略论鸦片战争前后银贵钱贱的原因

清代自乾隆后期开始,银钱比价发生重要变化,始终处于银贵钱贱阶段。特别是鸦片战争前后,不少地区一两白银兑钱二千甚至更多,对民生、经济影响至巨,而对于其中的原因,建国以来多数学者把它归因于鸦片的大量输入导致的白银大量外流。我们认为,这种认识并不全面,导致鸦片战争前银贵钱贱的原因是多方面的,既有鸦片大量输入这个外部因素,也有清代货币体系本身的内部原因。

A Brief Study of the Reasons for the Devaluation of Silver Coinage in Relationship to Copper Coinage around the Time of the Opium Wars

From the later Kangxi period onwards the value of silver currency underwent a great change, and throughout the period - particularly before and after the Opium Wars -one liang of silver was worth as much as 2, 000 or even more copper cash in some areas. This had a profound effect on people's livelihood and the economy generally. However, most scholars researching the reasons for this question since 1949 have attributed the financial shift to an outflow of silver resulting from opium importation. The author believes that this is far from being the whole picture and there are many reasons why silver was grossly devalued prior to the Opium Wars, and that beyond the outflow of silver occasioned by opium imports one must also examine internal currency problems faced by the Qing government.