in the Republican era. In 1917, the warlord in control of
Manchuria,
Zhang Zuolin, introduced a new currency, known as the
Fengtien yuan or dollar, for use in the Three Eastern Provinces. It was valued at 1.2 yuan in the earlier (and still circulating) "small money" banknotes and was initially set equal to the
Japanese yen. It maintained its value (at times being worth a little more than the yen) until 1925, when Zhang Zuolin's military involvement in the rest of China lead to an increase in banknote production and a fall in the currency's value. The currency lost most of its value in 1928 as a consequence of the disturbance following Zhang Zuolin's assassination. The Fengtien yuan was only issued in banknote form, with 1, 5 and 10 yuan notes issued in 1917, followed by 50 and 100 yuan notes in 1924. The last notes were issued in 1928. The number of banks issuing paper money increased after the
revolution. Significant national issuers included the "
Commercial Bank of China" (the former Imperial Bank), the "
Bank of China" (the former Ta-Ch'ing Government Bank), the "
Bank of Communications", the "
Ningpo Commercial Bank", the "
Central Bank of China" and the "
Farmers Bank of China". Of these, only the Central Bank of China issued notes beyond 1943. An exceptionally large number of banknotes were issued during the
Republican era (1911–1949) by provincial banks (both Nationalist and Communist). After the revolution, a great many local, national and foreign banks issued currency. Although the provincial coinages mostly ended in the 1920s, the provincial banks continued issuing notes until 1949, including Communist issues from 1930. Most of the banknotes issued for use throughout the country bore the words "National Currency", as did some of the provincial banks. The remaining provincial banknotes bore the words "Local Currency". These circulated at varying exchange rates to the national currency issues. After the revolution, in addition to the denominations already in circulation, "small money" notes proliferated, with 1, 2 and 5 cent denominations appearing. Many notes were issued denominated in English in
cash (
wén). During the 1930s, several new currencies came into being in China due to the activities of the invading
Japanese. The pre-existing, national currency yuan came to be associated only with the Nationalist, Kuomintang government. In 1935, the Kuomintang Government enacted currency reforms to limit currency issuance to four major government controlled banks: the
Bank of China,
Central Bank of China,
Bank of Communications and later the
Farmers Bank of China. The circulation of silver yuan coins was prohibited and private ownership of silver was banned. The banknotes issued in its place,
Chinese National Currency, were known as fabi () or "
legal tender". A new series of base metal coins began production in 1936 following the reforms. The Japanese established two collaborationist regimes during their occupation in China. In the north, the "
Provisional Government of the Republic of China" () based in
Peking (Beijing) established the
Federal Reserve Bank of China (). The
Japanese occupiers issued coins and banknotes denominated in
li () (and were worth of a yuan), fen, jiao and yuan. Issuers included a variety of banks, including the
Central Reserve Bank of China (for the puppet government in
Nanking) and the
Federal Reserve Bank of China (for the puppet government in
Peking (Beijing)). The Japanese decreed the exchange rates between the various banks' issues and those of the Nationalists but the banknotes circulated with varying degrees of acceptance among the Chinese population. Between 1932 and 1945, the puppet state of
Manchukuo issued its own
yuan. In the aftermath of the
Second World War and during the civil war which followed, Nationalist China suffered from hyperinflation, leading to the introduction of a new currency in 1948, the gold yuan. In the 1940s, larger denominations of notes appeared due to the high inflation. 500 yuan notes were introduced in 1941, followed by 1,000 and 2,000 yuan in 1942, 2,500 and 5,000 yuan in 1945 and 10,000 yuan in 1947. Between 1930 and 1948, banknotes were also issued by the Central Bank of China denominated in
customs gold units. These, known as "gold yuan notes", circulated as normal currency in the 1940s alongside the yuan. Banknotes of the yuan suffered from
hyperinflation following the
Second World War and were replaced in August 1948 by notes denominated in gold yuan, worth 3 million old yuan. There was no link between the gold yuan and gold metal or coins and this yuan also suffered from hyperinflation. In 1948, the Central Bank of China issued notes (some dated 1945 and 1946) in denominations of 1, 2 and 5 jiao, 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 yuan. In 1949, higher denominations of 500, 1000, 5000, 10,000, 50,000, 100,000, 500,000, 1,000,000 and 5,000,000 yuan were issued. The Central Bank of China issued notes in denominations of 1 and 5 fen, 1, 2 and 5 jiao, 1, 5 and 10 yuan. In July 1949, the Nationalist Government introduced the silver yuan, which was initially worth 500 million gold yuan. It circulated for a few months on the mainland before the end of the civil war. This silver yuan remained the
de jure official currency of the Republic government in Taiwan until 2000. ==Civil War period==