The main currency in the Tang Dynasty was not a few ounces of gold and silver, but it probably became popular after the Ming Dynasty. The currency in the Tang Dynasty was mainly Kaiyuan Bao Tong, also known as copper coins. One tael of silver is the same money, equal to 1 000 yuan, while one tael of gold is twelve taels of silver according to the conventional algorithm, so twelve taels of gold is one hundred taels of silver, that is, one hundred thousand pence.

In normal years, one or two ounces of silver can buy polished rice and one stone, and one stone of rice is about 130 kg. Twelve ounces of gold can buy 100 stone rice, or 13000 Jin. A piece of cotton cloth, depending on the quality, is one or two to three taels of silver, which is considered as medium-quality cotton cloth, one or two taels of silver. A piece of cloth is 100 foot, which is 30 meters.

Suppose a family of five eats 500 kilograms of rice or noodles every year. According to the calculation of large appetite, a family consumes 2500 Jin of grain a year, which is equivalent to 19 stone grain, and it costs 20 taels of silver. One person makes a suit, the cloth is 3 meters, and each person makes four sets of clothes every year, according to the calculation of moderately rich families.

A family of five consumes two pieces of cloth and 30 Jin of cotton every year. Cotton is very cheap. Four and a half pieces of silver, a total of five taels. Including other expenses, it costs 25 taels of silver a year.

A family of five spends 50 taels of silver and 5 taels of alloy a year. 10 two gold can support a well-off family of five people for two years. Officials (civil servants) in the Song Dynasty earned 200 taels of silver a month, plus the year-end bonus, 300 taels of silver a year, their wives didn't work, and they had three children, so they lived a decent life.

People's consumption concept in Tang Dynasty: from frugality to luxury

First of all, their consumption concept has undergone earth-shaking changes, which has a great relationship from the initial frugality to the continuous advocacy of luxury in the later period.

At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, because the country had just been established, the rulers also implemented the policy of recuperation, more in order to enable the people to regain their vitality and develop social production more stably, thus having the corresponding consumption concept, that is, frugality was practiced from the national level to the ordinary people.

In the middle and late Tang dynasty, especially in the prosperous Tang dynasty, people's pursuit of material things became more obvious due to the great development of economy.

In this case, both court officials and ordinary people have more consumer demand. In addition, the city developed greatly in the Tang Dynasty, and the rise of the civil class influenced more groups to meet their material needs.