<論説>元末明初期における徽州府下の貨幣動向

Abstract

従来、江南地方を中心とする民間での銀遣いの展開が明初の鈔法を崩壊に導いた主因とされてきた。本稿は、元末明初期の徽州土地売契から窺われる貨幣流通の変遷を追うことを通して、右の理解とは異なる見解を対置する。即ち、洪武・永楽期に行われていた鈔遣いは洪熈・宣徳以降急速に姿を消すものの、これに伴って徽州で優勢となるのは国庫通用性に支えられた布帛遣いであった。民間での銀遣いは、徐々に進行する租税銀納化のあとを追う形で一般化するのであり、明朝の統制を無視して展開する訳ではなかった。明朝に租税銀納を促したものは、民間での銀遣いの普及とそれに伴う妙法の不振ではなく、遠隔地間の大規模な財物移動を円滑に遂行することを必須とするようになった永楽以降の行・財政システムだったといえる。妙法の崩壊や民間での銀遣いの一般化は、明朝の行・財政システムの転換にその原因を求め得る。

Conventionally, the increasingly popular use of silver among people in the Jiangnan region has been held responsible for the collapse of the paper currency system in the early Ming. The purpose of this article is to provide a different explanation by following changes in the circulation of currency as reflected in land sale contracts in Huizhou during the late Yuan and early Ming. Paper currency was popular during the Hongwu and Yongle periods but rapidly disappeared during the Hongxi and Xuande periods. In Huizhou the disappearance of paper currency was accompanied by an increase in the use of cloth as currency, a practice that was supported by the acceptability of cloth as a means of paying taxes. The increasing use of silver at the popular level developed in the wake of the system of collecting taxes in silver－it did not develop in disregard of Ming government policy. The reason that the Ming government sought to collect taxes in silver was not because silver had become common after the disappearance of paper currency, but rather because from the Yongle periods on it became necessary to facilitate the long-distance transfer of government resources for administrative and financial purposes. The disappearance of paper currency and the popularization of silver can be attributed to changes in the administrative and financial system of the Ming dynasty.