Is the ancient Japanese currency imitating the Tang Dynasty? Take the "Twelve Coins of the Imperial Dynasty" as an example to analyze its evolution

"Money is like fertilizer. If it is not spread into the fields, it is useless by itself."

This is Bacon’s insights on money, which deeply exposes the nature of money, and Japan’s "Imperial Twelve Money" also vividly Interpreted this sentence. Therefore, the "Imperial Twelve Coins" as a carrier for Japan to strengthen its legal system, will eventually end.

Japan has a long history of learning from China. especially reached its peak during the Nara period, when China was in the and Sui and Tang dynasties . During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Japan's politics and economy were also deeply imprinted with China, among which the "Twelve Coins of the Imperial Dynasty" was the most prominent.

The characteristics of the "Imperial Twelve Coins"

Since 708 AD, the Japanese imperial family has successively issued 12 currencies including " and tongkailing", "wanniantongbao", and "sacred power Kaibao", which will be collectively referred to in later generations. It is the "Twelve Money of the Dynasty".

As a product imitating the Tang Dynasty, the "Twelve Dynasty Money" naturally has a high degree of similarity with the currency style of the Tang Dynasty. is flake-shaped in appearance, and mainly has the same outer circle and inner square shape as the Tang Dynasty currency. The material is made of silver except for the first cast "Hetong Kailuo", and the next eleven coins are mainly made of copper Casting.

In addition, each coin is engraved with text, and the text content is mostly related to national wishes and year numbers. For example, "Chenghe Changbao" is named after being cast in the second year of Chenghe, and the word "Chang" is the hope that the country will prosper.

The characters on the coins are mainly written in official script or regular script. uses the "Shenbao of Wealth and Life" manufactured by Emperor Saga Hirohito in the 9th year as the dividing line. The money after this is in regular script. From this, it is not difficult to find that the "Imitate Tang Dynasty" not only imitated the Tang Dynasty in form and appearance, but also used the Tang Dynasty script for the money text. Profound.

"In May of the first year of copper, silver coins began to be distributed."

_blockspan5strongquote14 Kailuo" was originally made of silver. Because Japan has a small land area and scarce mineral resources, silver is very precious to them. It is not realistic to cast a large number of silver coins. Silver coins were quickly banned by copper coins.

"Hetong Kailuo" has been used for about 52 years until AD 760, which is the fourth year of Emperor Atsushi Emperor Tianping.The Japanese dynasty issued a new currency- "Wan Nian Tong Bao". Not only that, but also cast "Kaiji Shengbao" and "Daping Yuanbao", but these two kinds of gold and silver coins are not produced in large amounts, so they are not the main body of market circulation.

"Wan Nian Tongbao" is the first time in Japan to use the word " Tongbao" to name a currency. Since then, the naming of the new Japanese currency will be inseparable from "bao" , This also shows a deeper level of Japan’s currency imitation of the Tang Dynasty.

The dynasty stipulates that both old and new currencies can be circulated in the market. means that one "Wan Nian Tong Bao" can be worth 10 "He Tong Kai Ling", which can speed up the new coin in the market Of circulation. After that, has adopted this 1:10 new and old currency circulation system for a long time to help the new currency enter the market quickly. However, due to the insufficient system, the currency market was chaotic. elephant.

In 765 AD, it was said that the Emperor of Germany also issued a new copper coin-"Shen Gong Kaibao", and continued adopted the method of circulation of new and old currencies at a ratio of 1:10 to speed up the new The circulation of currency promotes the growth of the country’s economy.

In 794 AD, Emperor Kanmu moved the capital to Heiankyo and began to construct the city. In order to solve the funding problem, the Dynasty had to increase the speed and quantity of new copper coins. However, The emperor of Japan focused on casting new copper coins, but ignored the market circulation and the needs of the common people. Therefore, the Japanese market economy became more chaotic.

Even so, the Japanese dynasty remained "dead and unchanging." In 796, the Japanese dynasty began to mint new copper coins in order to fill the funding loopholes caused by the city's construction. and the copper coin update speed It is worrying, and some are even less than 10 years apart, and the longest is only 22 years.

Until 890 AD, Japanese Emperor Udo successively minted and issued seven types of copper coins including "Longping Yongbao", "Shenbao of Wealth" and "Chenghe Changbao". The production of these seven copper coins helped the Japanese dynasty to resolve some financial crises to a certain extent, and the construction of Metropolis Ping An Jing gradually came to an end.

In 907 AD, Daigo Emperor issued a new copper coin again,Immediately afterwards, the finale of the "Twelve Coins of the Imperial Dynasty" in 958 AD appeared. However, both "Yanxi Tongbao" and "Qianyuan Dabao" are already very inferior coins, and they cannot even be called copper coins but should be called lead coins.

This is because the "Dynasty Twelve Coins" has gradually moved towards the path of reducing copper content and weight loss in the later stages. Unwilling to use copper coins for circulation.

Therefore, after the release of the "Qian Yuan Dabao", the reputation of copper coins has been lost. Copper resources are nearly exhausted, and the power of the samurai class rises, the power of the emperor is weakened, and the dynasty has to stop minting new coins. So far, the "twelve dynasty coins" came to an end in the history of Japanese currency.

Significance of the issuance of the "Imperial Twelve Coins"

The "Imperial Twelve Coins" mainly went through the two periods of Nara and Heian. Looking at these two periods, it is not difficult to find that Japan The issuance and circulation of royal currency largely depended on the formulation and promulgation of monetary policy. Currency issuance is not a natural need arising from the circulation of a market economy. Then why did the Japanese emperors continue to mint coins? What's the point of doing this?

The Nara period was a period when Japan fully imitated the Tang Dynasty.Regarding the system, Japan imitated China to establish a legal system country, and making the currency inside the outer circle circulate in the market has become one of the symbols of the legal system country. At this time, the coin in this shape has been given the color of rights.

At that time, the development of Japan’s commodity economy was immature, and people still did not adapt to using coins as a medium of exchange for goods. However, the emperor of Japan had to forcefully mint and issue them in order to implement the legal system perfectly. "Hetong Kailue" modeled on the Tang Dynasty currency "Kaiyuan Tongbao". Therefore, the issuance of "Hetong Kailue" actually has strong political implications.

After Emperor Huanwu moved the capital to Heiankyo, Japan began to enter . Heian era . Although a total of 9 coins with their own characteristics were also minted during this period, they were still inseparable from the "Kaiyuan Tongbao" of the Tang Dynasty. Basic form.

Carefully observe the "Twelve Dynasty Coins", we can easily find that no matter in terms of coin shape, size, text content, fonts, etc., all the figures of the Tang Dynasty "Kaiyuan Tongbao" are flooded. , is even as exquisite as "Kaiyuan Tongbao". So why did the Japanese dynasty do this?

First of all, Japan adopted a currency system modeled after the Tang Dynasty,Demonstrating the authority of the dynasty internally is helpful for the ruling class to govern the country, and it can promote the prestige of the country externally, and package the newly-emerging law-based country.

Currency itself has an economic function. The issuance of currency is also to encourage currency to enter the market and improve the current economic situation. To save economic losses, new currency still needs to be issued. However, compared to politics, the economic significance of currency is still slightly inferior.

The crudely fabricated "Twelve Dynasty Coins" eventually decayed

The word "Dynasty" in the "Twelve Dynasty Coins" is a vivid expression of the political system of a centralized and legal system centered on the emperor. . The political significance of these coins given by the dynasty is far greater than its economic significance. Therefore, this is also doomed to the end of the "Twelve Dynasty Coins" in the near future.

In 835 AD, the Emperor of Japan issued the "Long Years Big Treasure" coin, . However, due to poor workmanship, the quality and size dropped sharply, which largely caused the "long-term big treasure" Difficult to circulate. The "Zhenguan Yongbao" issued during the Zhenguan reign was even more crude, with extremely low copper content. This also gave the criminals an opportunity to take advantage of it, and caused a wave of "money writing" craze.

This state lasted until 890 AD,According to historical records, during the time of Emperor Uta, the total amount of tax-paying coins in a year was only about five or six hundred coins, not even half of the expected amount. makes the total amount of money unable to meet the needs of the country.

"Imperial Twelve Coins" began to decline in the later period, In the end, became very crude and the currency manufacturing resources became increasingly chaotic. Laiyue did not want to use copper coins, and the "Imperial Twelve Coins" also withdrew from the historical stage of Japanese currency with the ending "Qianyuan Dabao".

Summary

"Imperial Twelve Coins", as a product of a full-scale imitation of the Tang Dynasty during the Nara period, Japan, the main significance of its existence is not the need for the development of the commodity economy, but a scaffolding to maintain the rule of the Japanese emperor. Although it is a guarantee of national finances to a certain extent, its unbearable performance in market circulation channels is destined to end in tragedy.

"Imperial Twelve Coins" has added a lot of color to Japan’s currency history. This is an important decision for a country’s desire to grow and grow, and it is also a form of cultural exchange between China and Japan. witness.

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