The Shang Dynasty circulated shell currency, why no one picked up seaside shells?Decrypted by experts
In the process of the development of human society, money, as a product of the development of commodity exchange, is, to a certain extent, the inevitable result of the antagonistic development of social labor and private labor.
At the end of primitive society, people began to barter, that is, barter, and physical resources such as livestock, animal skins, cloth, shells, pearls, and jade appeared. As human beings continue to evolve, the use of money as a derivative of pure economic behavior has expanded.
The continuous development of primitive physical money shows the speed of development of the social productive forces at that time. With the continuous development of society, there are more and more items that can be exchanged, and if the method of bartering is adopted, there will be great difficulties and inequality, and in order to avoid this situation, shell money came into being. As early as the Shang Dynasty more than 3,000 years ago, people began to use shells as intermediaries in the process of bartering.
To facilitate exchange, the Shang Dynasty introduced"Pembe"System. The shells are strung on a rope with two strings representing a penny, five large shells representing a penny, and ten small shells representing a penny. Here it is"Money"The process of becoming the earliest currency in China. In the Shang Dynasty, snail shells enjoyed a high status as a currency, and many princes and nobles buried snail shells in tombs as funerary objects. There are as many as 7,000 shell coins unearthed from the tomb of Wuhou in Yinxu, Henan. According to the calculation method at the time, such a large number of shell coins was equivalent to at least 700 horses, which shows that the queen of Wuding, the first female god of war in China, had a huge wealth.
It is worth noting that the practical function of the shell is very obvious, it is strong and durable, and it is easy to carry. Due to the underdeveloped technology of smelting and purifying metals in ancient times, shells had a natural advantage, and once they were used, they quickly became popular throughout the country. The currency used in the Shang Dynasty was seafood shells, which should not be difficult to find, but why didn't people go to the beach to pick up shells?
It is worth noting that the shells grow on the seashore and are colorful, bright and durable. The types of shells are divided into large shells and small shells, large shells such as tiger clams, banded clams, pebble clams, snake eyes, etc., and small shells are mainly cargo clams, palm shells, etc., which are mostly found in the rocks and reefs of the East China Sea and the South China Sea. The state has a very strict control over these bartered currencies, and the state not only issues coins for the shells, but also gives these shells to craftsmen to polish, drill, and grind them into two parts to facilitate transportation.
In coastal areas where shellfish are common, counterfeiting shell coins shouldn't be too difficult, even if the shell coins are hand-polished and marked. This is because polished coins do not have the security markings of modern banknotes, so they can be easily counterfeited. In fact, no one has ever forged their own coins, mainly because the shells needed to make them are intact and there are requirements for the types of shells needed for each coin, so although there are many shells in the coastal areas, there are very few that can be used to make coins.
In the middle and late Shang Dynasty, due to the continuous reproduction of the population, the country's population grew, the labor force increased, and the handicraft industry developed, becoming more and more frequent. The demand for coins has also increased, but the wide variety and ease of use of shells can no longer meet the needs of society, in order to solve this problem"Anti-shellfish"began to appear. Anti-shellfish are made of stones, bones, shells, ceramics and other materials to imitate the shape of small shells, the most precious of which are pearl oysters and jade oysters.
At that time, pearls and shells were the most expensive currencies that many ordinary people could not afford. From the end of the Shang Dynasty, imitation copper shells began to appear in large quantities, becoming the earliest metal currency in China, laying the foundation for the emergence of copper coins in later generations. However, the raw metal used to make copper shells was in the hands of the aristocracy, and the quantity control was very strict, and ordinary people did not dare to act rashly, and even if a large amount of copper coins were stolen, it was easy to be confiscated. Therefore, experts will say that smart people do not collect copper shells, after all, this is not as simple as we think, it is not good to collect real copper shells, and it is easy to be confiscated and convicted if you specialize in imitation copper shells, and you can make a fair profit.
With the continuous development of human production activities, currency has evolved into today's paper money, which has brought convenience to people's lives. However, no matter what era, counterfeit money still exists, but the country's laws do not allow it to be used in large quantities, and the production and selection of coins are relatively strict, so not everyone can make them.