134  THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE
hypothecated  value.  A  certain  Chang  Yung  introduced
them  to  take  the  place  of  the  iron  money,  which  was  in
conveniently  heavy  and  troublesome.  These  bills  wer
called  chih-tsi  or  evidences.  During  the  reign  of  Chengtsung
of  the  Sung  Dynasty  (a.d.  997-1022),  this  practice  was
followed,  and  the  notes  were  called  kiao-tze  or  change  mgs.
They  were  made  payable  every  three  years  ;  thus,  in  six  y
five  years  they  were  redeemable  twenty-two  times  ;  each  no  e
was  worth  a  thousand  cash,  or  a  tael  of  pure  silver.  Fifteen  o
the  richest  houses  managed  this  financial  operation  ,  u
in  course  of  time  they  were  unable  to  fulfil  their  engage
ments,  and  all  became  bankrupt,  which  gave  rise  to  many
lawsuits.  The  Emperor  annulled  the  notes  of  this  company  ,
and  deprived  his  subjects  of  the  power  to  issue  bank-  1  s &gt;
reserving  it  to  himself  to  establish  a  bank  of  issue  at  Yihc  ao.
By  the  year  1032  there  were  more  than  1,256,34°  tcU ^
worth  of  “  changelings  ”  in  circulation  in  China.  In  10  ’
having  ascertained  that  counterfeits  were  issued,  the
government  made  a  law  that  persons  making  false  bi  s
should  be  punished  the  same  as  those  who  falsified  govern
ment  orders.  Later  than  this,  and  at  different  applications,
banks  for  the  issue  of  the  kiao-tze  were  established  in  many
provinces,  and  the  notes  of  one  province  were  not  circulated
in  another.  Their  terms  of  payment  and  modes  of  cir
culation,  too,  varied  at  different  times.*

Southern  Sung  Notes
For  the  twelfth  and  the  first  half  of  the  thirteenth  centuries
the  country  was  divided  between  the  Southern  Sung  and  the
Golden  Dynasty  of  Nfichen  Tartars,  and  both  ran  a  mad
race  in  the  issue  of  assignats.  Of  the  latter  government  we
have  few  records,  but  of  the  doings  of  the  southern  kingdom
Klaproth  gives  us  the  following  note  :—
Under  the  Emperor  Kiotsung,  in  A.D.  1*3*»  ^
was  attempted  to  make  a  military  establishment  at
Wuchow,  but  as  the  requisite  funds  did  not  come  m
*  Klaproth,  “  Mémoires  relatifs  à  l’Asie,”