruled over northern China and Manchuria from 1115 until 1234. After the Jurchens defeated the Liao dynasty and the Northern Song dynasty, they would continue to use their coins for da ...
* Yuan dynasty coinage *
Qing dynasty coinage Qing dynasty coinage was based on a Bimetallism, bimetallic standard of copper and silver coinage. The Manchu-led Qing dynasty was proclaimed in 1636 and ruled over China proper from 1644 until its overthrow in 1912 as a result of the Xinhai Re ...
*
Economy of the Ming dynasty The economy of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) of China was one of the largest in the world during that period. It is regarded as one of China's three major golden ages (the other two being the Han and Tang periods). The period was marked by t ...


Notes


References


Sources

* * * She, Ben. Liaoning Provincial Museum - take you into the museum. * Zhong Guo Qian Bi Da Ci Dian Bian Zuan Wei Yuan H * Chinese Coin Dictionary: Yuan and Ming Dynasties (
Mandarin Chinese Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...
Edition)


External links


An overview of Ming dynasty coinage.


{{Ming dynasty topics Coins of China Cash coins Coinage Chinese numismatics