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How did people in Tang dynasty China view textiles and how did they conceive of their value? Those involved in production could calculate the value in terms of the costs of raw materials, labour and the loom used to weave a particular textile. They might add to this the costs of workshop supervision and maintenance, distribution and marketing, and they might expect to see some benefit – a profit – in the process. However, most people would be end users, and would reckon the value of textiles by eye, if not also by hand, and what they considered to be the market value. Some might have expert knowledge, but many would not. The non-expert evaluation by eye and hand would likely include aspects such as colour, pattern, level of workmanship and intricacy but would probably also reflect some awareness of status and fashion. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The basic argument of this paper is that the unusual form of natural economy (i.e. trading without money) in China during the 3rd-6th centuries was an inevitable outcome of the collapse of the monetary system in the Eastern Han Dynasty (1st-3rd centuries). This collapse was mainly caused by long-term inflation, and extensive archeological evidence is used here to corroborate this contention. There were two institutional shortcomings which caused this monetary breakdown. First, monopoly of coinage encouraged the government to over-issue currency during the Eastern Han in order to increase seignorage profit. Second, the inappropriate “Money Circulation Law” allowed bad money to circulate, driving out good money in accordance with Gresham’s Law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines evidence that silver imports into China increased rather than decreased during the last years of the Ming dynasty in 1635-1644. Conclusions about the level of silver imports into China are believed to be either incorrect or greatly overstated. There are evidences which suggest that the amount of silver in circulation in late Ming China had been reduced, or that copper coins or varying but increasingly poor quality had become more plentiful, or both. It is also likely that silver was being withdrawn from circulation at this time because of the increased hoarding of precious metals that traditionally accompanied economic and political instability in premodern China.