Chinese Currency

China has a very long history of money circulation. It went through phases of prototype currencies, unwrought weight metals, cast coins and paper notes along with the emergence and development of commodity economy. During the Pre-Qin period (before 221 BC), various prototype currencies, unwrought weight metals and cast coins were successively brought into use. From Qin and Han dynasties (221 BC-220 AD) on, all kinds of Chinese coins fell into a round-with-a-central-square-hole form. It was not until the Song dynasty (960-1279 AD) that Chinese paper money came into circulation. Later under the influence of foreign coinage culture, modern Chinese minted coins emerged in the Guangxu reign (1875-1908 AD) of the Qing dynasty, which gradually changed the Chinese monetary system. Still, the Chinese monetary culture had a profound impact on that of the neighboring countries.