初期明王朝の通貨政策

Abstract

It is well known that the Ming 明 was the first dynasty in history which came up from the Chiang-nan 江南 area. Because of this it acted as a mouth-piece for the interests of the landowning class in Chiang-nan. Consequently, the Ming, in order to become a real unified dynasty, brought great pressure upon the landowning class in Chiang-nan, freed itself from the South by moving the capital to Peking under Yung-lo 永樂, and established a united political system which contained and ruled the South from the North. Parallel with the political centralizing policies, centralization in the economic field, in particular in the field of currency which is its basis, involved the "paper bills of the Great Ming" (Ta-Mingpao-ch'ao 大明寳鈔). In this respect Chiang-nan differed greatly from Northern China in that as an advanced economic area, the silver economy was dominant there. Because silver possesses a value of its own, it circulates evea without government intervention. In other words, the economic world of Chiang-nan allowed the silver economy as a system in itself to circulate and function without regard to the existence of the Ming dynasty. Aiming at a unification of the economy, the Ta-Ming pao-ch'ao were issued to counter this. The usage of silver was prohibited, and the paper currency itself was made into a nonexchangeable currency without any backing by silver. To oppose the silver economy of Chiang-nan, one persisted in trying to make it circulate solely with the guaranty of state power. But, because the Ta-Ming pao-ch'ao as issued was a nonexchangeable currency, its value deteriorated year by year. 0n the other hand, the silver economy infiltrated the whole country. This meant that even the Ming, which politically ruled the South from the North, was unable to unify the North and the South in the economic sphere. Nevertheless, the issue of the Ta-Ming pao-ch'ao was a stage the early Ming had to go through ; in order to become a real unified dynasty.