I am a tiny, light and thin thing, yet I can become the embodiment of wealth and live among countless adorers;
Don’t think that I have been passed around several times and wrinkled up, yet I still enjoy popularity and am showered with all kinds of adoration…
I am the currency. I am your good friend and also a necessity in your life.
The long history can accumulate countless things. But do you know that behind the functions of currency and transactions, and in the circulation of materials and shapes, my ancestors and I have unconsciously created a wonderful tale of exchanges, interactions and integration among different ethnic groups.

1. The round square hole is “providence”

Looking through the “genealogy”, my ancestors have been active in the land of China since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

For example, cloth coins originated from bronze agricultural tools, mainly circulated in the Central Plains, and were closely related to agricultural civilization; Knife coins originated from ancient practical knife cutting, mainly circulated in the northern region and the Shandong Peninsula, and are closely related to fishing and hunting culture; Antnose coins originated from copper shells, which circulated and issued in Chudi; Derived from jade, it was first raised in the Wei state and later carried forward in the Qin state……

▲ “Anyang’s broadsword” bronze knife coin. (Photo source: National Museum of China)

▲ Chu State ant nose money. (Image source: China Numismatic Museum)

▲ Money. (Image source: China Numismatic Museum)

After Qin unified the world, in order to demonstrate the legitimacy of his rule, under the influence of the cosmology of “heaven and round place” and the political thought of “Mandate of Heaven and Imperial Power”, the famous “Qin Banliang” was launched.

▲ Qin State half a tael. (Image source: China Numismatic Museum)

This currency, called “half a tael coin”, is the first “big man” on our “genealogy”, it not only continued to the Han Dynasty as the earliest unified currency, but also promoted the “round square hole” to become a currency system that has been used for more than 2,000 years, witnessing the formation and development trajectory of the pluralistic and integrated Chinese nation.

Of course, the influence of half a tael is not limited to the Central Plains. Ethnic minority regimes in different dynasties also followed the example of the Central Plains and adopted the circular square hole shape in currency minting.

For example, the Northern Zhou Dynasty regime established by the Xianbei people once cast the “Northern Three Products” – Buquan, Wuxing Dabu and Yongtong Wanguo, although they were born far later than the five baht coins that were common in the Central Plains at that time, but they were like the “younger brothers and sisters” of the five baht coins, which were also round square holes and engraved seals.

The same pattern shows that the Northern Zhou regime has accepted and recognized the system and civilization of the Central Plains, and has the orthodox identity of “imperial power of the Mandate of Heaven“.

▲ Western Han Dynasty five baht money. (Image source: China Numismatic Museum)

▲ Northern Zhou “Buquan” copper coin. (Image source: China Numismatic Museum)

During the Five Dynasties period, the Later Tang, Later Jin and Later Han regimes established by the Shatuo people also added many new members to my family. The “Tiancheng Yuanbao” and “Qingtai Yuanbao” of the Later Tang Dynasty, the “Tianfu Yuanbao” of the Later Jin Dynasty, and the “Han Yuan Tongbao” of the Later Han Dynasty all continued the shape of the circular square hole.

Don’t underestimate these “distant cousins” of mine, their birth is also a proof that these regimes identify with the Chinese identity, and their circulation not only symbolizes the legitimacy of the change of dynasty, but also demonstrates the legitimacy of the “Mandate of Heaven and Imperial Power” of their respective regimes.

▲Five generations of “Tianfu ingots” copper coins. (Image source: China Numismatic Museum)

2. The most culturally recognized “Brother Kongfang”

People call me “Brother Kongfang”, but I am actually very educated. After talking about my life history, I would like to introduce you to a few “family members”, although they look different, but they carry the connotation of cultural exchange and identity between different regimes!

The first to appear is the “Five Elements Cloth”, which is the most distinctive coin in the “Northern Three Products”, born in the period of Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty Yuwen Yong. The concept of “five elements” was first derived from the Book of Shang. The “Five Elements” as the money text highlights Yuwen Yong’s admiration and recognition of the Confucian culture of the Central Plains, and also implies that the coins can be like the five elements, which can be mutually reinforcing, circulating and serving the people.

▲ Northern Zhou “Five Elements Cloth” copper coin. (Image source: China Numismatic Museum)

In addition, I would like to introduce the coins of the Qarakhanid Dynasty, a branch of my family in the Song Dynasty, which show the close historical origin and cultural identity of the Qarakhanid Dynasty and the Central Plains.

The Qarakhanid dynasty was a kingdom founded by a group of Uighurs who migrated westward to Central Asia after the collapse of the Uighur Khanate in Mobei in 840. The Uighur Khanate during the Mobei period had a close subordinate relationship with the Tang Dynasty, and during the Anshi Rebellion, the elite cavalry sent by the Uighur Khan helped the Tang Dynasty quell the rebellion. Later, when Tang Dezong ordered his daughter Princess Xian’an to make peace, the upper nobles of the Hui Dynasty wrote to the Tang Dynasty, proposing to change the “Uighur” to “Uighur”, taking the meaning of the strong and dexterous aerial falcon (falcon).

The Qarakhanid Dynasty, established after the Uighurs moved westward, still retains the historical memory of identifying with the Central Plains, which is why my ancestor has Qian Wen, the “Peach Blossom Stone Khan”, behind him.

▲ Qarakhanid Dynasty’s “Peach Blossom Stone Khan” coin. (Source: Documentary “The Historical Imprint of Xinjiang, China”).

Peach blossom stone means “China”. This fully shows that during the Song Dynasty, although the Western Regions were far away from the Central Plains, the kingdom here still had a strong sense of Chinese unity.

In addition, during the Song Dynasty, in addition to using a large number of Song coins, the Liaoxia Jin and other regimes also minted coins independently, and the number of members of my family doubled.

The Khitans initially traded through barter, and later imitated the Song Dynasty to mint era money. Liao Daozong, the eighth emperor of the Liao Dynasty, admired the Central Plains culture very much, he reigned for 48 years, and implemented a ten-year system of changing the yuan, in which Dakang money has ingots, Tongbao, Da’an money also has large and small changes, which are all influenced by Song money.

▲ Liao Dynasty “Dakang Tongbao” big silver coin. (Image source: China Numismatic Museum)

The Dangxiang people initially used Northern Song Dynasty money, and later began to mint coins as well. Among them, there are both Western Xia coins and Chinese coins, and from the development and changes of coin minting, writing and form, it can be seen that the influence of politics, economy and culture of the Song Dynasty has gradually deepened.

▲ Xixia “Yuande Heavy Treasure” regular script big money. (Image source: China Numismatic Museum)

The Jurchens who founded the Jin Dynasty showed that they identified with the Chinese civilization and had the orthodox Mandate of Heaven by casting round square-hole coins that embodied the idea of “Mandate of Heaven and Imperial Power” and could represent Chinese civilization.

▲ Jin Dynasty “Zhenglong ingot” copper coin. (Image source: China Numismatic Museum)

3. A Diverse and Integrated Numismatic “Family”

Our current renminbi is printed with Chinese, Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur, Zhuang and other ethnic languages. In the “family history” of numismatics, this multi-faceted numismatic script also has a long tradition.

As early as the Yuan Yingzong period, the “Zhiyuan Tongbao” has been printed with the Chinese language, the Ba Si Pa language, the Wuer language, and the Xixia language, which not only shows the “plurality” of the different ethnic languages, but also observes the “unity” of the round square hole, and vividly reflects the characteristics of the Chinese nation’s “unity in diversity”.

▲ to the Yuan pass treasure banknote (two through). (Image source: China Numismatic Museum)

The coins of the Later Jin and Qing dynasties inherited the “gene” of “multiple coins”. During the Nurhachi period, the Manchu and Chinese characters minted the “Mandate of Heaven Tongbao”, which not only illustrates the legitimacy and authority of his regime, but also reveals his identification with Chinese civilization.

In the Huang Taiji period, “Tiancong Sweat Money” was born, and the same as the “Heavenly Mandate Tongbao”, they imitated the Ming Dynasty’s “Tianqi Tongbao” as ten coins. The difference is that the casting of “Tiancong Sweat Money” is more exquisite, showing the improvement of national strength during the Huang Taiji period.

▲ Later Jin Huang Taiji “Tiancong Sweat Money” Manchu big money. (Image source: China Numismatic Museum)

After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, it was customary to continue to mint and issue round square-hole copper coins with Chinese characters on the front in the Central Plains, and the Manchu Discipline Bureau was added on the back to represent the Manchu and Han families.

In the border areas, in order to adhere to the principle of centralization and unification, and to take care of local traditional customs, on the premise of maintaining the circular square hole shape system, the local ethnic script was added to the back of the money inscription, and the traditional habits of using red copper in Xinjiang and silver in Tibet were taken care of in the material.

The appearance of these coins fully reflects the sense of community of the Chinese nation and has become the general consensus of all ethnic groups.

Fourth, the great unity of the people of all ethnic groups on the renminbi

Since modern times, traditional China has begun to transform into modern China, and our currency family has also ushered in major changes one after another.

The first “big man” in the modern “genealogy” was the “Guangxu Yuanbao”, which was a silver coin designed by Zhang Zhidong in 1890, replacing the traditional round square-hole copper coin with a modern mechanism silver dollar.

▲ Hubu Guangxu Yuan Treasury Flat Five Coin Silver Coin (Guangxu 29th year). (Image source: China Numismatic Museum)

In 1914, with the promulgation of the Beiyang Government’s “National Currency Regulations”, the currency representing the imperial system of the dragon was replaced with the head of the head of state.

In 1933, the “Chuanyang” silver dollar printed with the portrait of Sun Yat-sen was born, replacing the silver dollar with the portrait of Yuan Shikai of the Beiyang government, and realizing the unification of currency trading and settlement units throughout the country.

Later, the Nationalist Government implemented fiat currency reform. This move has promoted the recognition of the unity of the Chinese nation by all ethnic groups and political parties in China.

On the eve of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the “genealogy” of coins officially turned to a page belonging to the people. Since then, the theme of “great national unity” has been vividly embodied in the previous set of renminbi.

In 1948, with the successive victories of the Liberation War, the first set of renminbi was publicly issued, with a total of 12 denominations and 62 varieties, and the minority language version was printed. Its printing and distribution played an important role in the advancement of the Liberation War, the currency unification of the liberated areas, and the economic recovery and construction of New China.

▲The first set of RMB denominations and varieties. (Image source: “China Banknote Printing and Minting” WeChat public account)

From the issuance of the first set of renminbi in 1948, China has issued five sets of renminbi to now. In these coins, whether in words or images, we can see the great unity of the people of all ethnic groups. The sense of community of the Chinese nation is clearly reflected in the national business card of “RMB”.

This is a brief history of Chinese coins. We have different materials, different shapes, and different circulation ranges, but as a special cultural symbol, we have carried the exchanges and blends of various nationalities in the millennium, and recorded the historical moment of national equality and unity and the magnificent moment of social change.