Changes

==Paper==

==Paper==

[[File:Mingpapermoney.JPG|right|thumb|400px|An item of paper money from the [[Ming Dynasty]], c. 1375.]]

[[File:Ming-paper-money.JPG|right|thumb|400px|An item of paper money from the [[Ming Dynasty]], c. 1375.]]

Paper money was produced as early as the beginning of the 11th century, and though initially produced independently by [[Sichuan province]] merchants, the production of paper money (交子, ''jiaozi'') was taken over by the court in [[1024]]. It continued to circulate chiefly in Sichuan until the [[Southern Song Dynasty]], when it became more standard. In [[1161]], the Southern Song court issued a new type of paper money, called ''huizi'' 會子, for circulation in the [[Jiangnan]] region around [[Suzhou]] and [[Hangzhou]]. Backed by silver by the court, the ''huizi'' were originally intended as a temporary measure, but by [[1170]] became a permanent feature of the economic landscape. The ''huizi'' originally issued expired after three years, with the intention that people would exchange them with government offices for new issues; this discouraged saving, and encouraged the use of the bills only as a mode of exchange. However, by the 1230s, prices came increasingly to be marked in amounts of ''huizi'', rather than in coin, and after [[1240]], the court ceased placing an expiration on the value of the bills. By this time, paper and silver had become the standard modes of exchange, and bronze coins fell nearly out of use, comprising less than two percent of the currency disbursed in redemption of old ''huizi''. Still, these ''huizi'' notes remained in use chiefly in the Jiangnan region, while three other sets of currency became or remained standard in other regions, respectively.<ref>von Glahn, 251-254.</ref>

Paper money was produced as early as the beginning of the 11th century, and though initially produced independently by [[Sichuan province]] merchants, the production of paper money (交子, ''jiaozi'') was taken over by the court in [[1024]]. It continued to circulate chiefly in Sichuan until the [[Southern Song Dynasty]], when it became more standard. In [[1161]], the Southern Song court issued a new type of paper money, called ''huizi'' 會子, for circulation in the [[Jiangnan]] region around [[Suzhou]] and [[Hangzhou]]. Backed by silver by the court, the ''huizi'' were originally intended as a temporary measure, but by [[1170]] became a permanent feature of the economic landscape. The ''huizi'' originally issued expired after three years, with the intention that people would exchange them with government offices for new issues; this discouraged saving, and encouraged the use of the bills only as a mode of exchange. However, by the 1230s, prices came increasingly to be marked in amounts of ''huizi'', rather than in coin, and after [[1240]], the court ceased placing an expiration on the value of the bills. By this time, paper and silver had become the standard modes of exchange, and bronze coins fell nearly out of use, comprising less than two percent of the currency disbursed in redemption of old ''huizi''. Still, these ''huizi'' notes remained in use chiefly in the Jiangnan region, while three other sets of currency became or remained standard in other regions, respectively.<ref>von Glahn, 251-254.</ref>