Research on the Evolution of Silver Purchasing Power in Chinese History: From the Wealth Illusion of "Carrying 100,000 Strings of Cash" to a Historical Perspective on Monetary Value

Abstract

The idiom "carrying 100,000 strings of cash and riding a crane to Yangzhou," originating from the Yin Yun Novels of the Southern Dynasties, paints an alluring picture of wealth and leisure. This paper aims to penetrate this literary wealth imagination and systematically comb and analyze the purchasing power changes of silver as the core currency in Chinese history from the Tang to the Qing dynasties from the perspectives of economic and fiscal history. By constructing a long-term purchasing power conversion model based on the price of grain (rice) and combining price, salary, and fiscal taxation records from various dynasties, this study quantitatively evaluates the actual value of one tael of silver in different historical periods and its corresponding estimated value in modern RMB. The research finds that the purchasing power of silver underwent dramatic fluctuations, from an extremely high peak in the Tang Dynasty to a significant decline in the mid-to-late Qing Dynasty. This process profoundly reflects the evolution of China's monetary system, the transformation of the socio-economic structure, and the impact of early globalization and Sino-foreign trade on the country's monetary foundation. Finally, this paper conducts a modern conversion of the actual wealth scale represented by "100,000 strings (taels)" of silver in different dynasties and explains its historical implications.