avatar image
Advertisement
PostMag
Life.Culture.Discovery.

Reflections | ‘Why do you still use cash?’ China’s 4,000-year money journey, from cowrie shells to standardised coins and QR codes

  • China’s first coins were cowrie shells, which have been found in tombs dating back nearly 4,000 years, followed by copper cash in various shapes
  • Round coins with a square hole came in 2,000 years ago, and paper money 1,000 years later. Today, physical money is giving way to electronic payments

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
3
A bronze Xianfeng coin from China’s Qing dynasty, issued in 1851. “1000 cash” is written on the back with the mint name of the Board of Revenue, Beijing, in Manchurian. Photo:  Getty Images

The bill came and I paid for my meal. When the waiting staff came back with my change, she asked, “Can I ask you something? Why do you still use cash?” I looked up at the Gen Z, who was genuinely curious about this stranger who had made the strange decision to eschew the several cashless payment options available.

Despite them hosting more bacteria colonies than a toilet seat, there’s something exhilarating about the feel of banknotes and coins in my hands. But the main reason why I avoid payments by plastic or QR codes as much as I can is because I don’t want my spending habits tracked.

I’m not paranoid, but how many times have you bought something at a shop using your credit card, and shortly afterwards you’re inundated with online ads featuring that same shop, or its associated brands?

And don’t get me started on the technical glitches, which always happen to the person in front of me at the supermarket line. I’ll be fuming as they fumble with wonky phones, rejected cards and malfunctioning card readers.

A Chinese coin dating from the Warring States period (475-221BC). Coins in this period came in different shapes and sizes. Photo: Getty Images
A Chinese coin dating from the Warring States period (475-221BC). Coins in this period came in different shapes and sizes. Photo: Getty Images

“Just pay cash. It’s quicker!” I imagine myself shouting at them, but of course I never do because I’m Asian and don’t like confrontations.

Having lived his whole life in the modern cities of Singapore and Hong Kong, Wee Kek Koon has an inexplicable fascination with the past. He is constantly amazed by how much he can mine from China's history for his weekly column in Post Magazine, which he has written since 2005.
Advertisement