Song and Yuan Guanzi and Huizi Notes

Timeline

1. c. 1160–1230Lin'an Prefecture · Lin'an PrefectureThe Southern Song government issued huizi in Lin'an as an official paper currency, circulating in denominations such as one guan and five hundred wen; guanzi were additionally issued in Sichuan and elsewhere for the iron-coin regions and frontier trade, printed on paper with official seals, era names, and anti-counterfeiting patterns, and required to be exchanged every three years.
2. c. 1250–1279Jiangnan fiscal region · JiangnanIn the late Southern Song, heavy military spending and fiscal deficits led the court to overissue huizi, causing purchasing power to plummet; the people refused them or traded at black-market discounts. By 1279, when the Southern Song fell, huizi credit was severely damaged, providing a cautionary lesson for the early Yuan paper currency reforms.
3. 1321–1330Yuan capital Dadu · DaduThe Yuan inherited Song institutions, issuing Zhongtong and Zhiyuan jiaochao and banning private hoarding of gold and silver. In the early fourteenth century, increased fiscal outlays led to overissuance of jiaochao; gold and silver black markets and distorted price ratios appeared in Jiangnan markets, and a guanzi- and huizi-style paper currency credit crisis reemerged.
4. c. 1350–1368Yuan provinces · Yuan territoryThe Zhizheng-era issuance of Zhizheng jiaochao triggered hyperinflation, and the paper currency system descending from the Song-Yuan guanzi and huizi tradition suffered a complete collapse of credit. After the Ming dynasty was founded in 1368, baochao notes were still used initially, but the Song-Yuan notes themselves and their system ended with the fall of the Yuan.