Chinese Central Monetary Policy, 1644-1800

Abstract

Vol. 8, No. 2 Late Imperial ChinaDecember 1987 CHINESE CENTRAL MONETARY POLICY, 1644-1800* Hans Ulrich Vogel Investigations in the monetary and price history of China can help us to understand the economic cycles of a given macroregion' or of the whole empire. In premodern societies, whose economy was already monetarized to a considerable degree, as was the case in early and high Qing China (1644-1800), the conditions of monetary supply and demand could have a deep influence on economic and social development. Such researches are also necessary to give us a clearer picture of monetary policies and theories of contemporary officials and scholars, although it must be said that these policies and theories were mostly aimed at alleviating existing or impending monetary crises and were thus rather devised as situational countermeasures than as comprehensive theoretical models.2 Until recently most studies on the monetary history of the early Qing have concentrated on silver and the economic and social impacts of silver supply conditions.3 This is justified, because silver was the most important * An abridged version of this essay was given as a lecture on the XXX European Conference of Chinese Studies, Torino, Italy, August 31-September 6, 1986. I would like to thank Professor ?-tu Zen Sun for her comments and Barbara Calli and James Lee for their editorial assistance . I would also like to thank both the Swiss Scientific Foundation and the Needham Research Institute for their financial support. I refer interested readers to my forthcoming book entitled "Chinese Central Monetary Policy and Yunnan Copper Mining, 1644-1800," to be published in 1988 by the Council on East Asian Studies at Harvard University in the Harvard East Asian Monograph Series for full primary source citations. 1 On macroregions in the Chinese case, see G. William Skinner, "Regional Urbanization in Nineteen-Century China." In G. William Skinner, ed., The City in Late Imperial China. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1977, pp. 221-249; G. William Skinner, "Presidential Address : The Structure of Chinese History," Journal ofAsian Studies 44.2 (Feb. 1985):27 1-292. 2 See the remarks of one of the leading authorities on the history of Chinese economic thought, Hu Jichuang, in his Zhongguo jingji sixiangshi (A History of Chinese Economic Thought). Shanghai: Shanghai remin, 1983, vol. Ill, pp. 718-723. 3 See Quan Hansheng, "Meizhou baiyin yu shiba shiji Zhongguo wujia geming de guanxi" (American Silver and the Price Revolution in China in the Eighteenth Century) and "Ming Qingjian Meizhou baiyin de shuru Zhongguo" (The Inflow of American Silver into China from the Late Ming to the Mid-Qing Period). Both in his Zhongguo jingjishi luncong (Collection of Articles on Chinese Economic History). Hong Kong: Xinya yanjiusuo, 1972, vol. II, pp. 475-508, 435-450; Quan Hansheng, "Ming Qing shidai Yunnan de yinke yu yinchan'e" (Silver Production Quota and Silver Taxes in Yunnan in the Ming and Qing Period). Xinya xuebao (New Asia Journal) 1 1 (March 1976):61-88; Otake Fumio, "Min Shin jidai gaikokugin no ryíinyü ni tsuite" (On the Circulation of Foreign Silver in the Ming and Qing Period). In 1 2 Hans Ulrich Vogel monetary metal in the bimetallic monetary system of early and middle Qing China. As silver was the main currency used in government finance and tax payments as well as virtually all larger commercial transactions, fluctuations in its value could considerably affect the economy. Particularly a rise in the value of silver and the ensuing deflationary effect on prices (at least on those expressed in silver) could lead to bankruptcies in the business sector and to increased tax burdens for peasants with negative results for almost all strata of Qing society. Such a deflationary phase was first experienced from circa 1656 to 1680 and has become known as the "Kangxi depression."4 The Daoguang depression from the 1820s to 1850 was undoubtedly even more severe and may well be one of the main reasons for the outbreak of the devastating civil war between the imperial government and the Taiping rebels (1850-1864).5 Somewhat less attention has been paid by scholars to the second medium of exchange, namely copper cash.6 One reason for that may be...

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