20 Fen – Manchurian Provinces

In 1909, the currency situation in China's Manchurian provinces (Fengtian, Jilin, and Heilongjiang) was a complex and unstable monetary landscape, characterized by competing currencies and severe inflation. The primary circulating medium was the Fengtian tiao or guandie, a silver-denominated banknote issued by the provincial government banks, notably the Official Bank of the Three Eastern Provinces established in 1905. However, these notes were not fully convertible to silver, and their value fluctuated wildly between major commercial centers like Fengtian (Shenyang) and Harbin, leading to chaotic exchange rates and widespread merchant speculation.

This instability was exacerbated by the intense foreign influence in the region following the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). Japanese yen notes, issued by the Bank of Chosen and the Yokohama Specie Bank, circulated widely, especially in the southern railway zone. Simultaneously, Russian rubles (known as chiao or guangpiao) remained strong in northern Manchuria, particularly along the Chinese Eastern Railway. Furthermore, a vast quantity of small, privately issued jiaozi notes from local Chinese shops and money changers flooded the market, often becoming worthless. This created a multi-currency system where trust was low, and transactions required constant discounting and verification.

The Qing government recognized the crisis, as monetary disorder hampered administration and revenue collection. Efforts were made to centralize control, with the Imperial Bank of China (Da Qing Bank) establishing branches and promoting its own notes. The core goal was to unify the currency on a standard silver yuan basis and suppress the volatile tiao notes. However, in 1909, these efforts were still in their infancy and largely ineffective against entrenched local interests and foreign financial power. Consequently, the monetary chaos persisted, reflecting the weakening sovereignty of the Qing dynasty and setting the stage for further foreign economic dominance in the years to follow.