oa Graffiti on Chinese Currency

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By analysing graffiti on current Renminbi (RMB) banknotes, this paper examines the reasonings and socio-economic and cultural circumstances for the emergence of graffiti on Chinese money, contextualising it especially against the backdrop of the broader legal framework regarding the protection of the Chinese currency. Usually, names written on larger denominations testify to the need of payment verification. However, graffiti on smaller denominations, owing to its higher circulation speed, have become a space for advertisements. The phenomenon of graffiti on coins is less attested, probably due to the inconvenience of incising on them. However, we frequently find graffiti with different political, social, or cultural-religious messages on low-value banknotes. From a historical perspective, graffiti on Chinese currency significantly contributes to our understanding of the current social and cultural dynamics contributing to an individual acting in opposition to legal frameworks, which strictly forbid and punish any kind of alteration of currency.