Abstract

The term “currency law” in this book integrates the coinage issue，circulation，storage and payment by the state in the forms of laws，emperor orders and regulations. From the macroscopic perspective of economic law and social law，this book takes one part of economic law-currency law in the Tang dynasty-as the research object-making the most of historical books，unearthed documents and archaeological data，with the enlightenment of leading achievements of related disciplines，and systematically collect，verify and study the relevant historical recordings to gradually unfold a pioneering discussion on the framework of economic law in ancient China.

The book Research on the Currency Laws in Tang Dynasty consists of six chapters within 240000 words，namely “Introduction”，“Historical materials of currency law”，“Formal source of currency law”，“The function of currency law”，“The theory of currency law”，and “The application of currency law”. The main conclusions are as follows：

（1）Historical data of currency law. Currency law is the general term of the ancient legal norm that is utilized to adjust activities such as money casting，payment，circulation and storage，and it also involves the copper management regulations and price regulations. The historical materials of money and commodity in the Tang dynasty are mainly recorded in political books including the two Tang Shu-Shi Huo Zhi（两《唐书》食货志），Tang Liu Dian（《唐六典》），Tong Dian （《通典》），Tang Hui Yao（《唐会要》），Wen Xian Tong Kao（《文献通考》），general books including Ce Fu Yuan Gui（《册府元龟》），Tai Ping Yu Lan（《太平御览》），Yu Hai（《玉海》）and decrees including Tang Lv Shu Yi （《唐律疏议》），Shen Long San Ban Xing Bu Ge（《神龙散颁刑部格》），Za Ling in Kaiyuan Period（开元《杂令》），Xing Bu Ge She in the Tang dynasty（唐《刑部格敕》）. The historical materials of the currency law presents various categories by means of continuation of past records，absence of records，only one record，a variety of different records，wrong records，incomplete records，repeated records，and records with reversed order. On the basis of systematic collection，the historical records of currency law in the Tang can be divided into several categories including emperor’s edict，minister’s deliberation，historical events.

（2）Formal source of currency law. The currency law of the Tang inherits from Jin Bu Lv（《金布律》）and Qian Lv （《钱律》）of the Qin and Han dynasties，which is reflected in the laws，orders，regulations and other legal documents. Compared with the Qin，Han，Wei，Jin dynasties，the Tang changed the old conventions of the Qian Lv（《钱律》），and only retained the “private coinage” provision in Za Lv（《杂律》）. As for the aspects of currency casting，circulation，storage and payment，the related legal provisions would be issued according to the time and imperial edict，which have established the monetary legislation pattern with Tang Lv（《唐律》） as the foundation，imperial edict as the main body，and order and lattice as the supplementary，meanwhile，it had a direct influence on the monetary legislation of the Wudai Period，Song，Ming and Qing dynasties. Thereinto，the monetary edict is a reflection of social and economic life in the level of policy and legislation，as well as a significant reference to explore the specific period of currency law.

（3）The function of currency law. Taking Anshi Turmoil（安史之乱）as the demarcation point，the function of currency law in the Tang is very notable：from the Wude（武德）to Tianbao （天宝）period，that maintain the legal circulation and payment function of Kai Yuan Tong Bao（开元通宝）were the core functions with the main concern of deterring pirated coinage and restraining the circulation of inferior copper coins. After implementing Two-tex law（两税法）in Dezong period，the currency law focused on dealing with money shortage，underlying the punishment of coinage destruction and the outflaw of copper coins. “Copper and silk as currency circulation” is the established，long-term financial policy in the Tang，and copper，as the material of casting coin，has become the core of the initiatives，operation and reform of a series of laws and regulations. Taking the constitution and operation of “copper management regulations” in the Tang as point cut，the basic role of Kai Yuan Tong Bao（开元通宝）as clue，this chapter discusses detailed issues such as the ban of copper circulation，inferior currency，virtual currency，sales and casting，private holding and the act of trading in small amounts of copper，with the purpose of investigating the specific characteristics of currency law in the field of money casting，circulation，storage，payment，etc.

（4）The theory of currency law. The theoretical contributions made by the Tang dynasty in currency ideology mainly concentrated on the historical period of the Tang from its prosperity to recession. The main reforms of monetary law occurred in that period inevitably were the hot issues at that time for their relevance to the national economy and people’s livelihood and was embodied in various literature，there into the theoretical thinking and arguments around the problems of money shortage for such three issues，including the civil free casting of currency，currency appreciation and price collapse，and copper and silk as money circulation at the same time，are particularly notable. Through collecting and analyzing the imperial edict，secretary of the throne，poetry and judicial decisions，this chapter follows the problem-oriented principle，drawing a conclusion of the thoughts and theories related to the currency in the Tang Dynasty.

（5）The application of currency law. The Tang inherited the regulation “atonement with copper” in the Sui dynasty and implemented the system “redeeming by copper coins” after sixth year in Tianbao period（天宝）（747），which had a certain impact on the ransom regulation of five dynasties. Meanwhile，Tang Lv （《唐律》） stipulated the standard “calculating bribes by the quantity of silk”. However，the monetary function of silk gradually weakened in the middle and late Tang dynasty，and the norm “calculating bribes by the quantity of copper coins” gradually become judicial practice，which can be confirmed in a large number of cases in various documents. Therefore，the discussions on the “regulation of ransom” and “regulation of bribes” in the Tang have been an indispensable part of the study of currency law in that dynasty.

In conclusion，this book takes the transition of currency law in the past dynasties as the background and the operation of legal system in the Tang as analyzing point，relying on the systematic and integrated historical recordings of currency law，highlighting the unique feature of thematic research and emphasizing the comprehensive complementary method，with the purpose of discussing the historical materials，source style，basic functions，theoretical theory，and application status of currency law in the Tang. In accordance with the theory of modern economic law，this book comprehensively demonstrates the development and operation of currency law in the Tang dynasty by using the methods “collection and identification of historical recordings”，“mutual proof of unearthed documents and handed down documents”，“project proof of historical documents and literary works”，and “material statistics”，which contribute to the further development of legal history and the reconstruction of the history of law departments. Furthermore，it provides historical references for the development of modern economy，decision-making，and advancing the role of law in China.

Keywords：currency law；Historical materials on currency law；The formal source of currency law；Functions of currency；The theory of currency law；Specific application of currency law.