The Research Of Illegitimate Coppers In The Late Qing Dynasty (1875-1900)

Successive Chinese feudal governments always are afflicted with the problem of illegitimate coppers. Throughout the history of our coppers, wave upon wave of official and illegitimate coppers struggle rarely results. In the late Qing Dynasty, the problems of illegitimate coppers in the context of internal and external problems were especially acute. In the late Qing Dynasty, the disadvantages of official coppers and kinds of malpractice errors in currency management provided opportunity to illegitimate coppers casters. Casters melted the official coppers for copper and cast the illegitimate coppers out-of-the-way. The quality of those coppers was bad and its weighty was light. These illegitimate coppers were salted to the merchants in different cities throughout the sold network and were mixed with the legitimate coppers. Causing confusion in the market, silver prices, price volatility is ensuing, disruption of normal economic life of the people. It shakes the foundation of the rule of feudal dynasties. In view of this, the state has repeatedly strengthened criminal penalties for illegitimate coppers, but because of poor implementation, most of them is a dead letter. Magistrates working in their own area of a circle to the test illegitimate coppers e and the results are not entirely satisfactory. Test illegitimate coppers cannot completely solve the proliferation, but raises a series of new problems. That is why the private organizations of civil power cut develop. Although to some extent, achieved remarkable results, but also fails to solve the problem. The later Qing Dynasty needed change.