| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 十 | 百 | 千 | 万 | 亿 | 元 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 壹 | 贰 | 叁 | 肆 | 伍 | 陆 | 柒 | 捌 | 玖 | 零 | 拾 | 佰 | 仟 | 万 | 亿 | 圆 |
The use of uppercase numerals originated in the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang, in response to a major corruption case known as the "Guo Huan Case," issued a law that specifically required the numbers used in accounting to be changed from "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, hundred, thousand" to the more complex Chinese characters "壹, 贰, 叁, 肆, 伍, 陆, 柒, 捌, 玖, 拾, 佰 (originally 陌), 仟 (originally 阡)" to make it more difficult to alter account books. Later, "陌" and "阡" were modified to "佰" and "仟," respectively, and have been used ever since.
| Numerical | Uppercase | Numerical | Uppercase | Numerical | Uppercase | Numerical | Uppercase | Numerical | Uppercase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 零元整 | 1 | 壹元整 | 2 | 贰元整 | 3 | 叁元整 | 4 | 肆元整 |
| 0 | 零元整 | 1 | 壹元整 | 2 | 贰元整 | 3 | 叁元整 | 4 | 肆元整 |
| 5 | 伍元整 | 6 | 陆元整 | 7 | 柒元整 | 8 | 捌元整 | 9 | 玖元整 |
| 10 | 壹拾元整 | 11 | 壹拾壹元整 | 12 | 壹拾贰元整 | 13 | 壹拾叁元整 | 14 | 壹拾肆元整 |
| 15 | 壹拾伍元整 | 16 | 壹拾陆元整 | 17 | 壹拾柒元整 | 18 | 壹拾捌元整 | 19 | 壹拾玖元整 |
| 20 | 贰拾元整 | 30 | 叁拾元整 | 40 | 肆拾元整 | 50 | 伍拾元整 | 60 | 陆拾元整 |
| 70 | 柒拾元整 | 80 | 捌拾元整 | 90 | 玖拾元整 | 100 | 壹佰元整 | 200 | 贰佰元整 |
| 300 | 叁佰元整 | 400 | 肆佰元整 | 500 | 伍佰元整 | 600 | 陆佰元整 | 700 | 柒佰元整 |
| 800 | 捌佰元整 | 900 | 玖佰元整 | 1000 | 壹仟元整 | 2000 | 贰仟元整 | 3000 | 叁仟元整 |
| 4000 | 肆仟元整 | 5000 | 伍仟元整 | 6000 | 陆仟元整 | 7000 | 柒仟元整 | 8000 | 捌仟元整 |
| 9000 | 玖仟元整 | 10000 | 壹万元整 | 20000 | 贰万元整 | 30000 | 叁万元整 | 40000 | 肆万元整 |
| 50000 | 伍万元整 | 60000 | 陆万元整 | 0.1 | 壹角 | 0.2 | 贰角 | 0.3 | 叁角 |
| 0.4 | 肆角 | 0.5 | 伍角 | 0.6 | 陆角 | 0.7 | 柒角 | 0.8 | 捌角 |
| 0.9 | 玖角 | 1.1 | 壹元壹角 | 1.2 | 壹元贰角 | 1.3 | 壹元叁角 | 1.4 | 壹元肆角 |
| 1.5 | 壹元伍角 | 1.6 | 壹元陆角 | 1.7 | 壹元柒角 | 1.8 | 壹元捌角 | 1.9 | 壹元玖角 |
Precautions for Writing Large Numbers in RMB in Chinese Characters
Large amounts in Chinese characters should be written in regular or running script, such as 壹(yī), 贰(èr), 叁(sān), 肆(sì), 伍(wǔ), 陆(liù), 柒(qī), 捌(bā), 玖(jiǔ), 拾(shí), 佰(bǎi), 仟(qiān), 万(wàn), 亿(yì), 元(yuán), 角(jiǎo), 分(fēn), 零(líng), 整(or 正 zhěng). The numerals one, two (liang, an alternative for 二 in some contexts), three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, niàn (an alternative for 念 which means ten in some dialects), máo (a colloquial term for jiāo, or one tenth of a yuan), lìng (or 0) should not be used, nor should self-created simplified characters. If traditional Chinese characters are used in writing the amounts, such as 贰, 陆, 亿, 万, 圓 (an alternative for 圆), they should also be accepted.
1. If the large amount in Chinese characters ends with "元" (yuán), the character "整" (or "正" zhěng) should be written after "元". After "角" (jiǎo), "整" (or "正") is optional. If there is a "分" (fēn) in the amount, "整" (or "正") should not be written after "分".
2. The phrase "人民币" (RMB) should precede the large amount in Chinese characters. If there is a "分" in the amount, "整" (or "正") should not be written after "分".
3. The phrase "人民币" (RMB) should precede the large amount in Chinese characters, and the amount should be written immediately after "人民币" without leaving any space. If "人民币" is not pre-printed before the amount, it should be added. Pre-printed characters such as "仟, 佰, 拾, 万, 仟, 佰, 拾, 元, 角, 分" should not be used in the section for writing large amounts on bills and settlement vouchers.
4. When there are "0"s in Arabic numerals representing small amounts, the corresponding Chinese characters should be written according to the rules of Chinese language, the structure of the amount, and the requirement to prevent tampering. Examples are as follows:
1. When there is a "0" in the middle of Arabic numerals, the Chinese character "零" should be written, e.g., ￥1409.50 should be written as 人民币壹仟肆佰零玖元伍角.
2. When there are consecutive "0"s in the middle of Arabic numerals, only one "零" can be written in the corresponding Chinese amount, e.g., ￥6007.14 should be written as 人民币陆仟零柒元壹角肆分.
3. When the ten thousand's place and the yuan's place are "0", or when there are consecutive "0"s in the middle of the number, and the ten thousand's place and the yuan's place are also "0", but the thousand's place and the jiao's place are not "0", one "零" can be written or omitted in the corresponding Chinese amount. For example, ￥1680.32 can be written as 人民币壹仟陆佰捌拾元零叁角贰分 or 人民币壹仟陆佰捌拾元叁角贰分; another example is ￥107000.53, which can be written as 人民币壹拾万柒仟元零伍角叁分 or 人民币壹拾万零柒仟元伍角叁分.
4. When the jiao's place is "0" but the fen's place is not "0" in Arabic numerals, "零" should be written after "元" in the corresponding Chinese amount. For example, ￥16409.02 should be written as 人民币壹万陆仟肆佰零玖元零贰分; another example is ￥325.04, which should be written as 人民币叁佰贰拾伍元零肆分.
Origin of Numbers
The earliest tools used by humans for counting were fingers and toes, but they could only represent numbers up to 20. When dealing with larger numbers, most primitive people used small stones to count. Gradually, people invented methods of knotting ropes or carving notches on animal hides, trees, or stones to count. In ancient China, small sticks made of wood, bamboo, or bone were used for counting, known as suanchou. These counting methods and symbols evolved into the earliest numerical symbols (digits). Today, Arabic numerals are used as the standard numerals worldwide.