THE  CURRENCY

147
JÍ  exchange  between  his  home  and  the  place  of  his  temporary ­
  sojourn.  Even  then,  however,  he  is  dependent
° n  the  banker  in  the  matter  of  the  quality  of  silver  ;  fortunately, ­
  the  commercial  honor  of  the  Chinese  bankers
stands  high,  though  it  is  hardly  to  be  expected  that  they
should  not  profit  by  their  expert  knowledge.
in  China  you  must  prove  your  axioms.  We  are  accustomed ­
  to  currencies  in  which  the  unit  of  value  is  a
tmod  and  accurate  weight  of  an  alloy  of  a  precious  metal
commonly  gold)  of  an  exact  and  known  degree  of  fineness
in  China  the  silver  currency  is  an  article  of  barter,  of  which
neither  the  weight  nor  the  quality  is  anywhere  fixed  ;  and
m  treating  of  the  tael  of  silver,  we  must  answer  two  questions ­
  :  \\  hat  is  a  tael  ?  and  What  is  silver  ?  Since  “  tael  "
connotes  both  a  weight  and  a  value,  and  since  an  essential
element  in  value  is  the  quality  of  the  silver,  we  must  first
answer  the  question  What  is  silver  ?

Silver
, s Sliv ®y  f  most  commonly  current  in  oval  ingots  called
.  J ' )Cs  bem  their  resemblance  to  a  Chinese  shoe;  but
VV  lat  may  be  called  fractional  currency  is  in  obovoid  lumps
weighing  up  to  two  or  three  taels.  At  Mengtsz  thesycee
lüipiïs
'  ' 4 .  cabed  pao  (jewel,  article  of  value,  as  in  the  inscription
,  .  ”  l -°PP ei  cash  tung-pao  —  "  current  coin  ")  and  more
"  -nly  ywß%  probably  landing  for  "  round  'ingot  "
s  shape,  oval  in  plan.
of  Shanghai  arc  as  shown  in  the  accompanying
&lt;c  t  represents  a  shoe  inscribed  in  ink  by  the

In

Pk
As

iav

of  th

Foreign  Settlements  as  weighing