Qufu

Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the Kong Family Mansion in Qufu*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	China
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, iv, vi
Reference	704
Region**	Asia-Pacific
Inscription history
Inscription	1994  (18th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO.

Location within China

Historical plan of the Temple of Confucius (1912)

Plan of the Temple of Confucius

Dragon pillar in front of Dacheng Hall

Tomb of Confucius

Qufu's South Gate

Qufu (Chinese: 曲阜; pinyin: Qǔfù; Wade–Giles: Ch'ü1-fu4) is a city in Shandong Province, China. It is located at 35° 36′ northern latitude and 117°, 02′ east, about 130 km south of the provincial capital Jinan and 45 km northeast of the sub-provincial city Jining. Qufu has an urban population of about 60,000, the entire administrative region has about 650,000 inhabitants.

Qufu is the birthplace of Confucius; it served as the capital of the State of Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period. Qufu contains numerous historic palaces, temples and cemeteries. Many of the major cultural sites in the city are all associated with Confucius, such as the three sites of the Temple of Confucius (Chinese: 孔庙; pinyin: Kǒngmiào), the Cemetery of Confucius (Chinese: 孔林; pinyin: Kǒnglín), and the Kong Family Mansion (Chinese: 孔府; pinyin: Kǒngfǔ). The Qufu complex of monuments have been listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1994.

Qufu also played a minor role in the Yanzhou Campaign of the Chinese Communists in 1948.

Within two years after the death of Confucius, his former house in Qufu was already consecrated as a temple by the Prince of Lu. In 205 BC, Emperor Gao of the Han Dynasty was the first emperor to offer sacrifices to the memory of Confucius in Qufu. He set an example for many emperors and high officials to follow. Later, emperors would visit Qufu after their enthronement or on important occasions such as a successful war. In total, 12 different emperors paid 20 personal visits to Qufu to worship Confucius. About 100 others sent their deputies for 196 official visits. The original three-room house of Confucius was removed from the temple complex during a rebuilding undertaken in 611 AD. In 1012 and in 1094, during the Song Dynasty, the temple was extended into a design with three sections and four courtyards, around which eventually more than 400 rooms were arranged. Fire and vandalism destroyed the temple in 1214, during the Jin Dynasty. It was restored to its former extent by the year 1302 during the Yuan Dynasty. Shortly thereafter, in 1331, the temple was framed in an enclosure wall modelled on the Imperial palace. After another devastation by fire in 1499, the temple was finally restored to its present scale. In 1724, yet another fire destroyed the main hall and the sculptures it contained. The subsequent restoration was completed in 1730. The replacement sculptures were destroyed during the cultural revolution in 1966. In total, the Temple of Confucius has undergone 15 major renovations, 31 large repairs, and numerous small building measures.

The temple complex is the second largest historical building complex in China (after the Forbidden City), it covers an area of 16,000 square metres and has a total of 460 rooms. Because the last major redesign following the fire in 1499 took place shortly after the building of the Forbidden City in the Ming Dynasty, the architecture of the Temple of Confucius resembles that of the Forbidden City in many ways. The main part of the temple consists of 9 courtyards arranged on a central axis, which is oriented in the north-south direction and is 1.3 km in length. The first three courtyards have small gates and are planted with tall pine trees, they serve an introductory function. The first (southernmost) gate is named "Lingxing Gate" after a star in the Great Bear constellation, the name suggests that Confucius is a star from heaven. The buildings in the remaining courtyards form the heart of the complex. They are impressive structures with yellow roof-tiles (otherwise reserved for the emperor) and red-painted walls, they are surrounded by dark-green pine trees to create a color contrast with complementary colors. The main buildings are the Stela Pavilions (e.g., Jin and Yuan Dynasties, 1115–1368), the Kuiwen Hall (built in 1018, restored in 1504 during the Ming Dynasty and in 1985), the Xing Tan Pavilion (simplified Chinese: 杏坛; traditional Chinese: 杏壇; pinyin: Xìng Tán, Apricot Platform), the De Mu Tian Di Arch, the Dacheng Hall (built in the Qing Dynasty), and the Hall of Confucius' Wife. The Dacheng Hall (Chinese: 大成殿; pinyin: Dàchéng diàn, Great Perfection Hall) is the architectural center of the present day complex. The hall covers an area of 54 by 34 m and stands slightly less than 32 m tall.

It is supported by 28 richly decorated pillars, each 6 m high and 0.8 m in diameter and carved in one piece out of local rock. The 10 columns on the front side of the hall are decorated with coiled dragons. It is said that these columns were covered during visits by the emperor in order not to arouse his envy. Dacheng Hall served as the principal place for offering sacrifices to the memory of Confucius. In the center of the courtyard in front of Dacheng Hall stands the "Apricot Platform", which commemorates Confucius teaching his students under an apricot tree. Each year at Qufu and at many other Confucian temples a ceremony is held on September 28 to commemorate Confucius' birthday. (see external links below)

The artifacts of the historical sites at Qufu suffered extensive damage during the Cultural Revolution when about 200 staff members and students of Beijing Normal University lead by Tan Houlan (谭厚兰, 1937-1982), one of the five most powerful student leaders of the Cultural Revolution, came to Qufu and destroyed more than 6000 artifacts in November 1966.

Cemetery of Confucius (Kong Lin)

The Cemetery of Confucius lies to the north of the town of Qufu, the oldest graves found in this location date back to the Zhou Dynasty. The original tomb erected here in memory of Confucius on the bank of the Sishui River had the shape of an axe. In addition, it had a brick platform for sacrifices. The present-day tomb is a cone-shaped hill. Tombs for the descendants of Confucius and additional stela to commemorate him were soon added around Confucius' tomb. Since Confucius' descendants were conferred noble titles and were given imperial princesses as wives, many of the tombs in the cemetery show the status symbols of noblemen. Tombstones came in use during the Han Dynasty, today, there are about 3,600 tombstones dating from the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties still standing in the cemetery. In 1331 construction work began on the wall and gate of the cemetery. In total, the cemetery has undergone 13 renovations and extensions. Eventually, by the late 18th century, the perimeter wall reached a length of 7.5 km, enclosing an area of 3.6 square kilometers. In this space, the tombs of more than 100,000 descendants of Confucius, who have been buried there over a period of about 2000 years, can be found. The oldest graves date back to the Zhou Dynasty, the most recent of which belong to descendants in the 76th and 78th generation. The corpse of the duke of Qufu in the 76th was removed from its grave and hung naked from a tree in front of the palace during the desecration of the cemetery in the cultural revolution. More than 10,000 mature trees give the cemetery a forest-like appearance. A road runs from the north gate of Qufu to the exterior gate of the cemetery in a straight line. It is 1266 m in length and lined by cypresses and pine trees. Along this road lies the Yan Temple, dedicated to Confucius' favorite student.

Kong Family Mansion (Kong Fu)

The direct descendants of Confucius lived in the Kong family mansion located to the east of the temple. They were in charge of tending to the temple and cemetery. In particular, they were in charge of conducting elaborate religious ceremonies on occasions such as plantings, harvests, honoring the dead, and birthdays. The Kong family was in control of the largest private rural estate in China. The first mansion was built in 1038 during the Song dynasty and was originally connected directly to the temple. During a rebuilding in 1377 directed by the first Ming dynasty Emperor, it was moved a short distance away from the temple. In 1503, it was expanded into three rows of buildings with 560 rooms and - like the Confucius Temple - 9 courtyards. The mansion underwent a complete renovation in 1838 only to perish in a fire 47 years later in 1887. It was rebuilt two years later; the cost of both 19th century renovations was covered by the Emperor. Today, the mansion comprises 152 buildings with 480 rooms, which cover an area of 12,470 square metres. The family mansion was inhabited by descendants of Confucius until 1937, when Confucius' descendant in the 76th and 77th generations fled to Chongqing during the Second Sino-Japanese War and later during the Chinese Civil War to Taiwan, where the head of the family still resides.

The layout of the mansion is traditionally Chinese, it separates official rooms in the front from the residential quarters in the rear. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of the buildings according to the seniority, gender, and status of their inhabitants reflects the Confucian principle of order and hierarchy: The most senior descendant of Confucius took up residence in the central of the three main buildings; his younger brother occupied the Yi Gun hall to the east.

The Five Strange objects are one of the main attractions of the Confucian Mansion

The strange couplet

The strange picture

The strange beast

The strange tree

The strange monument

Each of these has a particularly unusual feature about them.

In popular culture

In Sid Meier's Civilization IV, the Kong Miao is a religious complex that can be built by a Great Prophet, thus establishing a holy shrine dedicated to Confucianism in the Confucian holy city.
see also
Culture of China
Confucius

(source:wikipedia)

Chinese currency

The Renminbi (Chinese: 人民币) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China (PRC). It is the legal tender in mainland China, but not in Hong Kong and Macau. It is abbreviated as RMB, and the units for the Renminbi are the Yuan (元), Jiao (角), and Fen (分): 1 Yuan = 10 Jiao = 100 Fen. Fen have almost disappeared, so the coins in circulation are one yuan, five jiao, and one jiao. Banknotes range from one yuan to one hundred yuan, and vary both in size and color.

Hong Kong and Macau have their own monetary policies and currencies, the Hong Kong dollar and the Macanese pataca, respectively, that may not necessarily be compatible with the renminbi.

Currency of some type has been used in China since the New Stone Age. The Chinese also invented paper money in the 9th century.

Early history

Ancient currencies

Cowry shells are believed to be the earliest form of currency used in Central China, about 3000 to 4500 years ago. In the Chinese writing system, the traditional characters for 'goods' (貨), 'buy/sell' (買/賣), and 'monger' (販), in addition to various other words relating to 'exchange', all contain the radical '貝', which is the pictograph for shell. (Simplification changed 貝 to 贝.) However, the extent of the circulation of shells as currency is still unknown, and barter trade was supposed to dominate in the market. But copies of these shells made out of bone, wood, stone, lead and copper are common enough to suppose a trade system in them was used.

Bronzed shells were found in the Ruins of Yin, the old capital of Shang Dynasty (BC 1500-BC 1046). Bronze became a universal currency in the Zhou Dynasty.

The Chinese seemed to invent the first metal coins before 900 BC, in a tomb near Anyang. At that time, the coin itself was a mock of more earlier used cowry shells, so it was named as Bronze shell.

During the Warring States Period, from the 5th century BC to 221 BC, Chinese money was in the form of bronze objects that were of three main types. The Zhou, the Wei (魏), the Han (韓) and the Qin (秦) all used coins shaped like a spade (bu). The Qi (齊) used money in the shape of a knife (dao). The Zhao (趙) and the Yan (燕) used knife money before switching over to spade money roughly half way through the Warring States period. The Chu (楚) used money in the forms of "ant nose" coins (yibi).

[edit]Imperial China

As part of the Unification of China, Qin Shi Huang (Chinese: 秦始皇; pinyin: Qín Shǐ Huáng, 260 BC – 210 BC) abolished all other forms of local currency and introduced a national uniform copper coin based on the coins previously used by Qin. These coins were round with a square hole in the middle which remained the common design for most Chinese copper coins until the 20th century. Due to the low value of an individual coin, the Chinese have traditionally strung a nominal thousand copper coins onto a piece of string. However government taxes were levied in both coins and in products such as rolls of silk. Salaries were also paid in both the Qin Dynasty and Han dynasties in "stones" (石, dàn) of grain.

During the early Song dynasty (Chinese: 宋, 960–1279), China again reunited the currency system displacing coinages from ten or so independent states. Among pre-Song coins, the northern states tended to prefer copper coins. The southern states tended to use lead or iron coins with Sichuan using its own heavy iron coins which continued to circulate for a short period into the Song dynasty. By 1000, unification was complete and China experienced a rapid period of economic growth. This was reflected in the growth of coining. In 1073, the peak year for minting coins in the Northern Song, the government produced an estimated six million strings containing a thousand copper coins each. The Northern Song is thought to have minted over two hundred million strings of coins which were often exported to Inner Asia, Japan, and South-East Asia, where they often formed the dominant form of coinage. Song merchants rapidly adopted forms of paper currency starting with promissary notes in Sichuan called "flying money" (feiqian). These proved so useful the state took over production of this form of paper money with the first state-backed printing in 1024. By the 12th century, various forms of paper money had become the dominant forms of currency in China and were known by a variety of names such as jiaozi, qianyin, kuaizi, or guanzi.

The Mongol-founded Yuan dynasty (Chinese: 元, 1271–1368) also attempted to use paper currency. Unlike the Song dynasty, they created a unified, national system that was not backed by silver or gold. The currency issued by the Yuan was the world's first fiat currency, known as Chao. The Yuan government attempted to prohibit all transactions in or possession of silver or gold, which had to be turned over to the government. Inflation in 1260 caused the government to replace the existing paper currency with a new paper currency in 1287, but inflation caused by undisciplined printing remained a problem for the Yuan court until the end of the Dynasty.

Silver sycee (yuanbao) ingots

The early Ming dynasty (Chinese: 明; pinyin: Míng, 1368–1644) also attempted to use paper currency in the early re-unification period. This currency also experienced rapid inflation and issues were suspended in 1450 although notes remained in circulation until 1573. It was only in the very last years of the Ming dynasty when Li Zicheng threatened Beijing in 1643 and 1644 that printing took place again. For most of the Ming China had a purely private system of currency for all important transactions. Silver, which flowed in from overseas, began to be used as a currency in the Far South province of Guangdong where it spread to the lower Yangzi region by 1423 when it became legal tender for payment of taxes. Provincial taxes had to be remitted to the capital in silver after 1465, salt producers had to pay in silver from 1475 and corvée exemptions had to be paid in silver from 1485. The Chinese demand for silver was partially met by Spanish imports from the Americas, in particular Potosi [disambiguation needed] in Peru and Mexico, after the Spanish became established at Manila in 1571. However the silver was not minted. It circulated as ingots (known as sycee or yuanbao) which weighed a nominal liang (about 36 grammes) although purity and weight varied from region to region. The liang was often referred to by Europeans by the Malay term tael.

Late Imperial China maintained both a silver and a copper currency system. The copper system was based on the copper cash (wen). The silver system had several units which by the Qing Dynasty were: 1 tael = 10 mace = 100 candareens = 1000 li (silver cash).

In 1889, the Chinese yuan was introduced at par with the Mexican Peso and was subdivided into 10 jiao (角, not given an English name, cf. dime), 100 fen (分, cents), and 1000 wen (文, cash). The yuan was equivalent to 7 mace and 2 candareens (or 0.72 tael) and, for a time, coins were marked as such in English.

The earliest issues were silver coins produced at the Kwangtung mint in denominations of 5 fen, 1, 2 and 5 jiao and 1 yuan. Other regional mints were opened in the 1890s producing similar coins. Copper coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 wen were also issued. The central government began issuing its own coins in the yuan currency system in 1903. Banknotes were issued in yuan denominations from the 1890s by several local and private banks, along with the "Imperial Bank of China" and the "Hu Pu Bank" (later the "Ta-Ch'ing Government Bank"), established by the Imperial government.

Republic of China

Silver coins

The Republic of China was founded after the Xinhai Revolution toppled the Qing Dynasty. The Nanjing Provisional Government urgently needed to issue military currency for use in place of the previous Qing currency. Successively, each province declared independence from the Qing and issued their own military currency. In 1914, the National Currency Ordinance established the Silver Dollar as the national currency of the Republic of China. Although designs changed compared with Imperial era coins, the sizes and metals used in the coinage remained mostly unchanged until the 1930s. The majority of regional mints closed during the 1920s and 1930s, although some continued until 1949. From 1936, the central government issued copper ½, 1 and 2 fen coins, nickel (later cupro-nickel) 5, 10 and 20 fen and ½ yuan coins. Aluminium 1 and 5 fen pieces were issued in 1940.

Unfortunately, the 1920s and 1930s saw the price of silver appreciate in the international market. This led to a massive efflux of silver out of China and the looming prospect of the collapse of the national currency. It became evident that China could not retain the Silver Standard. The situation was exacerbated by the multitude of commercial, provincial and foreign banks issuing currencies all at different values.

Legal tender

In 1935, the Central Government enacted currency reforms to limit currency issuance to four major government controlled banks: the Bank of China, Central Bank of China, Bank of Communications and later the Farmers Bank of China. The circulation of Silver Dollar coins was prohibited, and private ownership of silver was banned. A new currency issued in its place was known as 法幣 (Pinyin: fǎbì) or "Legal Tender".

Customs gold units

Main article: Chinese customs gold unit

Customs Gold Units (關金圓, pinyin: guānjīnyuán) were issued by the Central Bank of China to facilitate payment of duties on imported goods. Unlike the National Currency which suffered from hyperinflation, the CGUs were pegged to the U.S. Dollar at 1 CGU = US$0.40.

Unfortunately, the peg was removed in 1935 and the bank allowed CGUs to be released for general use. Already awash with excessive paper currency, the CGUs only added to rampant hyperinflation.

1945–1948

After the defeat of Japan in 1945, the Central Bank of China issued a separate currency in the northeast to replace those issued by puppet banks. Termed "東北九省流通券" (pinyin:Dōngběi jiǔ shěng liútōngquàn), it was worth approximately 10 times more than fǎbì circulating elsewhere. It was replaced in 1948 by the Gold Yuan. Northeastern Provinces Yuan was an attempt to isolate certain regions of China from the hyperinflation that plagued the fǎbì currency.

Gold Yuan

The onset of World War II saw a sharp devaluation of the fǎbì currency. This was largely due to unrestrained issuance of the currency to fund the war effort. After the defeat of Japan and the return of the Kuomintang Central Government, a further reform was instituted in August 1948 in response to hyperinflation. The Gold Yuan Certificate replaced the fǎbì at the rate of 1 Gold Yuan = 3 million Yuan fǎbì = US$0.25. The Gold Yuan was nominally set at 0.22217g of gold. However, the currency was never actually backed by gold and hyperinflation continued.

1949–2000

Finally, in 1949, the Kuomintang again announced a reform with the introduction of the Silver Yuan Certificate, returning China to the Silver Standard. The Silver Yuan would be exchanged at 1 Silver Yuan = 100 million Gold Yuan and was backed by Silver Dollars minted by the Central Mint of China.

This currency was short-lived, as the Communist Party of China soon gained control of the Mainland provinces. It was replaced by currency issued by the People's Bank of China which was less prone to inflation.

After the retreat of the Kuomintang to Taiwan, the Silver Yuan remained the de jure legal currency of account of the Republic of China. This was despite the fact that only Taiwan Dollars issued by the Bank of Taiwan were circulating in areas controlled by the ROC. After a currency reform in 1949 created the New Taiwan Dollar, the statutory exchange rate was set at 1 Silver Yuan = NT$3.

An amendment was passed in 2000 to make the New Taiwan Dollar the official legal currency of the Republic of China.

Taiwan Dollar

The Bank of Taiwan was originally established by the Japanese in 1899 whilst Taiwan was under Japanese administration. The Bank issued Taiwanese Yen which was pegged to the Japanese Yen. After the retrocession of Taiwan to the Republic of China, the new Bank of Taiwan was allowed to continue issuing its own currency. Called "Taiwan Dollar", it replaced the Taiwanese Yen at par. This was an attempt by the Kuomintang to prevent hyperinflation affecting Fǎbì from affecting Taiwan.

However, mismanagement by the Governor-General Chen Yi meant that the Taiwan Dollar also suffered depreciation. It was replaced by the New Taiwan Dollar in 1949 at the rate of 40,000 to 1.

Japanese Occupation Money

The Japanese Imperial Government issued currency through several means during their occupation of China.

Manchuria

At the time of invasion of China's northeast in 1931, multiple currencies were circulating. These included local provincial issues, the Kuomintang fabi and Yen currencies issued by the Bank of Chosen and the Bank of Taiwan.

After the puppet state of Manchukuo was created, the Japanese founded the Central Bank of Manchou on July 1, 1932 in Changchun (長春), then known as Hsinking (新京). While the bank provided commercial functions, it also acted as a central bank and issuer of currency. The Manchukuo yuan was initially set at 1 Manchukuo yuan = 23.91g silver, but became pegged to the Japanese Yen at 1:1 in 1935 after Japan left the gold standard. The currency lasted until the end of World War II. It was replaced by the Northeastern Provinces Yuan issued by the Central Bank of China.

Inner Mongolia

Coin issued in 1938 by the Bank of Mengchiang

Prior to Japanese occupation, the predominant bank of China's northern provinces (including Suiyuan, Chahar and Shanxi) was the Charhar Commercial Bank. When the Japanese invaded, the bank evacuated the area taking all of its capital and all unissued currency. The Japanese military government quickly established the Channan Commercial Bank to replace its note issuing functions.

With the formation of Mengchiang puppet state, the authorities established the Bank of Mengchiang which amalgamated the Channan Commercial Bank with three other smaller regional banks. The Bank of Mengchiang issued Mengchiang Yuan from 1937 which was pegged to the Japanese Military Yen and Japanese Yen at par.

Collaborationist Governments

The Japanese managed to establish two collaborationist regimes during their occupation in China. In the north, the "Provisional Government of China" (中華民國臨時政府) based in Beijing established the Federal Reserve Bank of China (中國聯合準備銀行, pinyin: Zhōngguó liánhé zhǔnbèi yínháng). The FRB issued notes in 1938 at par with Kuomintang fabi. Although initially equivalent, the Japanese banned the use of Nationalist currency in 1939 and set arbitrary exchange rates in favour of the FRB Yuan. The FRB Yuan was replaced by Kuomintang fabi in 1945 at 1 FRB Yuan = 0.2 fabi.

The Wang Jingwei government in Nanjing established the collaborationist Nanjing Reformed Government (南京維新政府) in 1938. This was later reorganised into the Nanjing National Government (南京國民政府) in 1940. They established the Central Reserve Bank of China (中央儲備銀行, pinyin: Zhōngyāng chǔbèi yínháng) which began issuing CRB Yuan in 1941. Although initially set at par with the Nationalist fabi, it also was arbitrarily changed to equal 0.18 Japanese Military Yen. In 1945, it was also replaced by the Nationalist fabi at 1 CRB Yuan = 0.005 fabi.

Japanese Military Yen

The Japanese Military Yen was distributed in many regions throughout East Asia under Japanese occupation. Initially, these were issued as payment to soldiers. The intention was the pay out an infinite amount of Military Yen which could not be converted into Japanese Yen and therefore could not cause inflation in Japan. However, the destructive effects on local East Asian economies was not a major concern.

The currency became legal tender in China commencing in 1937. It was later replaced by issues from puppet banks. However, the currency remained in force in Hong Kong between 1941 and 1945. Initially set at HK$2 = JMY1, the Hong Kong Dollar was largely preferred by locals and hoarded away. In order to address this, the Japanese government made possession of Hong Kong Dollar illegal in 1943 and required a conversion to JMY at 4 to 1.

When the British returned to Hong Kong in 1945, Japanese Military Yen was changed back into Hong Kong Dollars at 100 JMY to HK$1.

People's Republic of China

Renminbi

Main article: Renminbi

RMB200 note issued in 1949

The Communist Party of China gained control of large areas of the northeast of China during 1948 and 1949. Although several regional banks were established, they were united in December 1948 as the People's Bank of China. Established in Shijiazhuang, the new bank took over currency issuance in areas controlled by the Communist Party.

After the promulgation of the People's Republic of China, there was a brief period where 100,000 Gold Yuan could be exchanged for 1 Yuan Renminbi.

Renminbi notes were issued in 12 denominations: 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 5000, 10000, and 50000 yuan. These denominations were subdivided into 62 styles. After adjusting the currency value with ratio 1:10000 in March 1955, the second edition of Renminbi were issued in 12 denominations, including 1 fen, 2 fen, 5 fen, 1 jiao, 2 jiao, 5 jiao, 1 yuan, 2 yuan, 3 yuan, 5 yuan and 10 yuan.

The People's Republic of China began issuing aluminum coins in December 1957, in denominations of 1, 2 and 5 fen. From 1961, China outsourced the printing of 3, 5 and 10 yuan notes to the Soviet Union.

The fifth and latest editions of the currency of the People's Republic of China have been produced since 1 October 1999. Notes have been produced in 8 denominations: old types of 1 fen, 2 fen and 5 fen, as well as new issues depicting Mao Zedong: 5 yuan, 10 yuan, 20 yuan, 50 yuan and 100 yuan. In 2004, a 1 yuan note depicting Mao Zedong first came into production. Since 1999, coins have been produced in denominations of 1 fen, 2 fen, 5 fen, 1 jiao, 5 jiao and 1 yuan.

Foreign Exchange Certificates

The Bank of China on the Mainland was chartered as the main foreign trade and exchange bank. Foreign visitors to China were required to conduct transactions with Foreign Exchange Certificates issued by the Bank of China between 1979 and 1994. These have been abolished, and all transactions now occur in Renminbi.

(source:wikipedia)

Chinese customs gold unit

The customs gold unit (CGU) was a currency issued by the Central Bank of China between 1930 and 1948. In Chinese, the name of the currency was 關金圓, literally "customs gold yuan" but the English name given on the back of the notes was "customs gold unit". It was divided into 100 cents (關金分). As the name suggests, this currency was initially used for customs payments, but in 1942 it was put into general circulation for use by the public at 20 times its face value in terms of the first Chinese yuan.

History

The customs gold unit was adopted 1 February 1930 to replace the Haikwan (Hǎiguān) or Customs tael (海關両) as the standard for customs payments. It was defined as equal to 601.866 mg fine gold or US$0.40. CGU notes were fully backed by silver and were legal tender for paying import duties. The CGU replaced the Haikwan tael at CGU150 = HkT100.

The CGU's value, fixed against the US dollar, fluctuated against the Chinese yuan, based on the current yuan–dollar and yuan–sterling market exchange rates. After the UK abandoned gold in September 1931, only the yuan–dollar rate was used until 1933, when the sterling price of gold in the London market determined the value of the CGU. Central Bank of China sold CGU notes at the prevailing quotation so that businessmen could minimize exchange risks resulting from changes in the yuan–dollar and yuan–sterling exchange rates. Use of this currency was very limited, with only about CGU375,000–475,000 outstanding at the time of the 1935 currency reform.

The Chinese currency reform of 3 November 1935, which created the Chinese national yuan or dollar (CNC$), commonly known as the Chinese legal tender dollar or fapi in English (Chinese 法幣; Pinyin: fǎbì), also fixed a crossrate of CGU100 = CNC$226.

The CGU's role in paying custom duties disappeared in 1941 when the government set ad valorem customs rates. On 1 April 1942 the custom gold unit's theoretical gold content was raised to 888.671 mg fine gold, equal to one US dollar. In practice, the customs gold unit lost all its special features and simply became equivalent to 20 Chinese legal tender dollars (CGU1 = CNC$20).

When Nationalist troops and officials arrived in Shanghai in 1945, they brought with them newly printed notes of 20 and 50 customs gold units. These notes proved more popular locally than Chinese legal tender notes and, due to a mistaken belief in the existence of a gold-redemption clause, they commanded a premium when exchanged for Central Reserve Bank notes of the Nanjing National Government. CGU notes circulated alongside ordinary legal tender notes until 1948, when both were replaced by the gold yuan at the rate of 1 gold yuan = 3,000,000 Chinese legal tender dollars = 150,000 customs gold units.

Banknotes

On 1 May 1930, the Central Bank of China put into circulation notes in denominations of 0.10, 0.20, 1, 5, and 10 customs gold units. These notes were printed by American Bank Note Company and dated 1930.

On 1 April 1942, Central Bank of China began to put into circulation its unissued stock of about CGU100 million in 1930-dated notes, including 20 and 50 denominations, not circulated previously.

In January 1947, Central Bank of China released notes of 250 and 500 customs gold units. Although dated 1930, these notes had been printed by American Bank Note Company in 1946. Inflation led to yet higher denominations: 1000, 2000, 5000 in December 1947, and 10,000, 25,000, 50,000, and 250,000 in July 1948, shortly before the currency reform of that year.

Several note types were produced by nine different printers, with slight differences in guilloche and size, but maintaining the same general design, with Dr. Sun Yat-sen on the face and the Shanghai Customs House on the back. The back of the notes bore the following English text preceding the denomination: "The Central Bank of China promises to pay the bearer on demand at its office here." Printers included the American Bank Note Company, Waterlow and Sons, the Security Banknote Company, the Chung Hua Book Company, Thomas De La Rue and the China Engraving and Printing Works.

Other uses

The Flying Tigers, an American volunteer group of pilots and ground crew that operated within the Chinese Air Force in 1941 and 1942 during World War II, was also paid in this currency.

See also

Chinese currency

Chinese yuan

Economy of the People's Republic of China

Economic history of China

(source:wikipedia)