Barter

• Prior to the use of currency, the Chinese used the method of bartering, or the exchange of goods without the use of currency or money. The bartering system was in place from 9000 to 6000 B.C. The Chinese bartered with livestock and later used crops left over from harvest.
  
  

Cowry Shells

• About 1200 B.C., the Chinese began to use cowry shells as currency. This marked a dramatic transformation from the bartering system to a currency system, where an item serves as the medium for exchange. The use of cowry shells did not take away the bartering system. Bartering occurred concurrently as a form of exchange during this period. In fact, Endymion Porter Wilkinson writes in "Chinese History" that the Chinese used cowry shells as money because of the value attached to these objects as they were "connected to fertility rites or beliefs." Henry C. Koerper explains this connection in his paper, "Cowry Shells: Fertility/Fecundity Symbols in Southern Calfiornia Iconography," which explains that the cowry shell symbolized fertility because of its likeliness to the female vulva.
  
  

Metal Currency

• During the Zhou dynasty, cowry shells were cast in bronze and iron. Metal cowry shells were strung on double strands to be counted. From the fifth to the third centuries B.C., coins were made in bronze to model after spades and knives. The Warring States period introduced round bronze coins. The form was derived from a wheel, and each round bronze coin had a hole in its middle. The holes allowed the bronze coins to be strung together. The currency was unified during the Qin Dynasty in 221 B.C., and the banliang, a round coin with a square hole, became the official coin of the Chinese empire.
  
  

Silver

• The Chinese used silver ingots, or solid blocks, during late imperial China. Before the imperial times, silver played a minor role in currency. Two recorded instances in which silver was used were during the reign of Han Wudi and in the Jin Dynasty. Silver as currency became more common during the Tang Dynasty. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, when imports from the New World increased, silver as currency was more widely used.
  
  

Paper Money

• Paper money was introduced in China as Feiqian, or "flying money," when tea merchants in the Tang Dynasty wished to safely transfer their profits. They purchased vouchers from liaison offices organized by the provincial governments. These vouchers served to guarantee cash when presented in the province. The first printed paper money was introduced in the Song Dynasty. The design of the print money showed a rabbit kissing a needle. The popularity of paper money was revived in the 19th century under Western influence.