A Study Of The Monetization Of Silver In Song Dynasty

The monetization of silver in Song Dynasty is a research project of important value. Study of this project carries important significance to deepening the study of the currency history in ancient China and the economic history in Song Dynasty, exploring relations between the development of exchanges and the evolution of currency, and grasping the thread of thoughts for the development of ancient commodity economy.For the past half centuries, guided by the Marxist theory, a lot of results have been achieved regarding the research in the problem of the monetization of silver in Song Dynasty. Professor Li Yan, in the macro-visional field of production and exchanges, and integrating the monetary theory of the Marxist with the reality regarding the development of the ancient currency of china, has expounded scientifically the criterion and methodology to define the monetization of silver. And he also has given a deep analysis to the relations between silver and currencies in Tang Dynasty as well as the relations between the silver shortage and currency in Sichuan, having brought to light the relations between the level of exchanges and the monetization of silver. This has based the research upon a higher start point of academy. In recent years, integrating with the development of commodity economy in Song Dynasty, Li huai, Xiao Qing, Ma Li, Gao Conyming and the like also have studied the problem of the produce and monetization of silver. And thus, what is the prerequisite for the monetization of silver in Song Dynasty ? When and how had silver gained the function, means of circulation and measure of value and transacted completely from the commodity to currency? How had the development of exchanges made the transition happen? ... These questions are bulging out to be the important questions of the disciplinary front to the study of the economy history of Song Dynasty and thecurrency history of China.This thesis is to be divided into four parts such as "the development of the circulation of silver commodity: the important pjserequisite for tjtie monetization of silver", "one of the main marks in the monetization of silver: the obtainment of silver as measure of value", " a second mark in the monetization of silver: the obtainment of silver as means of circulation" and "the development of exchanges: the ^ajadamental agent for the monetization of silver", above of which will be the questions to be tried to answer. The main arguments for the thesis are: The monetization of silver refers to the process of silver's evolving to currency, namely, the process of silver's obtaining the function, measure of value and means of circulation. The start point for the monetization of silver in Northern and Southern Song Dynasty was the regime of Emperor Sheng Zong(1068-1085). It had developed for one century and later had finished preliminarily by the regime of Emperor Xiao Zong(l 163-1189). Silver had been a commodity before the regime of Emperor Sheng Zong and became a currency after the regime of Emperor Xiao Zong, having obtained the function, measure of value and means of circulation. The basic agent for the monetization of silver was the development of exchanges. It was the development of trades that that needed silver to act as currency and bestowed qualification of currencies on silver.Before the regime of Emperor Sheng Zong, silver had not obtained the function, measure of value and means of circulation, and was not a currency. In the late Tang Dynasty, however, the development of commodity economy and the occurrence of copper coin crisis (the scarcity of copper coin and its inconvenience resulting from heavy weight) led to the rapid development of price-converting trade. And silver as commodity began involving in the price-converting trade and exchanging with some other commodities through the price discounted in copper coins. The circulation of silver commodities had got a new development.With the development of the circulation of the silver commodity, delicate changes took place in the social role silver played. One was that,the. value of silver was widely compared with that of other commodities' through copper coins and the attribute of silver as social wealth was obviously strengthened. And the other was that, the material form of silver was exchanged frequently with other commodities and its fluidity was simultaneously strengthened. Accordingly, in the late Tang and early Song, the taxation in silver as well as the trans-regional flow of silver had been greatly developed and the phenomenon of pursuing the wealth-attributed silver had increased great deal. This meant that silver, which was a component of transferable social wealth, was more and more frequently circulated and transferred as the important representation for social wealth.With silver's involving in the price-converting trade to become the main assets which could flow and be transferred frequently as its prerequisite, from the regime of Emperor Sheng Zong to that of Emperor Xiao Zong(l068-1189), silver had gradually obtained the function, measure of value and means of circulation, which had been manifested focally in the evolution of the relations between silver and copper coins, and those between silver and silk.In the economic activities such as price-converting trade and its payment concerning the relations between silver and silk, the difference between the roles played by silver and silk was increasingly expanded till finally there occurred the phenomenon of replacing silk with and buying silk in silver. Silver began to be used to represent and exchange the value of silk which had acted as currency materials. Exchanges had listed silver out of various commodities including silk and had turned it into a new kind of special commodity.The outside and inside reciprocally with the evolution of the relations between silver and silk was that, silver in price-converting trade was getting an increasingly-close relationship with the existing currency, copper coins. Using simultaneously silver and copper coins developed continuously. Particularly, the formation of the relations of the exchange between silver and copper coins, the disappearance of the difference between silver and copper coins, and silver's obtaining "Guan and Wen units(Guan and Wen ware tow units of copper coin in ancient China)"allmeant that the relationship between silver and copper coins had changed into the relationship of exchanges between currencies.And thus, through the exchange relationship between silver and copper coins as well as reciprocally-changeable relations between silver and other commodities, the general human labor implied in commodities showed itself in the body of silver emerging out of the commodity world. Silver obtained the function of measure of value, became the special commodity acting as the universal equivalent and began to be used to measure and display the value of commodities.The same was that, with silver's participating in the price-converting trade to become the main assets which could flow and be transferred frequently as its prerequisite, from the regime of Emperor Sheng Zong to that of Emperor Xiao Zong( 1068-1189), the frequency of the exchanges between silver and other commodities had been further enhanced. Particularly under the conditions that silver had gradually got the function, measure of value, The exchanges between silver and commodities carried the significance of using silver to realize the price of commodities and displace the value of them. And meantime, the types of commodities exchanged with silver were further enhanced and silver gained from sales was used to buy commodities. There occurred the circulation of "commodities-silver-commodities". Silver began to become the tool to realize the circulation of commodities, turning into medium of exchange.Therefore, silver began to be considered as currency and even taken as operational capitals, circulating in the pattern of "silver-commodity-silver". In the borrow-and-Iend relations, there also occurred the circulation model of " silver-silver increased in value". In the meanwhile, the limit to the trans-regional circulation of silver decreased, the cost of circulation went down and even there occurred the phenomena to realize circulation of silver with the help of remittance. Accordingly, the shape of silver ingot completed the transition from the pencil-shaped to the spindle-shaped and developed gradually into the shoe-shaped. The spindle-shaped and shoe-shaped silver ingots were exactly the main shapes which were put into the circulation as currencies.And thus, with the increasingly deepening of silver's involvement in exchanges, silver became the tool and the medium of exchange to realize the transfer of the value of commodities, and in the form of the spindle-shaped and shoe-shaped, silver ingots joined in circulation as currencies. Silver got the function, means of circulation.Obtaining simultaneously measure of value and means of circulation marked that silver had transformed from commodities to currencies and that the monetization of silver was preliminarily realized. The basic agent for the monetization of silver was the development of exchanges. From the middle Tang to Northern and Southern Song, a series of changes had taken place in the circulation of staples. Commerce and the concerned service industry developed rapidly. Various social stratums were more widely involved in markets. A multi-graded market network sprouted new bud, with the interim market, township market, prefecture/district-centered market and national metropolitan market as their fulcrums. This marked that during the times of Northern and Southern Song, exchanges had increasingly broken through geo-restrictions and had got an unprecedented development.The development of exchanges brought forth the new requirements for the circulation of currencies. The existing currency, copper coins, however, could have no way satisfying the requirement of markets. "The syndrome of copper coin crisis" had lasted long, which was characterized with the scarcity of copper coins and their inconvenience for trans-regional carry. "Bianqianchao" and "Guanzi"(two types of ancient Chinese bills) could not solve the problem in the circulation of currencies, either. Therefore, silver whose attribute of social wealth and whose fluidity were increasingly strengthened was applied to solving the problem of "copper coin crisis" and was much more frequently and widely applied to exchanging with commodities and repaying "Bianqianchao". The increasingly-developing trades had listed silver out of the commodity world, gifted it with the qualification of currencies and had turned it into a kind of special commodity acting as universal equivalent. Silver was started in use for realizing exchanges and there occurred the circulation with silver as currency.