While Shanghai’s skyline grows to look more and more like New York’s skyline, it is the western monetary system that is beginning to resemble the eastern monetary tradition.
Whether you pay in Switzerland, in the USA or in China, the system is the same: worthless coins and notes which are only valid in their own country are accepted as means of payment. Thus a monetary system prevails in which the state claims a monopoly on the currency. However, the western and eastern worlds have taken themselves down fundamentally different routes to achieve this system, as this excursion through their monetary systems will show.
The I Ching is the oldest book in the world. The major part of it is attributed to Wen Wang from the 12th century B.C., a sage and founder of the Chou Dynasty. But its origins are lost in the mythical past 6000 years ago. Undoubtedly the I Ching is one of the most important books in world literature. It contains the wisdom of the millennia, which is still valid for many today. It is thus no wonder that the two main branches of Chinese philosophy, Confucianism and Taoism, have their common roots here. The whole of Chinese life is deeply pervaded, right down into everyday life, by the influence of the I Ching.
Become acquainted with a different perception of monetary systems…
For more than 1000 years the Balinese people have been organizing their public life in a particular way – namely through a network of social, economic, and cultural organizations encompassing the entire social life of the community. The Balinese call the most important of these institutions the banjar. In the banjar, two entirely different currencies play a central role: the national currency, the rupiah, and a local “time currency.” This presentation gives us an insight into bali’s dual monetary system where two types of currencies complement each other.
