ABSTRACT

In the Western tradition, the value of currency is linked to the value of the quantity of precious metal contained in the coin(s), but in the Chinese tradition, currency is only a tool of exchange and of measure of value, without intrinsic value. This fiduciary conception of currency finds its origin in the use of sea-cowries as means of exchange and measure of the value as early as the late tenth century bc. During the late Spring and Autumn period, the growing demand for means of payment led the different kingdoms and principalities to start to use different objects and tools as money: mainly spades and knives, but grain, textiles and tools served as means of payment, or played by default the role of money. During the Warring States period, China took the first step toward monetization, as each kingdom had its own monetary system: knives in the north and northeast, spades in the Central Plain, round coins in the west, and gold and bronze cowries in the south. After the Qin unification, bronze cash became the unique monetary instrument, both a means of exchange or of payment and a general equivalent, i.e. measure of value.