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{{Use mdy dates|date = February 2019}}
{{Short description|Banknote in Jin China and Yuan China}}
{{Use American English|date = February 2019}}
[[File:Yuan dynasty banknote with its printing plate 1287.jpg|thumb|Yuan dynasty banknote (2 [[Chinese cash (currency unit)|guàn]]) with its printing plate (1287)]]

'''Jiaochao''' ({{zh|t=交鈔|s=交钞|hp=jiāochāo}}) is a Chinese word for [[banknote]] first used for the currency of the [[Jurchen people|Jurchen]]-led [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin dynasty]] and later by the [[Mongols|Mongol]]-led [[Yuan dynasty]] of China.

==Jin dynasty==
The [[Jurchen people|Jurchens]] swept control over northern China, conquering the [[Liao dynasty]] and half of the [[Song dynasty]] by 1142. Initially they did not have a unique currency of their own but reused the [[Liao dynasty coinage|coinage of the Liao]] or [[Southern Song dynasty coinage]]. In 1154, [[Wanyan Liang]] issued the Jiaochao banknotes three years before minting their [[Jin dynasty coinage (1115–1234)|own distinct coinage]], a sequence in Chinese history that has never happened before or since. Jiaochao came in ten denominations. Small bills came in 100, 200, 300, 500, and 700 ''[[Chinese cash (currency unit)|wén]]'' while large bills were in 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10 ''[[String of cash coins (currency unit)|guàn]]''. Like previous Chinese notes, there was a fee for redeeming them for copper coins: 15 ''wén'' per ''guàn''. Jiaochao initially had an expiration period of seven years upon issue but in 1189 this was abolished, giving notes an indefinite lifespan. Like other early Chinese paper currencies, it was a victim of overprinting which led to runaway inflation. In 1214, due to severe hyperinflation, the government began printing notes worth up to 1000 ''guàn''. The following year, Jiaochao was replaced with a new paper currency the Baoquan (寶泉) which suffered the same fate. Up until the [[Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty]] in 1234, the state kept releasing new types of banknotes which were rejected by the public who were only willing to accept transactions in silver.<ref name="Inner Mongolian">{{cite book |last1=The Inner Mongolian Numismatic Research Institute |title=A Compilation of Pictures of Chinese Ancient Paper Money |date=1992 |publisher=The China Finance Publishing House |location=Beijing |isbn=7-5049-0861-4 |edition=Bilingual |ref=Inner Mongolian}}</ref>{{rp|9-33}}

==Mongol Empire==
Jin and Song notes continued to circulate in territories conquered by the Mongols. In 1227, during the last year of [[Genghis Khan]]'s life, he had silk-backed imitation [[Huizi (currency)|Huizi]] printed. [[Sorghaghtani Beki]], [[Ögedei Khan]], [[Güyük Khan]], and [[Möngke Khan]] issued various paper [[scrip]]s for their occupational armies.<ref name="Inner Mongolian" />{{rp|37}}

===Yuan dynasty===
In 1260, the first year of [[Kublai Khan]]'s rule, he issued two different Jiaochao notes. The first in July was backed by silk but was unsuccessful. The second was in October which used the silver standard.<ref name="Inner Mongolian" />{{rp|37}} It was the first paper currency to be used as the predominant circulating medium in the [[history of China]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url= http://chinaknowledge.de/History/Terms/papermoney.html|title= Paper Money in Premodern China.|date= 10 May 2016|access-date=6 February 2018|encyclopedia= 2000 ff. © Ulrich Theobald - ChinaKnowledge.de - An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art|language=en}}</ref> The primary press was the Imperial Mint established in 1260, probably in [[Yanjing]]. It was certainly located in [[Khanbaliq]] after that city was established the same decade. Regional capitals were sometimes authorized to print money as well. The money of the various [[era name|era]]s of the Yuan were also separately known, as the '''Zhongtong notes''' and '''Zhiyuan notes''' of the reign of [[Kublai Khan]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/the-yuan-dynasty/|title= Trade and Currency under the Yuan|date=17 June 2014|access-date=27 July 2019|work= Lumen|language=en}}</ref> They too suffered from devaluation and hyperinflation. In 1350 the final series of banknotes, the Zhizheng Jiaochao (至正交鈔) was issued. Unlike earlier notes, this was a [[fiat currency]] and was widely rejected.<ref name="Inner Mongolian" />{{rp|35-76}}

Jiaochao was described by the a number of foreign visitors, including [[Rustichello of Pisa|Rustichello]] in his [[Il Milione|account]] of the travels of the [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] [[Marco Polo]],<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.thoughtco.com/the-invention-of-paper-money-195167|title= The Invention of Paper Money - History of Chinese Currency|date=8 March 2017|access-date=6 February 2018|work=  Kallie Szczepanski (for ThoughtCo.)|language=en}}</ref> by [[William of Rubruck]], and by [[Ibn Battuta]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=van Rubroeck |first1=Willem |last2=Rockhill |first2=William Woodville |title=The journey of William of Rubruck to the eastern parts of the world, 1253-55 |date=1900 |publisher=Printed for the Hakluyt Society |location=London |page=[https://archive.org/details/journeyofwilliam00ruys/page/201 201] |url=https://archive.org/details/journeyofwilliam00ruys |access-date=27 July 2019}}</ref>

{{quotation|The people of China do not do business for dinars and dirhams. In their country all the gold and silver they acquire they melt down into ingots, as we have said. They buy and sell with pieces of paper the size of the palm of the hand which are stamped with the Sultan's stamp. Twenty-five such pieces are called balisht, which is the same as dinar among us. If these pieces of paper become tattered from handling they take them to a house which is like our mint and receive new ones instead. The new pieces are not given against payment of any kind, for those in charge of this work receive regular salaries from the Sultan. The amir in charge of that house is one of the most important. If anyone goes to the bazaar with a silver dirham or a dinar intending to buy something with it, it is not accepted and he is disregarded until he pays with a balisht and buys what he wants.{{sfn|Gibb|2010|p=890-891}}|[[Ibn Battuta]]}}

===Ilkhanate===
Later in 1294, in order to control the treasury, [[Gaykhatu]] of the [[Ilkhanate]] in [[Persia]] attempted to introduce paper money in his khanate, which imitated the notes issued by the Yuan dynasty so closely that they even had Chinese words printed on them. However, the experiment proved to be a complete failure, and Gaykhatu was assassinated shortly afterward.<ref>[[Eliyahu Ashtor|Ashtor, Eliyahu]]. (1976) A Social and Economic History of the Near East in the Middle Ages. Londen: W. Collins & Co. Ltd. p. 257.</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{citation|last=Gibb|first=H.A.R.|year=2010|title=The Travels of Ibn Battuta, AD 1325-1354, Volume IV}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Money}}
* ''[[History of Yuan]]''
* [[Yuan dynasty coinage]]
* [[Economic history of China before 1912]]
* [[History of Chinese currency]]
* [[Banknote seal (China)|Chinese banknote seals]]
* [[Fiat money]]

{{Jin dynasty (1115–1234) topics}}
{{Yuan dynasty topics}}
{{Chinese paper money}}
{{Chinese currency and coinage}}

[[Category:Currencies of China]]
[[Category:Medieval currencies]]
[[Category:Banknotes of China]]
[[Category:Jin dynasty (1115–1234)]]
[[Category:Economy of the Yuan dynasty]]