The Dig: China Boom w/ Ho-fung Hung
Jacobin Radio
00:00
The Importance of the Early Modern Silver in the Chinese Economy
In the 16th century, demand for Chinese silken ceramics on the world market exploded. By the 18th century, China was absorbing the majority of silver that European colonialists were mining in the Americas. All long distance trade within China throughSilver is very important because the Chinese currency system used to rely on paper money and cotton coins. As China has low silver and Japan has stopped with the export of silver to China, then China at that time really dependent on American silver as a kind of a measure of value.
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