thumb|right|195px|(Coin's diameter c. 2.5 cm)

Liang (), or leung in Cantonese, also called "Chinese ounce" or "tael", was a traditional Chinese unit of currency measurement.

During the reign of the Xianfeng Emperor, the government of the Qing dynasty was forced to re-introduce paper money, among the paper money it produced were the Hubu Guanpiao (戶部官票) silver notes that were denominated in liangs.

The forced opening of China during the Qing dynasty created a number of treaty ports alongside the China's main waterways and its coastal areas, these treaty ports would fundamentally change both the monetary system of China as well as its banking system, these changes were introduced by the establishment of European and American merchant houses and later banks that would engage in the Chinese money exchange and trade finance.

Between the years 1840 and 1900, 1 market liang was worth 1.38 Spanish dollars.

Conversion rates in imperial China

thumb|Shanghai 10 liang banknote issued by [[Citibank]]

The local liang took precedence over any central measure. Thus, the Canton liang weighed , the Convention or Shanghai liang was , and the Haiguan () liang . The conversion rates between various common liangs were well known.

Republic of China

In 1933, the Republic of China abolished the liang and completely replaced it with the yuan in a process known as the fei liang gai yuan (). During this time the Republican government cleared all banknotes denominated in the liang currency, making all bills which used this currency unit obsolete.

Purchasing power

Modern studies suggest that, on purchasing power parity basis, one liang of silver was worth about 4,130 yuan RMB in the early Tang dynasty, 2,065 yuan RMB in the late Tang dynasty, and 660.8 yuan RMB in the mid Ming dynasty. , the price of silver is about 254 yuan RMB/liang of 50 g.

See also

  • Liang (mass)
  • History of Chinese currency
  • Economic history of China

Notes

References

  • Corresponding Chinese Wiki article