Dynasties change, and the changes in the world are still changing. What remains unchanged is the long history of Chinese civilization. With the progress of the times, people's demand for life has become more diverse, and the self-sufficiency economic model advocated in ancient times can no longer satisfy the ancient people.
In the context of the demand for material exchange among the people, currency came into being.
It can often be seen in our usual TV series that Most people in ancient times used money to trade. After experienced the status of precious metals in the early days, silver later generally served as currency circulation .
But in our society today, it seems that there is basically no silver anymore. Many people will have questions, where did those silver go? Archaeologists have given some possible answers.
Circulation of silver
In costume TV series, from a few taels of silver thrown away casually when drinking tea and eating, from a box of silver when giving rewards, silver seems to appear frequently in people's daily lives.
But this is not the case. Unlike the common occurrence of silver in TV series, in the era of , there were very few people who could afford silver to pay the price of items.
The purchasing power of silver is slightly different in different dynasties. during the Song and Yuan dynasties, because the mining volume was relatively low, the amount of silver was not large. The scarcity of mining makes even one tael of silver have strong purchasing power. In , the Ming Dynasty , a tael of silver could be worth about five or six hundred yuan today.
Therefore, for ordinary people, will not buy things with silver at will in their daily lives. They use copper plate more to purchase daily items.
In fact, not only is the value of silver not as "at random" as you watch on TV, but the quality and appearance of silver are also different.
is different from the smooth and brightness of silver. The silver in real life is dark and covered with ugly tooth marks. In ancient times, there were also cases of fraud in silver, so people would choose to use their teeth to directly determine the authenticity of silver.
Squandering of silver
In ordinary people, the only silver may be stored. In wealthy families or royal nobles who have a lot of silver, the squandering of silver is very serious.
Nobles would use silver to create exquisite jewelry for the women in their homes. The royal family traveled and daily life were also extremely luxurious. For example, Qianlong went to Jiangnan several times, and he had to spend a lot of silver along the way. He also liked to build courtyards and buy antique collections.
Cixi You have to eat hundreds of dishes in the palace, and the materials used for clothing are extremely luxurious. Even if most of them are not used at all, it does not affect her insistence on this "popularity". She even costs tens of thousands of taels of silver to hold a banquet.
Not only did he live in luxury during his lifetime, but Cixi even asked for a large amount of silver to be buried with her after her death. In order to show her noble identity, her mausoleum was built for many years when she was alive and had been changing according to her wishes, and silver cost millions of taels.
People with different identities and statuses have different values of burial objects. However, since real gold and silver are easy to preserve, the ancient royal family usually chose gold and silver.
is the only one Cixi, and the total value of the burial objects in the tomb exceeds tens of millions of taels of silver. What's more, there are also the cost of silver for the construction of tombs and burial objects of royal descendants from various dynasties.
Under the turbulent situation, silver was lost
In addition to the squandering of silver by the royal nobles in the dynasty, the turbulence of the entire world situation in the late Qing Dynasty also caused a large amount of silver to be lost.
The decay and incompetent Qing Dynasty and the ignorant retreat made us far behind the world at that time. The consequences of self-confidence are often devastating, and the doors of the Qing Dynasty were opened toughly.
Foreigners trafficked opium that poisoned Chinese people. not only destroyed the physical health and mental state of the people, but also allowed the hard-earned money of ordinary people to flow into the pockets of Western powers .One family that was already barely able to make a living was even worse, and the silver loss was severe.
If malicious trafficking of such things is a war between spiritual destruction and human nature, then the war and plunder of the great powers is a further oppression. In order to resist the invasion of foreign enemies, started several wars, and each time silver was spent like flowing.
But this resistance is very powerful in the face of backwardness and differences between countries. The Qing Dynasty was forced to sign a treaty, and almost every one of asked for compensation for silver.
At this time, the Qing Dynasty's treasury was already stretched, and was actually asked to pay hundreds of millions of taels of silver. The huge compensation puts the entire country in crisis. At that time, the Qing Dynasty could not afford these debts at all, and the oppressed poor people were the ones.
has gone through several battles and the amount of silver that needs to be paid is increasing. The national treasury is deficient and the people are paying the burden, so they can only watch the silver gradually flowing abroad.
Another use
After several changes, the wheel of history has gradually advanced. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in modern times, silver was recycled by the state and replaced with the banknotes we use now. Many of the silver recovered from
are put into the furnace for making, and is made into other required materials, and some are also stored as metal resources.
In the process of modern industrial development, silver is indispensable. The unique properties of silver make silver necessary to make some composite materials of among many electronic and electrical appliances.
Even some unexpected things such as photography film need to be made of silver, because silver has a unique photosensitive nature.
In addition, people's living standards have improved and they have lived a stable and prosperous life. I will also pay more and more attention to my quality of life, and I will buy some silver jewelry in .
Silver can be made into necklaces, bracelets, earrings, etc., and is loved by the public because of its luster and value.
Conclusion
Under different historical periods, silver has always shouldered the mark of the times.
gradually appeared as a currency in ancient times, facilitating people's social life for exchange of things. It was a symbol of wealth at that time, full of life and was used relatively frequently.
Gradually in the war, silver became a precious thing. The turbulent environment and huge external debt oppression make its existence more valuable, but unfortunately, a lot of silver flowed into other countries at this time.
In the safe and happy present, silver seems to have disappeared from our sight. But in fact, this is not the case. silver has always existed, but at this time the silver has been behind the big stage of our daily life.
It appears quietly in the tool materials we use every day. Among our shiny accessories, is even made as a commemorative coin and has become a collection of some people.
Even though its quantity and frequency of appearance are lower than in ancient times, silver still has social value that cannot be ignored.
