In this study, the first of its kind in the English language, Richard von Glahn offers a definitive analysis of the economic, political, and social history of money and monetary policy during the Song, Yuan, Ming, and early Qing dynasties. Von Glahn presents a revisionist interpretation of previously held ideas about the effect of money and international trade in bullion on the rise and decline of dynastic power in China. Von Glahn's study also links Chinese monetary history to changing trends in money use and trade in gold and silver in Asia, Europe, and the Western Hemisphere. China's shift to a silver economy had a decisive influence not only on the growth of a market economy in China, but also on the formation of a global economy in the early modern era. Exhaustively researched from original archival sources, Fountain of Fortune critically examines the many facets of China's domestic and foreign monetary policy: the foundations of Chinese monetary theory; mining and minting of bronze coin; the rise and fall of paper currency; and the transition to silver bullion as the monetary standard. Providing keen insight into the economic and social history of Chinese society, this volume will serve as an indispensable reference for the reader seeking to understand China's distinctive history and its relationship to the world at large.

萬誌英（RICHARD VON GLAHN）

國際知名漢學傢，美國加州大學洛杉磯分校曆史學教授，耶魯大學博士。

主要研究領域為中國經濟社會史、中國宗教文化、全球經濟史、東亞海洋曆史等；多年來曾先後應邀在世界各地作學術訪問和演講，廣受歡迎；主要著作包括《財富之泉：中國貨幣與貨幣政策，1000-1700》《宋元明中國曆史轉型》《全球視角下的貨幣曆史，1470-1800》《旁門左道：中國宗教文化中的神與魔》《十字路口與文化：世界人民的曆史》等。