Issue of the Great Ming Treasure Note and Inflation

Timeline

1. 1371–1374Nanjing · Ming dynastyEarly Ming followed Yuan precedent in issuing the 'Great Ming Circulating Treasure Note,' but copper coin supply was insufficient and the legacy effects of Yuan note depreciation persisted. The northern expeditions, large-scale military-agricultural colonies, and city construction of the Hongwu era were enormously costly, and the court urgently needed a unified paper currency system to support fiscal expenditure.
2. 1375Treasure Note Bureau (Nanjing) · Ming dynastyIn 1375 the Ming court promulgated the 'Great Ming Treasure Note,' with denominations from one guan down to 500 wen; treasure notes were to circulate alongside copper coins, and private trading in gold and silver was prohibited. The Treasure Note Bureau was responsible for printing and issuance, and the treasure note became the Ming dynasty's statutory principal currency.
3. 1376–1380The Ming provincial administrations · ChinaNorthern expedition military pay, official salaries, and relief expenditures drove massive additional issuance of treasure notes, while the recall mechanism was weak. By the end of the Hongwu era, treasure notes in circulation had depreciated sharply—one guan of notes exchanged for only several hundred wen of copper coins—prices of rice and other necessities rose, and private hoarding of gold and silver and barter became widespread.