Collection of Chinese renminbi yuan banknotes. ¹⁄₁₀ yuan to 10 yuan notes are of the fourth series of the renminbi. The fourth series of the Renminbi was the series introduced between 1987 and 1997, although the banknotes were dated 1980, 1990, or 20 to 100 yuan (red) are of the fifth series of the renminbi. The fifth series of the renminbi is the current coin and banknote series of the Chinese currency the Renminbi. The polymer note on the lower right commemorates the third millennium.

The yuan is, in the Chinese language, the base unit of a number of modern Chinese currencies. The same character is used to refer to the cognate currency units of Korea and Japan, and is used to translate the currency unit "dollar"; for example, the US dollar is called Meiyuan (美元), or "American yuan", in Chinese. Korea is a geographic area composed of two sovereign countries a civilization and a former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been When used in English in the context of the modern foreign exchange market, the "Yuan" or "Chinese yuan" most commonly refers to the renminbi (CNY).

One yuan is divided into 10 jiao (角) or colloquially "feathers" (mao) (毛). One jiao is divided into 10 fen (分). In Cantonese, widely spoken in Hong Kong and Macau, jiao and fen are called ho (毫) and sin (仙). Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Macau topics. "Sin" is a word borrowed into Cantonese from the English "cent".

Etymology and Characters

Yuan in Chinese literally means a "round object" or "round coin". During the Qing Dynasty, the yuan was a round, silver coin. Not to be confused with Qin Dynasty, the first dynasty of Imperial China

The character for yuan has two forms—a less formal, 元, and a more formal, 圓 or 圆. The pronunciation of the two is the same. The Japanese yen was originally also written 圓, which was simplified to 円 with the promulgation of the Tōyō kanji in 1946. The tōyō kanji, also known as the Tōyō kanjihyō (当用漢字 "kanji for general use" are the result of a reform of the Kanji characters The Korean won used to be written 圓 some time after World War II and as 圜 from 1902 to 1910, but is now written as 원 in Hangul exclusively, in both North and South Korea. This page provides the history of the currency prior to 1945 For the later South and North Korean currencies see South Korean won and North Korean won. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including North Korea is the commonly used short form name for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (or DPRK) a State located in East Asia, South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often referred to as Korea ( Korean: 대한민국 tɛː The Hong Kong dollar and Macanese pataca are also written as yuan in Chinese. The pataca ( ISO 4217 code MOP) is the currency of Macau. It is subdivided into 100 avos ( Cantonese: 仙 sin)

Shop prices in mainland China and Taiwan are usually marked with 元 after the digits. Mainland China, Continental China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term synonymous with the area that is under the jurisdiction Taiwan ( Taiwanese: Tâi-oân/Tāi-oân (historically 大灣/台員/大員/台圓/大圓/台窩灣 is an Island in East Asia. In mainland China, Y or ¥ before the digits is also common as well as the use of RMB to denote the currency.

The Chinese pronunciation of yuan is one syllable. In many parts of China, renminbi are counted in kuai (traditional Chinese: 塊; simplified Chinese: 块; pinyin: kuai; literally "piece") rather than "yuan". Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin Romanization system in use

Connection with dollar

Originally, a silver yuan had the same specifications as a silver dollar. During the Republican era (1911–1949), the English translation "yuan" was often printed on the reverse of the first yuan banknotes but sometimes "dollar" was used instead. This article discusses history of the state which currently governs Taiwan Area. ^[1]

In the Republic of China, the common English name is the "New Taiwan dollar" but banknotes issued between 1949 and 1956 used "yuan" as the English translation ^[2] whilst more modern notes lack any English text. REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES The New Taiwan dollar ( ( Currency code TWD and common abbreviation NT$) or simply Taiwan dollar, is the official Currency of the

First yuan, 1889-1948

The yuan was introduced at par with the Mexican peso, a silver coin deriving from the Spanish dollar which circulated widely in South East Asia since the 17th century due to Spanish presence in the region, namely Philippines and Guam. The peso ( sign: $; code: MXN) is the currency of Mexico. The symbol used for the peso is " $ " basically History Spain Following the introduction of the Guldengroschen in Austria in 1486 the concept of a large silver coin with high purity (sometimes known as "specie" The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP Guam ( Chamorro: cha Guåhån) officially the Territory of Guam, is an island in the western Pacific Ocean and is an organized unincorporated It was subdivided into 1000 cash (文, wén), 100 cents or fen (分, fēn), and 10 jiǎo (角, not given an English name, cf. dime). The dime is a coin worth Ten cents, or one tenth of a United States dollar. It replaced copper cash and various silver ingots called sycees. A cash ( 銅錢 tóng qián "copper money" or 銅錢 tóng bì "copper currency" was a type of coin of China and East Asia A sycee was a type of Silver or Gold Ingot currency used in China until the 20th century The sycees were denominated in tael. Tael can refer to any one of several Weight measures of the Far East. The yuan was valued at 0. 72 tael, (or 7 mace and 2 candareens).

1 yuan, 90% silver, commemorative; President Duan Qirui, minted in 1924

The earliest issues were silver coins produced at the Kwangtung mint. Duàn Qíruì (段祺瑞 ( Wade-Giles Tuan Ch'i-jui (1864 &ndash November 2, 1936) was a Chinese Warlord and politician commander Guangdong ( EFEO: Kouangtong; Pinyin Guǎngdōng; Postal map spelling: Kwangtung) is a province on the Other regional mints were opened in the 1890s. The central government began issuing its own coins in the yuan currency system in 1903. Banknotes were issued in yuan denominations from the 1890s by several local and private banks, along with banks established by the Imperial government.

After the revolution, a great many local, national and foreign banks issued currency. Although the provincial coinages mostly ended in the 1920s, the provincial banks continued issuing notes until 1949, including Communist issues from 1930. Most of the banknotes issued for use throughout the country bore the words "National Currency", as did some of the provincial banks. The remaining provincial banknotes bore the words "Local Currency". These circulated at varying exchange rates to the national currency issues.

During the 1930s, several new currencies came into being in China due to the activities of the invading Japanese. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. The pre-existing, national currency yuan came to be associated only with the Nationalist, Kuomintang government. In 1935, the Kuomintang Government enacted currency reforms to limit currency issuance to four major government controlled banks: the Bank of China, Central Bank of China, Bank of Communications and later the Farmers Bank of China. Bank of China Limited ( BOC) ( often abbreviated as 中行 is one of the Big four state-owned commercial Banks of the People's Republic Bank of Communications Limited ( BoCom or BoComm) ( often abbreviated as 交行 was founded in 1908 (the 34th year of the Guangxu reign period Qing Dynasty The Farmers Bank of China () was one of the largest banks in China and later in Taiwan. The circulation of silver yuan coins was prohibited and private ownership of silver was banned. The banknotes issued in its place were known as 法幣 (Pinyin: fǎbì) or "Legal Tender". Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin Romanization system in use Legal tender or forced tender is Payment that by Law, cannot be refused in settlement of a Debt ( Debtor cannot successfully be sued A new series of base metal coins began production in 1936 following the reforms.

Between 1930 and 1948, banknotes were also issued by the Central Bank of China denominated in customs gold units. The customs gold unit ( CGU) was a currency issued by the Central Bank of China between 1930 and 1948 These circulated as normal currency in the 1940s alongside the yuan.

In the aftermath of the Second World War and during the civil war which followed, Nationalist China suffered from hyperinflation, leading to the introduction of a new currency in 1948, the gold yuan. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

Coins

The earliest issues were silver coins produced at the Guangdong (Canton) mint in denominations of 5 cents, 1, 2 and 5 jiǎo and 1 yuan. Guangdong ( EFEO: Kouangtong; Pinyin Guǎngdōng; Postal map spelling: Kwangtung) is a province on the Other regional mints were opened in the 1890s producing similar silver coins along with copper coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 cash.

The central government began issuing its own coins in the yuan currency system in 1903. Anhui (in Chinese: 安徽 Ānhuī) is a province of the People's Republic of China. Zhejiang ( is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. ( Postal map spelling: Hopeh) is a northern province of the People's Republic of China. ( is a northeastern province of the People's Republic of China. This article is about the People's Republic of China province Henan ( is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country ( is a province of China, located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting (hence the name Hunan, meaning ( Postal map spelling: Hupeh) is a central province of the People's Republic of China. ( is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. Jiangnan or Jiang Nan ( sometimes spelled Kiang-nan) is a geographic area in China referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of ( Postal map spelling: Kiangsi is a southern province of the People's Republic of China, spanning from the banks of the Yangtze River ( Postal map spelling: Kiangsu) is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country ( Postal map spelling: Kirin; Manchu: Girin ula is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern Guangxi (or Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region;) is a Zhuang autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Guangdong ( EFEO: Kouangtong; Pinyin Guǎngdōng; Postal map spelling: Kwangtung) is a province on the ( also spelled Kweichow) is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country ( Postal map spelling: Shansi) is a province in the northern part of the People's Republic of China. ( is a coastal province of eastern People's Republic of China. ( Postal map spelling: Shensi) is a north-central province of the People's Republic of China, and includes portions of the Loess Xinjiang ( Uyghur: شىنجاڭ Shinjang;; Postal map spelling: Sinkiang; Turkish: Sincan, Sincan Uygur Özerk ( Postal map spelling: Szechwan and Szechuan) is a province in western China with its capital in Chengdu. Taiwan ( Taiwanese: Tâi-oân/Tāi-oân (historically 大灣/台員/大員/台圓/大圓/台窩灣 is an Island in East Asia. These were brass 1 cash, copper 2, 5, 10 and 20 cash, and silver 1, 2 and 5 jiǎo and 1 yuan. After the revolution, although the designs changed, the sizes and metals used in the coinage remained mostly unchanged until the 1930s. From 1936, the central government issued nickel (later cupronickel) 5, 10 and 20 fen and ½ yuan coins. Cupronickel or Coppernickel is an Alloy of Copper, Nickel and strengthening impurities such as Iron and Manganese. Aluminium 1 and 5 fen pieces were issued in 1940.

Banknotes

Banknotes were issued in yuan denominations from the 1890s by several local and private banks, along with the Imperial Bank of China and the "Hu Pu Bank" (later the "Ta-Ch'ing Government Bank"), established by the Imperial government. The Imperial Bank of China was the first Chinese-owned bank modelled on Western banks and banking practices During the Imperial period, banknotes were issued in denominations of 1, 2 and 5 jiǎo, 1, 2, 5, 10, 50 and 100 yuan, although notes below 1 yuan were uncommon.

The number of banks issuing paper money increased after the revolution. The Xinhai Revolution or Shinhai Revolution ( also known as the 1911 Revolution or the Chinese Revolution, began with the Wuchang Uprising Significant national issuers included the "Commercial Bank of China" (the former Imperial Bank), the "Bank of China" (the former Ta-Ch'ing Government Bank), the "Bank of Communications", the "Ningpo Commercial Bank", the "Central Bank of China" and the "Farmers Bank of China". Of these, only the Central Bank of China issued notes beyond 1943. An exceptionally large number of banknotes were issued during the Republican era (1911-1949) by provincial banks (both Nationalist and Communist). This article discusses history of the state which currently governs Taiwan Area.

After the revolution, in addition to the denominations already in circulation, "small money" notes proliferated, with 1, 2 and 5 cent denominations appearing. Many notes were issued denominated in English in cash (wén).

In the 1940s, larger denominations of notes appeared due to the high inflation. 500 yuan notes were introduced in 1941, followed by 1000 and 2000 yuan in 1942, 2500 and 5000 yuan in 1945 and 10,000 yuan in 1947.

Second (Gold) yuan, 1948-1949

Banknotes of the first yuan suffered from hyperinflation following the Second World War and were replaced in August 1948 by notes denominated in gold yuan, worth 3 million old yuan. Certain figures in this article use Scientific notation for readability World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including There was no link between the gold yuan and gold metal or coins and this yuan also suffered from hyperinflation.

Banknotes

In 1948, the Central Bank of China issued notes (some dated 1945 and 1946) in denominations of 1, 2 and 5 jiao, 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 yuan. In 1949, higher denominations of 500, 1000, 5000, 10,000, 50,000, 100,000, 500,000, 1,000,000 and 5,000,000 yuan were issued.

Third (Silver) yuan, 1949

In July 1949, the Nationalist Government introduced the silver yuan, which was initially worth 500 million gold yuan (Silver yuan on Chinese wikipedia). It circulated for a few months on the mainland before the end of the civil war. This silver yuan remained the de jure official currency of the Republic government on Taiwan until 2000.

Banknotes

The Central Bank of China issued notes in denominations of 1 and 5 fen, 1, 2 and 5 jiao, 1, 5 and 10 yuan.

Manchurian (Fengtien) yuan, 1917-1932

In 1917, the warlord in control of Manchuria, Zhang Zuolin, introduced a new currency, known as the Fengtien yuan or dollar, for use in the Three Eastern Provinces. Manchuria ( Romanized Manchu: Manju,, Маньчжурия Mongolian: Манж is a historical name given to a vast geographic region in northeast Zhāng Zuòlín ( Traditional Chinese: 張作霖 Simplified Chinese: 张作霖, Pinyin: Zhāng Zuòlín Wade-Giles: Chang Tso-lin Fengtian ( Postal map spelling: Fengtien Manchu: Abkai imiyangga fu) is The name of an old prefecture under which Shenyang It was valued at 1. 2 yuan in the earlier (and still circulating) "small money" banknotes and was initially set equal to the Japanese yen. It maintained its value (at times being worth a little more than the yen) until 1925, when Zhang Zuolin's military involvement in the rest of China lead to an increase in banknote production and a fall in the currency's value. The currency lost most of its value in 1928 as a consequence of the disturbance following Zhang Zuolin's assassination.

Banknotes

The Fengtien yuan was only issued in banknote form, with 1, 5 and 10 yuan notes issued in 1917, followed by 50 and 100 yuan notes in 1924. The last notes were issued in 1928.

Japanese Occupation yuan, 1937-1945

The Japanese occupiers issued coins and banknotes denominated in li (釐, 1/1000 of a yuan), fen, jiao and yuan. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Issuers included a variety of banks, including the Central Reserve Bank of China (for the puppet government in Nanking) and the Federal Reserve Bank of China (for the puppet government in Beijing). ( Chinese: 南京 Romanizations Nánjīng ( Pinyin) Nan-ching ( Wade-Giles The Japanese decreed the exchange rates between the various banks' issues and those of the Nationalists but the banknotes circulated with varying degrees of acceptance among the Chinese population. Between 1932 and 1945, the puppet state of Manchukuo issued its own yuan. Manchukuo (ja [[wikt満州国 満州国]] Manshūkoku lit "State of Manchuria " was a Puppet state in Manchuria and eastern The Manchukuo yuan (满洲国圆 was the official unit of Currency of the Empire of Manchukuo, from June 1932- August 1945

The Japanese established two collaborationist regimes during their occupation in China. In the north, the "Provisional Government of the Republic of China" (中華民國臨時政府) based in Beijing established the Federal Reserve Bank of China (中國聯合準備銀行, pinyin: Zhōngguó liánhé zhǔnbèi yínháng). The was a Japanese Puppet state that existed from 1937 to 1940 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin Romanization system in use The FRB issued notes in 1938 at par with Kuomintang yuan. Although initially equivalent, the Japanese banned the use of Nationalist currency in 1939 and set arbitrary exchange rates in favour of the FRB yuan. The FRB yuan was replaced by the Nationalist yuan in 1945 at 1 FRB yuan = 0. 2 Nationalist yuan.

The Wang Jingwei government in Nanjing established the collaborationist Reformed Government of the Republic of China (南京維新政府) in 1938. Wang Jingwei ( Traditional Chinese: 汪精衛 Simplified Chinese: 汪精卫 Pinyin: Wāng Jīngwèi Wade-Giles: Wang Ching-wei ( ( Chinese: 南京 Romanizations Nánjīng ( Pinyin) Nan-ching ( Wade-Giles The was a Japanese Puppet state that existed from 1938 to 1940 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. This was later reorganised into the Wang Jingwei Government (南京國民政府) in 1940. The Wang Jingwei Government was a Government under the leadership of Wang Jingwei in the Republic of China, set up by the Empire of Japan They established the Central Reserve Bank of China (中央儲備銀行, pinyin: Zhōngyāng chǔbèi yínháng) which began issuing CRB yuan in 1941. Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin Romanization system in use Although initially set at par with the Nationalist yuan, it was also arbitrarily changed to equal 0. 18 Japanese Military yen. In 1945, it was also replaced by the Nationalist yuan at 1 CRB yuan = 0. 005 Nationalist yuan.

Coins

In 1937, the Chi Tung Bank issued copper 5 li and 1 fen, and cupronickel 5 fen and 1 and 2 jiao in East Hebei. ( Postal map spelling: Hopeh) is a northern province of the People's Republic of China. The Mengchiang Bank issued cupronickel 5 jiao in northern China in 1938. The Hua Hsing Commercial Bank issued coins (dated 1940) in Shanghai in 1941. These were bronze 1 fen and cupronickel 10 fen. The Federal Reserve Bank issued aluminium 1 and 5 fen and 1 jiao between 1941 and 1943 from Beijing.

Banknotes

Five banks, the Central Reserve Bank of China, Federal Reserve Bank of China, Hua Hsing Commercial Bank, Mengchiang Bank and Chi Tung Bank, issued notes for use in the Japanese occupied areas. Denominations included ½, 1 and 5 fen, 1, 2 and 5 jiao, 1, 5, 10, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 5000, 10,000 and 100,000 yuan, with the denominations above 100 yuan only appearing in 1944 and 1945.

North-Eastern yuan, 1945-1948

After the defeat of Japan in 1945, the Central Bank of China issued a separate currency in the northeast to replace those issued by the puppet banks. Termed "東北九省流通券" (pinyin:Dōngběi jiǔ shěng liútōngquàn), it was worth 20 of the yuan which circulated in the rest of the country. Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin Romanization system in use It was replaced in 1948 by the gold yuan at a rate of 150,000 north-eastern yuan = 1 gold yuan.

Banknotes

In 1945, notes were introduced in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100 yuan. 500 yuan notes were added in 1946, followed by 1000 and 2000 yuan in 1947 and 5000 and 10,000 yuan in 1948.

First Communist yuan, 1930-1949

The various Soviets under the control of China's communists issued coins between 1931 and 1935, and banknotes between 1930 and 1949. Some of the banknotes were denominated in ch'uan, strings of wén coins. The People's Bank was founded in 1948 and began issuing currency that year, but some of the regional banks continued to issue their own notes in to 1949.

Coins

Various, mostly crude coins were produced by the Soviets. Some only issued silver 1 yuan coins (Hunan, Hupeh-Honan-Anhwei, Min-Che-Kan, North Shensi and P'ing Chiang) whilst the Hsiang-O-Hsi Soviet only issued copper 1 fen coins and the Wan-Hsi-Pei Soviet issued only copper 50 wén coins. ( is a province of China, located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting (hence the name Hunan, meaning The Chinese Soviet Republic issued copper 1 and 5 fen and silver 2 jiao and 1 yuan coins. The Szechuan-Shensi Soviet issued copper 200 and 500 wén and silver 1 yuan coins.

Banknotes

Notes were produced by many different banks. There were two phases of note production. The first, up until 1936, involved banks in a total of seven areas, most of which were organized as Soviets. These were:

Production of banknotes by communist forces ceased in 1936 but resumed in 1938 and continued through to the centralization of money production in 1948. A great many regional banks and other entities issued notes. Before 1942, denominations up to 100 yuan were issued. That year, the first notes up to 1000 yuan appeared. Notes up to 5000 yuan appeared in 1943, with 10,000 yuan notes appearing in 1947, 50,000 yuan in 1948 and 100,000 yuan in 1949.

Second Communist yuan, 1948-1955

Main article: Renminbi

As the communist forces took control of most of China, they introduced a new currency, in banknote form only, denominated in yuan. This became the sole currency of mainland China at the end of the civil war.

Renminbi yuan, 1955-

Main article: Renminbi

A new yuan was introduced in 1955 at a rate of 10,000 old yuan = 1 new yuan. It is known as the renminbi yuan.

First Taiwanese yuan

Main article: Old Taiwan dollar

In 1946, a new currency was introduced for circulation in Taiwan, replacing the Japanese issued Taiwan yen. The Old Taiwan dollar (舊臺幣 or 舊台幣 sometimes called Old Taiwan yuan, was the Currency of Taiwan, Republic of China from Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The yen (圓 was the Currency of Taiwan, between 1895 and 1946 It was not directly related to the mainland yuan.

Second Taiwanese yuan

Main article: New Taiwan dollar

In 1949, a second yuan was introduced in Taiwan, replacing the first at a rate of 40,000 to 1. The New Taiwan dollar ( ( Currency code TWD and common abbreviation NT$) or simply Taiwan dollar, is the official Currency of the Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. This is the currency of Taiwan today.

See also

• Chinese customs gold unit
• Etymology of the Korean currencies

References

External links

• Don's World Coin Gallery - China
• Ron Wise's World Paper Money - China ^{Mirror site}
• Tables of Modern Monetary Systems by Kurt Schuler - Asia ^{Mirror site}
• The Global History of Currencies - China
• Global Financial Data currency histories table ( Microsoft Excel format)