Southern Song Paper Money (Huizi/Jiaozi System)

Timeline

1. 1023–1127Yizhou (Chengdu Circuit) · Chengdu CircuitIn the first year of the Tiansheng era (1023), the Yizhou Jiaozi Office was established, bringing Sichuan's private jiaozi under government operation, making it the world's earliest government-issued paper money. Jiaozi used iron coins as reserves and was issued in fixed quotas, providing technical and administrative experience for the later Southern Song paper money system.
2. 1127–1150Lin'an Prefecture · Liangzhe CircuitAfter the Song court moved south, copper coins were lost in large numbers and military and fiscal expenditures surged. The court promoted guanzi and gongju paper notes in the Jianghuai region and elsewhere; Sichuan jiaozi continued in use, but there was no unified national paper money issuance system, and valuations and exchange rates of local notes varied widely.
3. 1151–1159Lin'an Prefecture and surrounding circuits · Southern SongFrom the 21st to the 29th year of Shaoxing, the scale of paper money circulation in southeastern markets continued to expand, with private and government notes used side by side, and phenomena such as paper outweighing coins and difficulty in exchange appearing. The court repeatedly deliberated on regulations for paper notes, accumulating institutional experience for the unified issuance of huizi.
4. 1160Lin'an Prefecture · Liangzhe CircuitIn the 30th year of Shaoxing, the Ministry of Revenue established the Huizi Office in Lin'an and formally issued huizi. Initially circulated in the southeastern circuits, it was denominated in copper coins, with one guan of huizi redeemable for one guan of copper coins, in denominations of one guan and 500 wen, printed with official seals and serial numbers for anti-counterfeiting, becoming the main circulating currency of the mid-to-late Southern Song.