The invention of paper currency marked a watershed in global financial history. In this deeply researched study, Richard von Glahn explains why paper money first arose in China rather than any other part of the world - and why it ultimately failed. Although paper money achieved notable success during the Song and Yuan dynasties, it collapsed under the very different principles of political economy adopted by the Ming. In the first English-language examination of the rise and demise of paper money, von Glahn argues that the answer lies in China's unique monetary system and political economy, introducing readers to the eleventh-century origins of paper money in China, the principles of Chinese monetary theory, China's bronze coin monetary standard and specific forms of fiscal governance. This is not only an essential introduction to Chinese monetary history, but a major contribution to global economic history.