dbo:abstract
- The Da-Qing Baochao (Traditional Chinese: 大清寶鈔) refers to a series of Qing dynasty banknotes issued under the reign of the Xianfeng Emperor issued between the years 1853 (Xianfeng 3) and 1859 (Xianfeng 9). These banknotes were all denominated in wén and were usually introduced to the general market through the salaries of soldiers and government officials. After the Taiping Rebellion had depleted the imperial treasury of the Qing dynasty the government reformed the cash coin system to include higher denominations with low intrinsic values essentially creating a fiat currency; this was a radical departure from China's past where the value of cash coins was dependent on their weight rather than any denominations. The same developments which lead to the creation of the new had also necessitated the reintroduction of paper money in China after it was absent for two centuries. The new paper currency came in two forms, one was the copper-alloy cash coins-based Da-Qing Baochao and the other was the silver sycee-based Hubu Guanpiao (戶部官票) which were both introduced simultaneously with the new debased cash coinage. However, the government did not keep adequate reserves of hard currency to back the new banknotes up. Many provincial governments didn't allow for taxes to be paid using paper money, and after a few years the government started refusing to convert the new paper money into hard currency; consequently, the Chinese people started to distrust it as a valid medium of exchange. In response to the ever more expensive military expenditures caused by the Taiping Rebellion, the government produced more and more high denomination banknotes, which were not convertible. This caused hyperinflation; by the year Xianfeng 9 (1859) the currency had become completely depreciated and was abolished. (en)
- 大清宝钞，是清朝咸丰三年（1853年）由清朝官方发行的纸币。以制錢為單位，面額從250文到50千文、100千文不等。上端有「大清寶鈔」漢文，中間印著制錢文數，花紋字畫用藍色印刷。 同时发行的还有户部官票。 (zh)
dbp:quote
- "The Board of Revenue has already memorialized to order each province to open an official cash office and issue official notes, to increase the casting of copper and iron cash and the various denominations of big cash. Upon receipt of this memorial WE thereupon issued an edict fully authorizing this. Because there is a shortage of funds, the currency system depends entirely on the circulation of standard cash was well as other forms of money without obstruction, so that the money supply will be sufficient for the People's livelihood in difficult times. A long time has passed and WE have only received memorials from the governors general and governors of Fujian, Shaanxi, and Shanxi to state that they have acted in accordance with the edict. As for the rest of the provinces, they have by no means as yet done so. Those governors-general and governors, if they had with full devotion managed their affairs, what need would there be for a year's delay? Are not the regulations settled? Fujian is well known to be a barren place and yet the regulations are already in effect there. Even if the situation is not the same in each province, it cannot be so difficult to establish the law and arrange these affairs. In general, delinquent local officials fear difficulties and live in improper ease, idle and negligent, procrastinating. They are really to be bitterly hated. LET each province's governor-general, governor and military commander, and the governor of the imperial prefecture take official notice of the original memorial of the Board of Revenue and take part with their subordinates, deliberating over the local circumstances, and then quickly establish an official currency office and also devise means to raise funds to open mints to increase the casting so that the legal cash and cash notes, the one supplementing the other, are issued. At the same time deliberate on the rules and regulations and memorialize on what is being done." (en)