近代中国货币本位制度考论

Research Issues and Essence of the Monetary Standard System in Modern China

清代,铜钱是政府铸造的法定货币,而银币在缴纳赋税、贸易结算中也起着重要作用,学界据此认为近代中国为“银钱复本位”或“银钱平行本位”。事实上,“银钱并行”体系下,无论是货币本身、制度还是技术层面,铜钱、银币都难以成为本位货币。铜钱虽为法货,但其并不按照自身价值流通,且历朝历代的形制差异较大。银币有实银两和虚银两之分,虚银两承担记账及结算功能,同时又有银锭和银元之别。晚清铜元、纸币等新式货币的冲击以及建立全国统一汇兑标准的技术难题,也使得本位制难以确立。随着英、美、日等国相继改定金本位,“本位制”概念得以传入中国,并引发朝野关于建立货币本位的争论。出于垄断货币发行权、解决财政危机等方面的考虑,晚清民初先后进行建立货币本位的实践。然而,由于孱弱的国家能力和有限的国家信用,高度统一的货币本位制度始终未能建立。

Copper coin was the legal currency minted by the government of the Qing Dynasty,while silver coin played a significant role in the tax payment and trade settlement of modern China.According to these two factors,the academic world holds that a bimetallic standard based on silver and copper was used in modern China.In fact,within the system of parallel use of silver and copper coins,it's difficult for both copper and silver coin to become the standard coin in either institutional or technical terms.Copper coin was the sole legal currency of the Qing Dynasty,but its circulation is not based on its own value.Copper coins of different dynasties vary quite a lot in their shapes and sizes.Besides,silver coins included both silver ingots and silver dollars.Silver ingot served as the settlement currency in long-term trade and tax payment,while silver dollar in the domestic daily trade.Since the UK,America,Japan and some other countries successively turned to the gold standard,the concept of"standard system"had been introduced into China and aroused great discussion.In order to monopolize the right to issue currency,counterfeit the enormous exchange losses,and meet the requirement made by big powers to reform the currency system,the government of the Qing Dynasty and later,the Beijing government,made the practice of establishing the currency standard.The UK,America,Japan and some other countries all played significant roles in the establishment of gold standard.However,the establishment of a highly unified currency standard system ended in failure due to weak national power and limited national credit of China at the time.