淸朝 道光 연간의 洋錢과 ‘倣鑄洋銀’에 대해

Abstract

After the Spanish began mining large reserves of silver in the Americas in the 16th century, the Spanish Empire produced the “8 Reales” silver coin, which became the global currency for world trade thereafter. In China, the ascendancy of Spanish silver, dating form the seventeenth century, replaced the role of Japanese silver that had taken the leading place in the supply of silver in China along with some silver coins from various trading partners. During the Qing Dynasty, Silver Coins flowed into Guangdong region and it was generally called “Western Silver Coins (yángqián).” Because the silver content and the weigh of Western Silver Coins were more regular than those of Chinese silver taels, Western Silver Coins were convenient to use for Chinese people. For that reason, Western Silver Coins were valued more than the original silver content of them. These coins were mainly circulated in the southeastern coastal region of China. Against this backdrop, Chinese people were tempted to create imitations of Silver Coins, which were collectively called the “Imitations of Western Silver Coins (fǎngzhùyángyín).” Throughout the Qing Dynasty, silver played key roles in the financial system of China. However, the Qing government did not have a mint that manufactured silver coins, nor did it draw up rules about forms and usages of silver coins. On top of that, the government did not specifically control and regulate the circulation of Western Silvers Coins and the Imitations of Western Silver Coins. In the first half of the nineteenth century, however, the Qing government faced with the hike in silver price, which compelled the government to take measures to stabilize the price of silver. For example, the government banned the outflow of silver from China. It was at this point that the Chinese government found problems in the use Western Silver Coins and the Imitations of Western Silver Coins. From the government’s perspective, Western Silver Coins overvalued compared to Chinese silver taels could worsen the increase in the price of silver, and Imitations of Western Silver Coins was accused of transforming silver taels in China into Silver Coins for overseas trade. During the years of Daoguang Emperor, the Imitations of Western Silver Coins was banned by a law of different characteristics to protect Chinese financial system highly dependent on silver. In contrast, the Qing government did not promulgate any laws or regulations that imposed limitations on Western Silver Coins’ domestic circulation and outflows to overseas. Consequently, despite their silver content over ninety percent, Western Silver Coins remained in circulation without any restraints. The Qing government’s acquiescence to the use of Western Silver Coins was based on an idea that Western Silver Coins were in principle considered foreign stuffs from outside of China, having specific forms and a highly valued price that came from non-Chinese origins. By the same logic, bureaucrats of the Qing Dynasty were allowed to use Western Silver Coins for the convenience of commerce. What underpinned the Qing government’s conflicting responses to Western Silver Coins and the Imitations of Western Silver Coins during Daoguang era was the meaning of silver in Qing China: silver should function as a material for financial management.