Did the Chinese Invent Money?
In the Introduction to this book, first published in English in 2010, I wrote: “The idea of sound money was present from the very beginning of modern monetary theory in the works of the sixteenth-century Spanish Scholastics. . . .” Recent research has shown that the seeds of the theory of sound money were already present in Chinese writings centuries before the Scholastics.[1]
China was one of the first countries to develop a metallic money that was valued and exchanged by weight. Evidence suggests that this monetary regime originated during the Shang Dynasty (1766-1122 B.C.) or the Zhou Dynasty (1122-221 B.C.). China was also one of the first countries to use precious metals as money and may have invented coined money. The long experience with a purely metallic monetary system naturally stimulated Chinese state officials, royal advisers, and philosophers to investigate and debate the origins and functioning of such a system and the policies
According to the popular folk tale, the Jade Emperor was originally a mortal by the name of Zhang Denglai. He is said to have been a minor functionary or common soldier who lived around the end of the Shang Dynasty and the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty . Zhang Denglai was one of the many people who died during the civil war that resulted in the toppling of the Shang Dynasty. As he fought for the Zhou Dynasty, Zhang Denglai was posthumously rewarded. These rewards were being distributed by Jiang Ziya, a noble who was instrumental in overthrowing the Shang Dynasty. One by one, the highest positions in the heavenly hierarchy were filled, until only the office of the Jade Emperor was left.
The Chinese communist leadership wants to date precisely the Xia, Shang and Zhou eras, but personally I am happy with just the Zhou, from which Confucius said he learned everything
张大千：心中有个神仙境界，就可以画出一个神仙境界_敦煌 sohu.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sohu.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
楼群中惊现无首古佛 高僧预言又要应验了？ soundofhope.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from soundofhope.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.