A Brief History of Currency
Long before money was invented,people used a barter system to buy and sell things.A barter system is a way to exchange goods and services for other goods and services.For example,crops and animals might be traded for tools and clothing.
Later,some goods became more widely accepted than others for their utility.Gradually, they were used to calculate the value of other products and services.One such item was salt. During Roman times,soldiers were paid partly with salt for their work-and from this,we get the word “salary”.
As time went on,metal items were introduced into the trading system as money,since they were readily available.This made buying and selling easier,faster and fairer.The earliest metal coins came from China.Around the 11th century BC,Chinese people started to use small pieces of bronze to trade things.In the early stages,coins of different shapes were used.Today we can see in museums ancient money in the shape of knives or spades.The coins were standardised in the Qin Dynasty and started to take a circular shape with a square hole through the middle.This shape expressed ancient Chinese people's belief that the sky was round and the earth was square,and also their longing for a harmonious relationship with the universe.
Around the year 1000,the Chinese began to use paper money.The Song Dynasty saw the introduction of jiaozi.Jiaozi is said to be not only the first example of paper currency used in China,but also in the world.Paper money was easier to carry and could be taken to a bank and exchanged for metal money when needed.After visiting China in the 13th century,the explorer Marco Polo brought the concept of paper money back to Europe.
Today,we have a modern system of coins and paper notes,but this is continuing to change and develop.As the use of physical money is on the decline,who knows what other forms of currency we will have at our fingertips in the future?
Translation to be continued~