The Way and Predicament of the Unification of Coins in Qin and Early Han Dynasties
The formation of the centralized state since the Warring States period,Qin and Han dynasties,accompanied by the need to master human and material resources,and its premise was that resources could be standardized and unitized so that they could be measured.The unified length,capacity,weight and coins were all the technology of governace developed for this purpose.However,the Ban-liang(半两)coins of Qin were quite different from each other,so the law stipulated that good and bad coins were mixed,and coins cannot be chosen,in order to make different coins mixed and equal.The value of coins itself was different but forced to be the same,which led to the formation of dual value.Under the coin system centered on taxation,choosing coins could not be banned,resulting in bad coins flooding the government.The government continued to demand that coins cannot be chosen,but instead solidified the dual value.And casting had brought about problems such as the demotion of power,and the coin problem had become a chronic disease of the Qin and Han dynasties.The unification of coins of the Qin and Han dynasties was in conflict with the actual technical level,economic situation and governing ability at that time,and we can better understand the unification of imperial China.
Ban-Liang CoinsUnification of CoinsTechnology of GovernaceChoosing Coins
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
