Comments on: Gresham’s Law http://www.froginawell.net/china/2005/10/gresham%e2%80%99s-law/ The China History Group Blog Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:35:30 -0800 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Jon Fernquest http://www.froginawell.net/china/2005/10/gresham%e2%80%99s-law/comment-page-1/#comment-122 Jon Fernquest Fri, 28 Oct 2005 04:48:02 +0000 http://www.froginawell.net/china/?p=45#comment-122 >That paper money had no intrinsic value was not a problem, >since Chinese money was usually seen as fiat. This explains why the Chinese started using paper money so much earlier >than anyone else. At least in the Ming dynasty that I've studied, paper money had a hard time being accepted. (Believe the Cambridge history goes into this.) "Dream of Red Mansions" shows how copper cash and weighed silver was used in everyday transactions. In the Ming Shi-lu entries for Tai states in Yunnan they received paper money when they went on tribute missions to Beijing, but they must have used it before they went back to Yunnan since Cowry shells were in use as currency until the 17th century. (See the Ming Shi-lu site at National University of Singapore). (Sorry for lack of references and Chinese characters, but I am currently travelling) >That paper money had no intrinsic value was not a problem,
>since Chinese money was usually seen as fiat. This explains why the Chinese started using paper money so much earlier >than anyone else.

At least in the Ming dynasty that I’ve studied, paper money had a hard time being accepted.
(Believe the Cambridge history goes into this.)

“Dream of Red Mansions” shows how copper cash and weighed silver was used in everyday transactions.

In the Ming Shi-lu entries for Tai states in Yunnan they received paper money when they went on tribute missions to Beijing, but they must have used it before they went back to Yunnan since Cowry shells were in use as currency until the 17th century. (See the Ming Shi-lu site at National University of Singapore).

(Sorry for lack of references and Chinese characters, but I am currently travelling)

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