Southern Song Huizi Paper Money System

Timeline

1. 1160Hangzhou · Southern SongThe Southern Song court established the Huizi Office in Hangzhou and issued official paper money named 'huizi', printed in fixed amounts and backed by copper coin reserves for redemption, marking the paper money system's shift from local experiments to central monopoly.
2. c. 1170–1190Lin'an Prefecture · Southern SongHuizi expanded into the main paper currency circulating within the Southern Song realm; the court set reserve ratios and strictly banned private printing, with paper money circulating alongside copper coins and silver as the core means of disbursing annual revenue and military pay.
3. 1201–1210Lin'an · Southern SongThe Kaixi Northern Expedition and wars against Jin drove up military spending; the court issued more huizi and restricted copper coin outflow, causing the huizi-to-copper-coin exchange rate to keep falling, with popular refusal to accept it and black-market premiums coexisting as institutional credit began to erode.
4. c. 1240–1265Southern Song circuits of Liangzhe and Jianghuai · Southern SongUnder pressure from the Mongol invasion, finances were further overextended; huizi issuance far exceeded reserves, and repeated currency reforms and forced circulation failed to halt depreciation, until huizi was finally discontinued, bringing the Song paper money system into its final phase.