Government, Chamber Of Commerce, Financial Guild And The Power Of Control Of Local Currencies

The abolishing tael currency system and changing to that of silver dollar" in 1925 in Shantou is a momentous event in Shantou and Chaoshan Area in history. Before it, Shantou is in the "Qidui Bill" phase in the history of local currencies. In this period, it's the local money shops and their organizations, financial guilds, that dominate the issuance of Qidui Bill, the local standard currency. In the "abolishing the system of tael and changing to that of silver dollar" event, as market value of Qidui Bill is dearer than that of silver dollar , it arouses discontentment from all sides. At last, Qidui Bill is abolished in the convention of all circles called in by the Shantou General Chamber of Commerce, pushed by emigrated Chaozhou businessmen unions, such as the Shanghai Chaozhou Guild, and under pressure of the government. After the abolishing of Qidui Bill, Chaoshan Area comes upon the stage of Guarantee Currency. Official laws as yardstick and Chamber of Commerce as the supervisor, the government nominally takes the power of control of the issuance of guarantee currency, whereas the Chamber of Commerce practically takes control of this local currency. As, the above track of the change of local currencies in Shantou portrays the historical phenomenon of the control of local currencies' change from local financial guilds to the government and Chamber of Commerce in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China times; outlines the Chinese commercial cities' historical changes from tradition to modernity and depicts the extension of nation's power in the domain of commerce and currency, thus reflexes the course of a region society's nationalization.