A History of Chinese Currency

Sinopse

16th Century BC- 20th Century AD

“This is the first large-sized pictorial history of Chinese currency that has been published. It presents a vivid and systematic survey of the evolution of Chinese currency right from its very beginning.
The editors of this book, on the strength of their advantageous position, have collected more than 1,000 pictures of Chinese currency issued down through the ages, from the earliest Shang and Zhou Dynasties to comtemporary China. The book unfolds before the reader a panoramic view of the entire history of Chinese money culture. You are dazed by an array of ancient and modern Chinese currencies, such as Dao Bi (knife-shaped coin), Bu Bi (shovel-shaped coin), coins with a square hole in the centre, gold and silver coins and cloth and paper money of different historical periods. Probably for the first time in your life, you are let into the mystery of these wondrous currencies whose richness and multifariousness have stunned many scholars and connoisseurs.
A much-valued pecularity about this book is its coverage of the variety of money issued by the people’s regimes in history, such as money issued by peasant insurrectionary armies in feudal China, military notes issued abroad by Dr. Sun Yat-sen to raise funds for evolutionary activities and money circulated in the communist-led guerrilla areas. What is more, a substantial proportion of the currencies collected are rarities that have come to light for the first time. All these specimens of Chinese currency are not only curios for money-collectors but also objects of great historic and artistic value for the banking circles, libraries, museums of cultural relics, universities and financial institutions the world over.
The book consists of three parts: shells and metal coins, paper money and
money issued by the people’s regimes. All the pictures are reproduced from the originals and printed on art paper with exquisite craftsmanship. To facilitate study and comprehension of the history of Chinese currency, the book is provided with a number of appendices, listing the major events in the history of Chinese currency and giving further
information on the subject. “ in Introduction