The Chinese gold yuan was a legal tender currency of China between August 1948 and 1949. It was a method used by the Republic of China government to accumulate gold from its citizens in preparation to relocate to Taiwan. It circulated in the country under the effective control of the Government of the Republic of China known as Taiwan Province, R.O.C., which issued paper money on August 19, 1948. This currency was notorious for vicious inflation due to inadequate issuance preparation and failure to strictly enforce issuance limits. In the early days of the issuance of the Golden yuan, the government used executive actions to force the public to exchange gold, foreign currency for the new currency. The legal exchange rate was 0.22217 grams of gold per gold yuan but it could not be honored. The sharply depreciating Fabi currency was at the rate of one golden yuan of the yen to Fabi $3 million, and this rate was used for the compulsory collection of public gold, silver, and foreign currency. In particular, the economic losses suffered by the urban middle class were so great that the ROC government lost its original most important supporters and was one of the reasons why the ROC government failed so quickly in the Chinese Civil War.
1 gold yuan bill, 1948
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially based on the Chinese mainland and then in Taiwan since 1949. The KMT is a centre-right to right-wing party and the largest in the Pan-Blue Coalition. Its primary rival is the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and its allies in the Pan-Green Coalition. As of 2024, the KMT is the largest single party in the Legislative Yuan. The current chairman is Eric Chu.
The KMT reveres its founder, Sun Yat-sen, as the "Father of the Nation"
The Revolutionary Army attacking Nanjing in 1911
Venue of the 1st National Congress of Kuomintang in 1924
Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Kuomintang after Sun's death in 1925