Chinese Paper Money Vignettes

If you would like to learn more about the vignettes on old Chinese banknotes, I discuss the walled cities, temples, pagodas, etc. at Chinese Paper Money.

Gary

 

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Very informative site! I've bookmarked it and put it in my reference folder. Thanks for posting it!:thumb:

 

Great site. I have collected Chinese notes for 20+ years. The amount of information available in English is limited. This adds to it greatly.

 

I also like the older series that featured trains & junks.

 

How'd I miss this thread? Love the website! So many great note and images -- and SO much historical information. I'm bookmarking it, too!

Incidentally, American Bank Note engraved a large number of "Chinese scenes" in the first half of the 20th century. Mostly landscapes and temples, I think for use on bonds and some paper money. I will dig out some I have access to and post them here.

 

A Fascinating Image from the PROC

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One of the intriquing and fascinating aspects of paper money in the People's Republic of China is after the communist government secured it's position in all of China in 1949 women began appearing on paper money - perhaps in the interests of equality. On this 1 Yuan note released first in 1960 and used up until 1980 a young lady drives a tractor. A recent issue of the IBNS Journal had a story about the 1 Yuan note with the lady on the tractor, in this case at least, it was based on a photo of her on a tractor. Evidently the lady (Liang Jun) was China's first female tractor driver. She was trained in 1948 at a school sanctioned by the Communist Party and wound up working most of her life with agricultural machinery. She retired in 1990 and is now 80 years old.

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A recent photograph of Liang Jun from a CCTV article on her life.

 

Nice thread and PROC vignette and story

here's one with a ship and train, ABNCo

 

So I really wore out my scanner tonight. These vignettes are all ABNCo and all are from the USPS Commemorative Panels series (which you can learn more about here: http://www.cointalk.com/t160644/).

ABNC produced a lot of these vignettes, from about 1915-1945, for potential use on securities and currency. I believe some did appear on paper money, but I'm not a China collector, so I can't trace them.

The canal scenes may depict the city of Suzhou. Gary, maybe you or someone else can identify the locales.

 

The temples and pagodas are probably easier to identify. I recognize the Temple of the Sun in Beijing because I've been there.

 

If you look closely, you'll see the ABNCo copyright insignia artfully engraved into many of these vignettes.

 

Last batch. And maybe someone can tell me who is in the portrait--Lao Tzu? I'll also attach one of my favorite Commemorative Panels as an example of the amazing engravings you'll find on these. I have no idea why they chose to include a Chinese canal scene on this particular panel, but I doubt if anyone noticed.

 

I remember the excitement of seeing the Temple of the Sun in Beijing, actually walking around it and touching it - all the while thinking of all the Chinese banknotes it has appeared on that I have in my collection.

 

It's usually referred to as the Temple of Heaven (Tian Tan).

I found a banknote which I think you will appreciate because it displays two of your vignettes: An unidentified mythical/historical figure and the Temple of Heaven.





This is a 100 yuan ($100) specimen note from the Bank of China dated 1913.

I found the image at this website.

Gary

 

I can identify this vignette for you although, as far as I know, it was not actually used on a Chinese banknote.



The vignette shows the "Golden Horse and Jade Cock Archways" in Kunming in Yunnan Province.



A very similar vignette was used on this one yuan ($1) banknote issued by The Yunnan Provincial Bank in 1949.

There is an interesting story associated with these arches which I discuss at Chinese Paper Money.

Gary

 

Your vignette below is the Da Gao Xuan Temple in Beijing:



The temple was built in 1542 and used for Daoist ceremonies by the emperors during the Ming and Qing (Ch'ing) dynasties.



This one yuan ($1) bank note was issued in 1920 by "Chihli Provincial Treasury Exchange Notes".

The image is from this website.

Gary

 

All very beautiful! I have enjoyed reading this thread and looking at the images. Thanks!

Lucy

 

Regarding your vignette below:





This ten yuan ($10) banknote was issued in 1932 by the Agricultural and Industrial Bank of China.

The image can be seen at this website.

Gary

 

You're right, it doesn't make much sense to have a Chinese scene when talking about Louisiana. It does fit the "water as life" theme though; China's Grand Canal is one of their pinnacle works (not quite rivaling the Great Wall obviously), and it's no wonder why it's featured on many of the vignettes that have been linked!

 

Your vignette below shows the Zhenhai Tower in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. Also known as the "Five-Story Pagoda", it was originally built in 1380 during the Ming Dynasty.





This is a five jiao (50 cents) banknote issued in 1922 by the Provincial Bank of Kwangtung Province.

The image is from this website.

Gary

 

Gary, thank you SO much for finding so many actual paper money usages! These are great examples. It looks like you may still be at it -- I look forward to any others you post. Also thank you for correcting my memory: it is the Temple of Heaven. The architecture was amazing and I recall very well the acoustics outside the temple. The surrounding stone wall acted like a parabolic reflector, so that you could stand on opposite sides of the temple and converse with someone in a normal voice.

I wish I had known about the Da Gao Xuan Temple while I was there -- I certainly would have visited it.