Archaeologists Reveal Why Ancient Silver Disappeared?
* Later, silver also occupied an important place in ancient societies and became a currency in circulation for a long time. Silver is measured in taels and is known as silver taels. Although there was a lot of silver in ancient times, why is it so hard to find it now?
Archaeologists have explained this. Silver was originally used as currency during the Spring and Autumn Period, and according to excavated artifacts, silver coins were used in the Chu State. However, during the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang did not use silver as the main currency, but chose ** and copper coins.
In the Han Dynasty, a silver coin with a round shape without a hole in the middle and engraved with a dragon pattern was extremely valuable, able to exchange for 1,500 catties of grain, and became a currency in large-scale circulation.
However, from the Han Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, the position of silver was gradually replaced by gold and copper coins. It wasn't until the Tang Dynasty that silver re-emerged as the main currency in circulation, in the form of silver ingots.
By the Song dynasty, the forms of money were more diverse, including gold, copper coins, and paper money, such as jiaozi, but silver eventually became the mainstream currency in circulation.
In the Ming Dynasty after the Yuan Dynasty, silver and copper coins became the main currency in circulation, and ingots were the silver of the Ming Dynasty. However, due to the frequent change of emperors, the silver of the Ming Dynasty has been depreciating, and in the last Chongzhen period, one or two pieces of silver could only buy more than 6 catties of grain, which is far from the purchasing power of the Han Dynasty.
It wasn't until the Qing Dynasty that silver really became the main currency in circulation, and it was a hard currency, so the value of silver was very strong. During the Qianlong period, one tael of silver could buy more than 80 catties of grain, and even in the late Qing Dynasty, one tael of silver could buy more than 70 catties of grain, which shows that the purchasing power of silver in the Qing Dynasty was very strong.
The way of consumption of ancient silver is not limited to monetary attributes, its biggest characteristic is *** Therefore, since ancient times, silver has been loved by the Chinese. Silver, along with **, pearls, agate, and various gemstones, has become the goal pursued by dignitaries.
Even ordinary people are full of yearning for silver, so the silver in society is consumed in large quantities. In ancient times, eunuchs and large families liked to use silver as burial items, and buried silver with gold and various jewelry, which was also a popular burial method for ancient nobles.
The ancients believed that these gold and silver jewels could still be used underground and still retain the wealth of the world, so they liked to be used for burials, which greatly reduced the amount of silver in society.
For example, in the Han Dynasty, the number of gold, silver and jewelry used as burial companions had reached about 30% of the total social output value at that time.
In the Qing Dynasty, the identity of ** underwent a major change and became a hard currency and was widely used. So, what about the large number of ** that circulates in society has gone?
In addition to the consumption methods of the above dynasties, the largest consumption method in the Qing Dynasty was indemnity. In a series of unequal treaties signed by the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty paid a large amount of indemnities, and these white flowers of silver went abroad.
The total amount of foreign indemnities of the Qing Dynasty was as high as 1.3 billion taels**, of which the amount of indemnities in the "Xinchou Treaty" reached 9800 million taels. These indemnities were large and denominated in silver, but the reserves were limited, resulting in a large loss of silver.
In addition, the Qing Dynasty also signed the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Shimonoseki with Japan, and paid 200 million taels of compensation, as well as other unequal treaties, such as the Sino-British Treaty of Nanjing, the Sino-Japanese War, the Opium War, etc., how much was lost in total?
It is estimated that the total amount of foreign indemnities paid by the Qing Dynasty was as high as 1.3 billion taels**. However, the total annual income of the Qing Dynasty treasury was only a few thousand taels, so the loss of 1.3 billion taels caused huge consumption, which was also the main reason for the large disappearance of ** in the Qing Dynasty.
In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the people fled to Taiwan in a hurry and took a large number of people with them. During the Qing Dynasty, a large amount of ** has been consumed, and **period** is still flowing out.
In addition, the national ** will send a large number of ** to Taiwan, resulting in a significant reduction in the mainland's ** reserves. As a result, the ancient ** is already very rare today. Now, although it is no longer used as a currency in circulation, it is still active in various fields.
In the industrial field, it is widely used in electronic components, chemical industry and photosensitive materials, etc., and a large number of ** as materials are required due to its good electrothermal conductivity and photosensitivity.
In modern society, ** is still one of the main *** materials for making jewelry and ornaments, so a large amount of ** is required as a raw material. In addition, silver also has a wide range of applications in the medical field, such as antibacterial, water purification, etc.
Therefore, the use of silver containers can effectively prevent the growth of bacteria and extend the shelf life of food, which is also an important use of silver. **is second only to ** and is still favored by investors today.
These uses have led to the widespread use of silver in numerous industries and fields, resulting in significant consumption. Therefore, in our daily lives, we may not often see the traces of **.
However, ** has not disappeared, it is used in many places that we can't see.
ConclusionSince ancient times, silver has been endowed with many practical values, especially in terms of circulating currency, which has been widely used and has become the focus of people's pursuit. However, after a variety of social consumption, especially after a large amount of indemnity money flowed abroad during the decay period of the Qing Dynasty, silver gradually faded out of people's vision.
Today, however, silver continues to realize its value in another way and has become an indispensable material for people.
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