That means that this first cash already was a currency that was designed solely as a means of barter, regardless of its intrinsic value, and this was a development that Europe ultimately completed as late as 1968. In addition, it was prohibited to sort these coins according to weight when doing business. And here we read that the ‘round-shaped coins’ were to be used without any distinction, regardless if they were ‘beautiful’ or ‘ugly’ (in plain terms, if they were heavy or light). The regulation, written on bamboo, contains some provisions on economic and currency affairs. The way in which these coins were used is explained in a legal document that was found in a tomb in 1975. Just like our present money, these coins were a ‘fiat currency’, hence a means of exchange whose value wasn’t backed by any noble metal but was valuable only thanks to a joint convention. The Chinese belief system, therefore, is reflected in the cash which constituted the most important of Chinese money until the 19th century. The central sanctuary of China, the Temple of Heaven, was a circular building in a square-shaped court – and this symbolism is clearly mirrored in the imperial coins: they are round-shaped with a square hole. The Chinese say that he had a virtual regulation mania that resulted not only in the unification of the Chinese script and the standardization of all measures and weights but likewise in a a rigid ordinance regarding the hairdo of his soldiers and the regulation that the square official caps of his civil servants had to be exactly six fingers high, the carriages exactly 1.82 m long. He introduced a hierarchy for the civil servants where the individual could work his way up to the top.
He divided the empire into equal units that were subordinated to him and controlled by his officials. He is credited with having built a major part of the Great Wall of China. They consider him a tyrant, on the one hand, and the initiator of a great unification, on the other hand. This ruler we today in the west primarily know thanks to his terracotta warriors, the Chinese revered as founder of their state. Group of soldiers of the terracotta army of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi in his tomb of Xi’an.
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