View source for Currencies/Chinese li

==Introduction==

The Chinese li was a historical subdivision of the Chinese cash system, used in China as a very small unit of account in traditional Chinese currency.


==History==

The li was used in imperial China as part of a layered monetary structure based on copper cash coins. It functioned mainly as an accounting unit rather than a circulating denomination and was used to express fractional values below the cash. Its use declined with monetary modernization in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.


==Banknotes==

<picture href=https://colnect.com/en/banknotes/banknote/81996-1_Liang-Specialized_Issues_-_Provincial_Banks-China>4391723</picture>
No banknotes were issued denominated in li. The unit existed only for accounting purposes within the traditional copper cash system.


==Currency==

Unit name li

Role minor unit / accounting subdivision

Relationship (traditional)

10 li = 1 fen

10 fen = 1 cash (wen)

The exact usage and relevance varied by period and region.


==Legacy==

The li disappeared from practical use with the abolition of the traditional cash system and the adoption of modern decimal currencies in China.


==See Also==

* [[Currencies/Chinese cash]]

* [[Currencies/Chinese renminbi jiǎo]]

* [[Currencies/Chinese fen]]

* [[Currencies/Chinese jiao]]

* [[Currencies/Chinese yuan]]

* [[Currencies/Chinese tael]]

* [https://colnect.com/en/coins/currencies All currencies]