Introduction

摘要

Most economists and historians today conceive of money in narrow terms - probably because they have grown up in the modern world and are used to our system of coins, paper notes, cheques and credit cards. Although economic historians are generally aware that some earlier societies (in Africa, Scandinavia and elsewhere) used other items as money, they do not usually pay much attention to these examples. Few realise that the government of China, governing an empire of some 60 million people during the Tang dynasty (618-907), implemented a complex financial system that recognised grain, coins and textiles as money.