The Shanxi remittance houses were financial intermediaries that specialised in remitting money between distant places, from the Qing to the Republican era. A merchant handed silver to a remittance house in one place, received a draft, and drew the money on the draft at a branch in another place, so the silver did not have to travel with him.
The draft system rested on two things. One was jointly run branches: the branches of one remittance house in different places were joined, so a draft could also be paid at a branch elsewhere. The other was secret marks against forgery: a draft was checked against its mark, so an outsider who got hold of one could not easily claim the money.
In 1823 (Daoguang 3 of the Qing) the Xiyucheng dye shop in Pingyao was turned into the Rishengchang remittance house, the first house in China to specialise in remittance between distant places. After the Taiping war ended, the Shanxi remittance houses reached their height, with over 400 branches in more than 30 cities across the country, and were said to be "remitting throughout the realm".
In the last years of the Qing the remittance houses declined to join the Da Qing Bank. Around 1911 the political turmoil and competition from modern banks brought many of them down. Rishengchang closed in 1932.
Shanxi Remittance Houses is the class in the chapter on Commerce on remittance between distant places. It covers the financial houses, chiefly the Shanxi remittance houses, of the Qing to the Republican era: a merchant paid in silver in one place, received a draft, and drew the silver at a branch in another place without carrying it on the road. The houses managed this through jointly run branches and secret marks against forgery, and at their height had over 400 branches in more than 30 cities.
