Chinese Money

One of the most troublesome questions to contend with in traveling in China is that of money. As is well known, the Chinese have no other currency than the copper cash, about 15,000 of which are worth at Peking a Chinese ounce of pure silver, called by foreigners a "tael of sycee." Silver is naturally used in commercial transactions, but as bullion only, and by weight, so every one has to have a set of small acales. The inconvenience that this weighing entails would be comparatively small were all the scales throughout the Empire uniform, but sueh is not the case. They differ considerably f rom oue town to another, and even in the same locality. Thus at Peking there is a Government standard, a maritime customs standard, and a commercial standard. The same diversity is found over all the Empire, and the consequent complicationsand even serious loss in exchange are a continual vexation. Nor is it possible to escape this loss by carrying copper cash vvith one; for, aside their excessive weight, there is not even a Standard cash in China. Those used at T'ientsin are not used at Peking; those at Peking are not current, except at a discount, at T'aiyuan. Here I bought a very debased kind of cash, giving one "larg-e cash" for four of them; lüü miles further south these small cash were at par, and even, in a few cases, at a slight premium over the intrinsically more valuable large ones. The Mongols. Thibetans and Turkestanese have never consented to use the Chinese copper cash. although it is the Standard money of the realm. The first name.d people se silver ingots or brick tea, the othera have a silver currenev of their o n. -