Qiang tie
Qiang tie is a Chinese folk name for banknotes of the Russian ruble issued by the Russian Empire and later by the White Army. The main regions of ruble transactions in China were concentrated along the Chinese Eastern Railway and Harbin in Manchuria and Ili and Tacheng in Xinjiang. Russian currency in China began circulating in the 1860s and were withdrawn due to severe depreciation in the mid-1920s. There were many qiang tie sources, including the State Bank of the Russian Empire, the Russian Provisional Government, Omsk bonds issued by the Provisional All-Russian Government, the Russo-Chinese Bank, and the administration of the Eastern Railway.
Name
The term qiang tie is popular among many northwestern eastern Chinese residents; though never used officially, the term qiang tie and qiangyang frequently show up in various Chinese documents. Similar to qiang tie, Chinese residents called official Qing-sanctioned banknotes as guantie, and non-official banknotes as si'tie.One theory for the etymological origin of the term qiang tie is that it is a derivative from the word laoqiang, a popular local name for Russians during the early Qing Dynasty. According to Fang Gonggan's book Jie Yu Ji Lue, the alternate spelling of laoqiang, 老枪, is derived from the Chinese word for shotgun as Russians were considered noticeably proficient with the weapon.
History
Russian rubles began to travel across the Russo-Chinese border following the Treaty of Aigun in 1858, signed between Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky and Yishan. By 1875, the Russian ruble had acquired a significant position in the economy of Manchuria.Flow of rubles continued with the establishment of a branch of the Russo-Chinese Bank in Harbin, as well as the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway. As Russians gained influence in Harbin, the amount of rubles invested increased to approximately 315 million by July 1, 1903, primarily used by the Russo-Chinese Bank to purchase building materials and goods. Given the predominance of rubles in freight charges and tax payments, qiang tie became the dominant currency in Harbin, forming its own separate currency circulation model in Northeastern China. All Chinese merchants who came to Harbin had to convert their currency into qiang tie banknotes.
In 1897, the Russians adopted the gold standard. In Harbin, the Russo-Chinese Bank advertised that the "ruble is gold", and that merchants may exchange banknotes to silver and gold rubles. An influx of qiang tie banknotes occurred during the Russo-Japanese War, where the Imperial Russian army purchased large amounts of supplies from locals. However, the rubles' hard-won position among other foreign currencies would be constantly threatened by external events, such as the Russian defeat at the Battle of Tsushima in 1905 and consequent loss in the war.
In July 1914, the Russian government ended the redeemability of qiang tie, making them non-cashable. Devaluation and the turbulent war situation made qiang tie speculation a lucrative business, with many Chinese believing the price would go up once Russia won the war. From 1892 to 1916, the net inflow of Russian banknotes was as high as 415 million rubles. Especially in Manchuria, these rubles were quickly swept off the market by money exchangers in nearby Harbin locales to be exchanged. In 1917, the last shipment of gold rubles, 10 million from Petrograd, were called "romanovs", as Imperial Russia thus ceased to exist due to the February Revolution.
Banknotes now issued by Alexander Kerensky of the Russian Provisional Government were officially recognized by the Beiyang Government, with circulation of rubles reaching as many as 400 million in North Manchuria. In November 1917, the Provisional Government was overthrown by the Bolsheviks, yet Harbin and the Chinese Eastern Railway remained under the influence of Russian Whites. In November 1918, Admiral Alexander Kolchak of the Provisional All-Russian Government introduced a new line of banknotes, called "Omsk Bonds", and declared the Kerensky banknotes no longer redeemable.
Shortly after the collapse of the Omsk government before the rise of the Vladivostok government, the Beiyang government began cracking down on foreign influences in Manchuria, abolishing the CER concession zone. Additionally, due to rampant inflation, the value of any qiang tie banknote dropped to one thousand to one Chinese yuan. As local vendors refused to accept qiang tie and railroad workers went on strike when they were paid in it, the Central Eastern Railway, now under Chinese control, fully shut down qiang tie as legal tender. The Beiyang government finally killed it off in the mid-1920s by withdrawing all qiang tie from market circulation.