It was during the last phase of eighth century and beginning of ninth century that the
Chinese invented paper money. Because of its lightness, the money was called "flying money". But this form of money was a more of a draft than real money. The Mongols after assuming power in China, issued a version of paper money known as "silk notes". The paper money in China had impressed Marco Polo so much that he wrote a whole chapter in his book on this. The officials had to write their names and put their seals on the currency issued. This authenticated the money and anyone forging the same was punished with death.
The
paper money of China lost its effectiveness to some extent under the rule of the later Ming Dynasty. In 1375, Ming issued a new note called "Precious note of great Ming" which remained in circulation for 200 years. Long periods of inflation led this currency to loose its value completely and it was replaced with silver. Paper money in China gradually lost its significance until much later, it was revived by European influence. But the Chinese paper money had shown the way to the old Hamburg Bank and the Swedish Banking System.
Real
paper currency in China was introduced during the reign of the Song dynasty on which the seals of the issuing bank was given. The notes had various pictures on them. The Bank Note of Yu Huan Bank was issued in 1907 had the value of one silver dollar. The Chinese Bank Note of Sinkiang Province is a Uygur Temperary note issued by the Ili branch of the Sinkiang Commercial Bank. The Russian-Chinese Occupational Bank Note is another major form Chinese Paper Money. In the late Ching dynasty, foreign countries issued bank notes tgrough their agencies based in China. These foreign countries also made aggressive implementations of their monetary and gbanking policies i9n China.
Ho Bu Guang Piao was an official note issued by the Board of Revenue in 1855 while Da Ching Bao Chao of 1858 was the imperial treasury note of China. The Manchurian government issued these notes but they were not welcome by the general public. Some private notes issued in China were Sycee Note, Cash Note, Exchange Note, etc. Post 1911 Revolution, the notes that were issued were Military Note of one dollar, five dollars, one dollar and one Tael.
Yuan is the current base unit of various Chinese currencies. One yuan is divided into 10 jiao and one jiao is again divided into 10 fen.