大家在中学历史课本上都学过中国是纸币的故乡,产生于北宋时期的交子是世界上最早的纸币,比欧洲早600多年。然而,当1840年英国的坚船利炮轰开中国国门的时候,英格兰银行的纸币已经通行于世界,而中国却还在使用白银和铜钱作为货币。中国的纸币上哪里去了呢?原来,早在明朝中叶中国的纸币就已经消亡了。为什么一度走在世界前列的中国纸币却逐步走向了没落呢? Everyone in the middle school history textbooks learned that China is the hometown of banknotes. The earliest banknotes that emerged in the Northern Song Dynasty originated in the world, more than 600 years earlier than in Europe. However, when British jack-up was launched in 1840 in China, Bank of England’s notes were already circulating in the world, while China still used silver and copper as their currency. Where did China’s paper money go? It turned out that as early as mid-Ming China’s banknotes have already died. Why did the Chinese paper currency, which once walked the forefront of the world, gradually decline?