近代中国长江上游地区的商业信用票据:以巴县与江津为例

Commercial Credit Bills in the Upper Yangtze River in Modern China:A Case Study of BaXian and JiangJin

至少从清代中叶开始,长江上游地区商人之间从事银钱借贷或者赊货交易,均以商业本票或商业汇票为信用媒介进行支付。这两类商业票据是以商人或商号为信用载体,并在相当大的区域范围内流通的有价凭证,贯穿于近代商人之间的非现金交易、相互存款、贷款与再流转的来往过程。本文证明,以非正规金融为主的近代区域性商业票据之产生机制、基本特征与运作机制,与现代正规金融有异曲同工之处。

Starting from the middle of the Qing Dynasty,merchants engaging in silver and copper lending or buy on credit in the upper Yangtze River generally used commercial paper or commercial bill as the credit medium for payment.The credit carrier of these two types of commercial credit bills were merchants or firms.As valuable certificates,commercial credit bills were circulating in a relatively large area,running through the non-cash transactions,mutual deposits,loans and re-circulation between merchants in modern times.This article proves that the generation mechanism,basic characteristics,and operating mechanism of the modern regional commercial credit bills,which mainly dominated by informal finance,are similar to contemporary formal finance.