Xietongqing Draft Bank (China Money Shop Museum)

Xietongqing Draft Bank (China Money Shop Museum)

Xietongqing Draft Bank (China Money Shop Museum) is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction.

Xietongqing Draft Bank was established in 1856 (the sixth year of the Xianfeng reign) on South Street in Pingyao. The bank's investors were the Wang family from Niedian, Yuci, and the Mi family from Wangzhi Village, Pingyao County. Xietongqing comprised five courtyards. The first courtyard housed: the Counting Room, the General Accounting Office, and the Interregional Accounting Office; the second courtyard included: the Business Hall and the Interregional Correspondence Office; the third courtyard contained: the Assistant Manager’s Office, the Ancestral Worship Room, and the Manager’s Office; the fourth courtyard was the living quarters for employees; and the fifth courtyard housed the vault.

The former site of the draft bank began comprehensive renovation in October 2000 and has since been transformed into the "Xietongqing Museum." Additionally, the original guest rooms were scientifically remodeled to preserve their classic antique charm while incorporating essential modern amenities. There are 56 standard rooms with mid-to-high-end facilities, as well as traditional cave dwellings with northern folk flavor. The environment is pleasant and elegant, making it a comprehensive hotel offering travel, shopping, entertainment, and accommodation. The dining department serves 108 varieties of local snacks, allowing guests to enjoy authentic regional flavors in the comfort of their rooms.

The Xietongqing Money Shop Museum features 30 exhibition rooms, utilizing a wealth of detailed historical materials and modern techniques such as lighting and electricity to vividly showcase the intriguing rise and fall of Xietongqing.

Located on South Street in Pingyao, it was founded in 1856 (the sixth year of the Xianfeng reign) and ceased operations in 1913 (the second year of the Republic of China), operating for 58 years. During its operation, Xietongqing Draft Bank had branches across the country, totaling 33, with a focus on the northwest and southwest regions.

One

First, let me introduce the concept of money shops.

Money shops, silver houses, draft banks, accounting offices, printing offices, and pawnshops were all different types of financial institutions in ancient times, each with distinct forms and functions. Among them, pawnshops have the longest history, followed by money shops. Money shops originated in the Ming Dynasty in China. Their emergence was due to the circulation of two types of currency at the time: silver and copper cash. Silver was the primary currency used by the government for collecting land taxes, various commercial levies, and issuing salaries to soldiers and officials, as well as for large-scale commercial transactions. Copper cash, on the other hand, was the main currency used by farmers to sell agricultural and sideline products, and by farmers, citizens, and soldiers to purchase daily necessities. The differing uses of these two currencies created a social demand for currency exchange. This demand gave rise to an organization dedicated to currency exchange— the money shop.

Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, Pingyao has had a thriving commercial trade and once served as a national hub for commerce and finance. The volume of currency in circulation was extraordinarily large, and as the intermediary of market exchange—currency exchange—naturally differed from other regions. Money shops emerged early in Pingyao.

By the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, a "Money Industry Guild" had already been established, publishing daily currency exchange rates.

The prosperity of Pingyao at the time was not solely due to locals but also to merchants from surrounding counties and other regions. Our Xietongqing Money Shop was a large money shop jointly invested in by the Wang family from Niedian, Yuci, and the Mi family from Wangzhi Village, Pingyao. With a capital of 36,000 taels of silver, each share valued at 5,000 taels, the two families each contributed half. This was during the year 1856, when the role of money shops underwent significant changes. The counter room we see today represents the basic setup of a money shop counter in those times.

Two

As the largest and most comprehensive money shop courtyard in Pingyao, Xietongqing consisted of seven interlinked yet independent courtyards. Its grand architecture, massive scale, luxurious refinement, and complete functionality made it a model among merchant courtyards in Pingyao.

Exiting the counter room, we enter the first courtyard, which has two accounting rooms on the north and south sides respectively. The accounting rooms were the nerve center of the money shop’s financial management, akin to today’s accounting departments. They were responsible for the shop’s overall financial accounting, completing annual settlements for each accounting period, as well as major four-year settlement and dividend distributions. Specifically: (1) income and costs of copper cash; (2) income and costs of broken and miscellaneous silver; (3) income and costs of whole silver; (4) income from currency exchange spreads; these four items were part of regular business accounting. (5) deposits; (6) loans; (7) interest expenses on deposits; (8) interest income from loans; (9) interest income from the spread between deposits and loans; these items (5) to (9) emerged as the business expanded after the shop’s capital evolved from commercial capital to interest-bearing capital. (10) Money notes issued by the shop also functioned similarly to currency issuance. From this, we can see how heavy the accounting responsibilities were for money shops at the time.

Three

Entering the second courtyard, we find the main business hall. This area differs from the street-facing counter room. Staff here were primarily engaged in outreach business, though some clients would also come directly to the shop. The business staff were responsible for attracting deposits from local merchants and wealthy households, assessing the financial standing of potential loan recipients, and providing the basis for the shop’s lending decisions. They played a key role in evaluating whether to grant loans, whether to issue short-term or long-term loans, and the loan amounts. They often proposed the interest rates to be charged on loans.

In the old days, money shops offered the following four types of interest: full additional interest, short-term interest, monthly compounded interest, and annual interest. If the business staff’s recommendation—to use the full additional interest method—was accepted by the client, interest was calculated over the four annual settlement periods based on publicly posted rates. These periods followed one another in cycles: Spring Settlement to Summer Settlement, Summer to Autumn, Autumn to Winter, and Winter to the next Spring Settlement, with interest applied according to the posted rate for each period. In practice, this interest rate had reached a market-driven level and represented a fair rate developed by Shanxi merchants to adapt to the market economy. Over a hundred years ago, it was quite remarkable for Shanxi merchants to skillfully use interest rate leverage to adjust deposit and loan businesses, a practice that remains impressive even by today’s standards.

In the north room of this courtyard, a backdrop wall displays the historical events of Xietongqing Money Shop from its inception to its peak.

(1) The money shop was established and opened for business in 1856, during the eve of the Taiping Rebellion and the Second Opium War.

(2) Shortly after its founding, the shop faced challenges such as insufficient capital and talent, and lacked any branches. Managers Chen Pingyuan, Meng Hongren, and Liu Qinghe decided to tackle the problem by focusing on talent acquisition.

(3) Zhao Depu was recruited, marking a turning point.

(4) Soon after joining, Zhao Depu was assigned to open the shop’s first branch in Suzhou, then a war-torn region.

(5) Zhao Depu was quickly reassigned to Lanzhou in the northwest to establish another branch, seizing the opportunity to claim a foothold in the region and becoming one of the pioneers in developing the northwest.

(6) In 1877, during a severe drought in Shanxi that led to widespread famine, Xietongqing branches in Sichuan and other areas raised over 500,000 taels in relief grain and funds, greatly alleviating the disaster. The shop earned widespread acclaim for its relief efforts.

(7) Branches in Chengdu and Chongqing, Sichuan, became major operational hubs, and the northwest and southwest regions became the foundation of Xietongqing Money Shop.

(8) When Zhao Depu took over as manager, he boldly restructured the business, promoted talented individuals, dismissed underperformers, and revitalized the shop.

(9) During the imperial tour of the empress dowager and emperor westward, Xietongqing raised substantial funds to support the imperial entourage and received significant recognition and rewards.

(10) General Manager Zhang Zhida distributed 400,000 taels of public dividends and money shop funds, but with poor liquidity, the crisis loomed large.

Four

We have now entered the third courtyard of the money shop. Up to this point, the traditional "three-section, two-courtyard hallway" architecture commonly found in local Pingyao residences can all be observed. The third courtyard, serving as the upper residence area, traditionally would be where elders or the master lived or worked. This is precisely the office space for the money shop’s general manager, assistant managers, and associates. Here, we will focus on introducing several general managers, because among the many major businesses in Pingyao and even Shanxi, no other company’s senior executives share the same circumstances as those at Xietongqing — namely, seven general managers divided into two generations, who were consistently united and harmonious, complementing each other’s strengths, with many of their descendants even intermarrying. The reason this occurred is that the shop’s second general manager, starting from the founding of the money shop, established and fostered a unique cultural atmosphere and environment, which was then passed down through generations. This general manager was named Meng Hongren, originally a partner at the Wei Taihou large exchange firm. He and his partner Liu Qinghe initiated the establishment of Xietongqing Money Shop. The first general manager, Chen Pingyuan, was older than them. They strongly recommended him to the financiers to serve as general manager. Among the many partners they recruited, they assigned roles based on talent and knew how to employ people wisely, enabling the partners to realize their maximum potential — undoubtedly the foremost key to the enterprise’s success. Li Hongling, a renowned reformer of Pingyao’s exchange firms, highly praised the success of Xietongqing, stating: “The only one to truly excel in securing talent was Xietongqing.” The numerous examples of the several general managers all illustrate the importance of corporate culture.

Five

We enter through a side gate to reach the fourth courtyard of Xietongqing Money Shop. Here, pavilions, towers, and bridges create a uniquely charming landscape, resembling a garden. To be honest, such a feature is absolutely unparalleled in merchant courtyards. Xietongqing’s emphasis on architectural environment is also closely tied to its corporate culture — people-oriented values. According to elders, this area was originally used as temporary lodging for Xietongqing employees returning home from out of town. Opposite the side hall across the way is the main room, serving as the entire firm’s meeting hall. The interior is simple and elegant. Walls briefly outline the firm’s strategies and guiding principles, almost transporting us back to the intense commercial battles of the Qing Dynasty — competing for territory, combining civil and martial tactics — yet the unique talent recruitment strategies of Xietongqing still hold significant practical relevance today.

Six

The fifth courtyard is actually the vault courtyard. During Xietongqing Money Shop’s peak, silver and coins flowed in and out in huge daily quantities (with large transactions sometimes involving gold). Therefore, constructing the vault required considerable thought. Safety, concealment, and transportation convenience all had to be addressed, so the underground location was chosen for the vault. There is a winding tunnel leading to the front counter, and two main gates provide access to the back street. The vault is guarded by designated personnel, covered overhead with wire mesh — truly a case of “one man guards the pass, ten thousand cannot breach it,” as solid as a fortress. This vault is also uniquely distinctive.

Seven

Exiting the vault courtyard, we arrive at the sixth courtyard — the guard courtyard. For such a large money shop, the security of the counter clerks goes without saying. During times of social unrest and serious threats, the money shop had to hire martial artists to guard the premises. This practice continued for decades. The sixth courtyard became an important training ground for the guards to practice their footwork morning and evening. It’s worth mentioning that many at Xietongqing, from the shop head to the clerks, also possessed some martial arts skills, not only for self-defense but more for keeping fit.

Eight

The Daguan Courtyard, the seventh courtyard of Xietongqing Money Shop, houses a coin museum. This is a sub-museum established with significant investment by Director Qiao Guangming to enrich the collection and promote knowledge about Chinese coins.

As everyone knows, historical coins, “if we speak of the grand and far-reaching,” “reflect the achievements of ancient emperors in creating and refining civilization, their intent to enrich the nation and benefit the people, as well as the schemes of power-hungry rebels that led to chaos, and the rise and fall of families and states.” These small coins act like mirrors of history, offering enlightenment and lessons.

Address: Next to the Market Tower on South Street, Pingyao County, Jinzhong City

Type: Historical Site Museum

Rating: AAAA

Recommended Visit Duration: About 1 hour

Ticket Information:

No separate ticket required. Included in the Pingyao Ancient City admission ticket.