kdjupdal Posted April 28, 2019 at 06:27 PM Report Share Posted April 28, 2019 at 06:27 PM Hi! I just watched the documentary "Empires of silver", which trace the political and economic history of China in view of the silver trade during 1500-1900. Highly recommended! However at the end they say "the character for money means silver" and "the characters for bank means silver shop". Is this accurate? Google translate says money is 錢, which doesn't mean silver, and bank is 銀行, which means silver+walk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Publius Posted April 28, 2019 at 09:57 PM Report Share Posted April 28, 2019 at 09:57 PM 4 hours ago, kdjupdal said: "the character for money means silver" This is not accurate. Many characters are money related: 金、銀、錢、財、幣、帑、餉、祿…… In classical Chinese 錢 has a narrower meaning -- copper coins. The word 'money' also has multiple meanings. If by 'money' you mean the most common medium of exchange, then yes during that period China was on the silver standard. Tax, salary, trade, cost, etc. were counted in taels of standard silver. 4 hours ago, kdjupdal said: "the characters for bank means silver shop" This is correct. 銀 means silver and 行 (háng) means a row > a line of trade > a shop. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
889 Posted April 28, 2019 at 11:48 PM Report Share Posted April 28, 2019 at 11:48 PM Recall that 银行 would be read yinxing if it meant silver walk. And note that in modern Chinese, 行 read hang refers generally to a business, profession, etc. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted April 30, 2019 at 08:46 AM Report Share Posted April 30, 2019 at 08:46 AM 银子 is perhaps the source of the confusion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imron Posted April 30, 2019 at 12:35 PM Report Share Posted April 30, 2019 at 12:35 PM On 4/29/2019 at 9:48 AM, 889 said: Recall that 银行 would be read yinxing And hěnxíng if you're a Japanese exchange student in Shanghai (some of you will get the reference) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymoose Posted April 30, 2019 at 01:42 PM Report Share Posted April 30, 2019 at 01:42 PM Saying money means silver is inaccurate, but I think it's fair to say that in some contexts, 银 refers to money. As others have pointed, 银行 means bank, and in shops you will often see the 收银台 which is the counter where you hand over payment/money to the 收银员 who is the cashier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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