19世紀 前半期 淸朝 制錢 鑄造 政策의 持續과 變化

Abstract

The Qing Dynasty inherited the name ''zhìqián'' from previous Chinese dynasties, which is the official coin of the dynasty. However, it was a unique feature of the Qing Dynasty that official coin(‘zhìqián’) was called national treasure(‘guóbǎo’) and added value. The Qing Dynasty continued to cast and drop official coins on the market for the cause of "attaching great importance to the system of the dynasty and benefiting the use of the people". However, just before entering the 19th century, the price of coins declined from the end of Qianlong, showing signs of a shift from high to low coin prices. Since the circulation of commercial coins was already at or above the appropriate level, official coins that were subsequently cast and dropped had to compete with illegal coins in circulation. However, it was not only coins secretly minted by the private sector but also small coins(‘xiǎoqián’) cast by the government office that were pointed out as the reason for the decrease in the price of coins. In addition, allegations have been raised that small coins cast by the government office make coins secretly minted by the private sector available for circulation. This was something that local officials had to solve by exerting administrative power. In other words, the problem of falling the price of coins due to the distribution of illegal coins became a task for local governments, and the constant dropping of official coins became a task for the central government. At the same time, "benefiting the use of the people" became a legitimate saying that the people should only enjoy profits through official coins. Through the above process, Despite the deepening decline in coin prices, Qing Dynasty continued its existing monetary policy satisfactorily. This was maintained through the maintaining of the existing law that official coins should function as national treasure and the pushing the congestion of illegal coins out as a task that should solved by local governments.