中国古代早期黄金与黄金货币问题研究

A Study of Gold and Gold Currency in Early Ancient China

黄金具有美丽的光泽和优越的性能,是古代中国最早认识和利用的金属之一,其功能随着社会的发展而不断演化。在我国史前、商朝和西周时期,黄金仅用作贵族的饰品或部族的祭祀用品。战国末期,最早的黄金货币楚金版出现在楚国。它采用陶范浇铸而成,由于翻范时用布匹等衬垫,导致了布纹被翻印到了楚金版的背面。西汉时期的马蹏金、麟趾金,从出现的原因和实物本身的特点来看,基本功用应系祭祀而非货币,其上的"上""中""下"铭文,可能代表用于宗庙祭祀时摆放的位置或组合。各类媒体所盛传的"西汉巨量黄金消失之谜"是伪命题。西汉史料中记载的黄金,大部分是使用黄金衡量的价值尺度,实际支付时可以是铜钱或爵位等,当时并不存在巨量黄金。

Because of its beautiful gloss and excellent performance, gold was one of the earliest metals known and used by the ancient Chinese, and its functions have been constantly evolving with the development of the society. During the prehistoric period, Shang and Western Zhou dynasties in China, gold was only used as decorations for nobles or ritual supplies for tribes. In the late Warring States period, the earliest gold currency cast in the pottery mould appeared in the State of Chu. Due to the use of cloth or other padding measures, the fabric grain was reprinted to the back of the seal gold of Chu State. In the Western Han dynasty, according to the cause for emergence and the characteristics of the objects themselves, the horse-hoof-shaped gold and kylinhoof-shaped gold should mainly be used as sacrifice but not currency. The inscriptions on them may represent the position or combination in the sacrificial rites of the ancestral temple. "The riddle of the disappearance of enormous amount of Western Han gold" widely reported is a false proposition, for according to the historical materials, gold was mainly used as a value measure while copper coins or the rank of military exploit nobility were accepted in the actual payment. There was no enormous amount of gold at all.