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Currency history

Chinese yuan — late Qing and ROC mainland continuity

Chinese yuan: a historical unit of account.

Dates in use
Introduction and ending not established
Ancestry branch
Spanish real / peso

Its place in the family

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Chinese yuan — late Qing and ROC mainland continuity: documented and qualified family connections PREDECESSORS THIS CURRENCY SUCCESSORS Shanghai taelShanghai tael 1933 · DocumentedLater contribution or absorptionDocumented connection · 1933 Spanish real / peso de a ochoSpanish real / peso de a ocho 1750–1910 · QualifiedEarlier ancestry; immediate parent openQualified connection · 1750–1910 · Period of differentiation, not an exact foundation date. Mongolian tögrögMongolian tögrög 1925–1927 · DocumentedLater contribution or absorptionDocumented connection · 1925–1927 Jinan yuanJinan yuan 1941–1942 · DocumentedDocumented connection · 1941–1942 Harbin dayang — regional silver-dollar accountingHarbin dayang 1919–1925 · DocumentedDocumented connection · 1919–1925 Chinese yuan — late Qing and ROC mainland continuityChinese yuan Currency history

The story

The Archives essay gives the August 1948 reform as three million fabi yuan per gold yuan. [1]

The CBC describes gold-yuan reform in August 1948 and silver-dollar/certificate reform in July 1949. [2]

The CBC says those silver dollars and certificates did not circulate in Taiwan. [3]

Turning points

Account-unit observation

Wang identifies the silver yuan as China’s official monetary unit during 1910–1935, discussing the 1910, 1914 and 1933 standards within that account history. [4]

Account-unit observation

The promulgated National Currency Law named yuan as national unit; its regulations prescribed converting tael public accounts and private debts/contracts to yuan. This is explicit legal account-unit recognition. Regional enforcement required subsequent orders, so nationwide accomplished conversion is not asserted. [5]

Account-unit observation

Chinese silver yuan, called yanchaan locally, denominated Mongolian treasury and enterprise accounts before togrog replacement. Contemporary proclamation explicitly identifies Chinese silver yuan as preceding money. [6]

Silver replaced by legal-tender notes

The CBC dates the move from silver to legal-tender notes to 4 November 1935. [7]

Redenominated as

Official August 1948 reform; separate from market depreciation. [1]

Replaced by

Nationalist July reform sequence; no territory-wide adoption or ratio inferred. [2]

Sources and evidence

  1. Hsu Feng-yuan; National Archives Administration, Taiwan (2019) · 四萬換一元：新臺幣的發行與流通 C110 ↗
  2. Central Bank of China, Issue Department (1998) · Guide to Currency Issuance in Taiwan C111 ↗
  3. Central Bank of China, Issue Department (1998) · Guide to Currency Issuance in Taiwan C112 ↗
  4. Yeh-chien Wang · Secular Trends of Rice Prices in the Yangzi Delta, 1644–1935 C2006 ↗
  5. Republic of China government; translation transmitted by Paul S. Reinsch · National Currency Law and enforcement regulations, promulgated 7 February 1914; FRUS 1914 document63 C1747 ↗
  6. Herbert M. Bratter / US Department of Commerce · Herbert M. Bratter, The Monetary Use of Silver in 1933, US Department of Commerce, Trade Promotion Series 149; Bank of Mongolia · History of Bank of Mongolia C1526 ↗
  7. Central Bank of China, Issue Department (1998) · Guide to Currency Issuance in Taiwan C109 ↗

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“Chinese yuan — late Qing and ROC mainland continuity.” The Family Tree of Money. © Field Technologies, Inc. Reader edition 2026-10-13; research dataset v44. https://familytreeofmoney.org/currency/T-FTM000456.html

Editorial evidence supplement · Download dataset v44

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