User:Donald Trung/Guanzi (currency)

This is a concept page for the article Guanzi (currency), I will import more information as I go to not be dependent exclusively on Ulrich Theobald's ChinaKnowledge.de, as I am busy in real life I have not put a deadline on the launch of the Guanzi banknote article. For the pre-existing article see 關子.

Original draft

The '''Guanzi''' ({{zh|t=關子|s=关子|hp=guān zi}}), was a [[Song dynasty]] era form of paper money that served as [[promissory note]]s could that could be traded for goods and services, the seller that received these notes could go to an issuing agency and redeem the note for strings of coins at a small exchange fee, they were originally introduced as a form of payment to the military at which time the notes were known as ''jianqian guanzi'' (見錢關子), these banknotes circulated alongside the contemporary [[Jiaozi (currency)|jiaozi]] and [[Huizi (currency)|huizi]] notes. After 1190 the records stop mentioning Guanzi notes until 1264, this was an indication that Jiaozi and Huizi notes had superseded the Guanzi in importance. From 1264 new Guanzi notes were introduced such as the [[copper]] backed ''tongqian guanzi'' (銅錢關子), the [[silver]] backed ''yinguan'' (銀關), and the [[gold]] backed ''jinyin jianqian guanzi'' (金銀見錢關子), these notes were all introduced to combat the inflationary policy that had plagued the Huizi, the exchange rate between Guanzi banknotes and [[Cash (Chinese coin)|copper cash coins]] was 1 ''[[Cash (Chinese coin)#Stringing of cash coins|guàn]]'' for 770 ''[[Chinese cash (currency unit)|wén]]'' while Huizi notes of the eighteenth production period were valued at 3 ''guàn'' for 1 ''wén''. Despite these exchange rates the new Guanzi banknotes did not stop the inflation that had plagued the Southern Song dynasty during its waning years. There were 5 different denominations of Guanzi notes. == History == During the [[Tang dynasty]] there was a form of promissory notes known as ''jindai guanzi'' (金帶關子) that were exclusively exchanged between the [[Chinese nobility|nobility]] but became a more common form of currency over time as the transportation of large strings of copper cash coins was considered troublesome as they were heavy. During the Southern Song dynasty the military were paid in Guanzi banknotes that could be converted into cash coins at a fee of 10 wén per ''guàn''. The Guanzi notes mostly circulated in and around the capital city of [[Hangzhou|Lin'an]] and were specifically made for with [[Wuzhou|Wuzhounese]] tea merchants. Members of the court seeked to discourage the introduction of the Sichuanese Jiaozi because it wasn't backed by copper coins in sufficient numbers like the Guanzi were which is why after 1131 alongside the Huizi, the Guanzi would remain the paramount form of paper money in [[Southeast China]]. The central government had issued a number of Guanzi valued at 800,000 ''mín'' in 1159 which were planned to expire and be replaced after 3 years. The region of Huaidong had only printed 400,000 ''mín'' in Guanzi that were referred to as Gongju (公據) in 1159 but these already expired after 2 years.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://chinaknowledge.de/History/Terms/guanzi.html|title= guanzi 關子, a type of paper money.|date= 10 May 2016|accessdate=6 February 2018|work= 2000 ff. © Ulrich Theobald - ChinaKnowledge.de - An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.thoughtco.com/the-invention-of-paper-money-195167|title= The Invention of Paper Money - History of Chinese Currency|date=8 March 2017|accessdate=6 February 2018|work= Kallie Szczepanski (for ThoughtCo.)|language=en}}</ref><ref> ResearchGate [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/243793728_Study_of_the_corrosion_from_the_printing_plates_of_Guan_Zi%27_by_Raman_spectroscopy Study of the corrosion from the printing plates of `Guan Zi' by Raman spectroscopy] by Jilong Shi, Tao Li, Min Feng, Zhenwei Mao, and Changsui Wang. Received 22 April 2005; Accepted 13 December 2005; Retrieved: 06 February 2018.</ref> Around 1264 there were 20,000,000 Guanzi in circulation. == References == {{reflist}} == Sources == * Li Ting (李埏) (1992). "Guanzi (關子)", in Zhongguo da baike quanshu (中國大百科全書), Zhongguo lishi (中國歷史) (Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe), Vol. 1, 265. (in [[Mandarin Chinese]]) * Zhou Fazeng 周發增, Chen Longtao (陳隆濤), Qi Jixiang (齊吉祥), ed. (1998). Zhongguo gudai zhengzhi zhidu shi cidian (中國古代政治制度史辭典) (Beijing: Shoudu shifan daxue chubanshe), 367. (in [[Mandarin Chinese]]) == See also == * [[Economy of the Song dynasty]] {{Chinese currency and coinage}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Guanzi (Currency)}} [[:Category:Currencies of China]] [[:Category:History of Sichuan]] [[:Category:Medieval currencies]] [[:Category:Banknotes of China]] [[:Category:Economic history of China]] .