Jeohwa Paper Money Issued

Taejong set up the Saseomseo office and issued jeohwa, paper money made from mulberry bark.

In early Joseon rice and cloth served as money. To put currency under state control, Taejong set up the Saseomseo in 1401 to print jeohwa on mulberry paper and had it used for taxes and government dealings — a revival of paper money first made, without success, under the last Goryeo king Gongyang.

People still trusted rice and cloth more, and jeohwa kept losing value. Sejong added the copper Joseon Tongbo coin, but neither notes nor coins came into wide use.