Tang Money

Gold coins inscribed with  characters 'Kai Yuan Tong Bao'

The Tang Dynasty was one of the most enchanting times in Chinese history. China was the commercial center of Asia. Kai Yuan Tong Bao was circulated in many countries that had close commercial tie with the Tang Dynasty. The outflow of the coins caused money shortage in China so during the reign of Emperor Xi'an Zong (806-820) the government practiced the earliest transfer method, fei qian, namely flying money.

There were two types of fei qian. One was state-owned and the other was private bankers. Special offices were set by the government for transfer and encash. Businessmen could cash in at any time with the paper receipt in any one of the over 40 offices in the country. Unlike the state-owned ones, the private bankers differentiated themselves by the fact they did not charge any fee for encash of fei qian. Their profit came from the interest as a result of slow transportation and time lag of one or two months before a fei qian was finally cashed in.
 

There were two emperors in the Chinese history who ordered to melt Buddha statues for mintage. And the first one was Emperor Wu Zong of Tang Dynasty. Buddhism was so popular during the Tang that hundreds of thousands tons of bronze were used for Buddha statues. Nearly all bronze were collected by the Buddhist temples and there was no bronze for mintage. Unlike most emperors of Tang, Emperor Wu Zong did not believe in Buddhism and he claimed, "It is the Buddha that impoverished my country." In 845 Emperor Wu Zong ordered to melt Buddha statues for mintage. At first, people were shocked but when the circulation of the currency went smoothly and the riches increased, people were grateful to this wise emperor.

During the Five Dynasties, another wise sovereign, Emperor Shi Zong of Later Zhou, commanded to melt Buddha statues for mintage. Many Buddhist believers and even ministers in court were against this order but Emperor Shi Zhong defended himself by saying, "The Buddha is determined to bring happiness to all flesh. If he is alive, he would sacrifice his own life for others, not to mention his statues?" Upon hearing this, the objectors were left speechless but to obey.