A Tour of the China Fiscal Museum: A Journey Through the Past and Present of "Money"

👣 Step into the China Fiscal Museum at the foot of Wu Mountain, and embark on a journey through thousands of years of fiscal history💰. From Knotted Strings to Oracle Bone Inscriptions: 🌿 In the exhibition hall, simple knotted strings tell the story of the earliest counting methods used by our ancestors. Oracle bones inscribed with numbers from the Yin and Shang dynasties mark the beginning of written records in Chinese accounting. Looking at these ancient characters, one can't help but imagine the meticulous bookkeepers of 3,000 years ago, diligently recording the income and expenditure of the dynasty. From Counting Rods to the Abacus: 🍀 The exhibition hall displays a variety of calculating tools, the most striking of which is the counting rod, a unique Chinese invention. These small sticks of varying lengths, when cleverly arranged and combined, could perform complex calculations. The later invention of the abacus further increased calculation efficiency, becoming an important symbol of ancient China's commercial prosperity.🌾 From the Well-field System to the Two-Tax Law: 🌪 Taxation is the cornerstone of a nation's operation. Charts and artifacts in the exhibition hall vividly illustrate the evolution of China's ancient tax systems. From the well-field system of the Western Zhou dynasty to the two-tax law of the Tang dynasty and the single-whip law of the Ming dynasty, each reform reflects the socio-economic conditions of its time. From the Ministry of Revenue to the Ministry of Finance: Did you know that the ancient institution in charge of national finance was called the Ministry of Revenue? Seeing the introduction, one can almost visualize the busy officials of the Ministry of Revenue, strategizing and managing the nation's purse strings, ensuring the prosperity and stability of the dynasty. Strolling through the Fiscal Museum is like flipping through a weighty history book. Every artifact and every inscription tells the story of the long history and splendid culture of China's fiscal development.