148

THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE

of  which

49-94  taels  and  as  being  of  silver  for  the  quah  y
275  must  be  added  ;  it  is  also  stamped  wit  ^s  a
Melting  Establishment  with  the  place  (Shanghai),  tn
of  the  Establishment  (Suiyuan),  and  a  numera  (3)
number  of  the  furnace,  of  which  the  Establishmen  1  ’
Shanghai  shoes  weigh  close  on  50  taels  each  ;  a  0  °
of  which  I  saw  the  weighing  and  touching,  had  y
between  49-81  and  49-90  taels,  five  between  49'9 1  an  5  ,
taels,  and  one  of  50-04  taels;  other  lots  might  av
larger  proportion  just  over  50  taels.  Hankow  an  ^
Yangtze  ports  also  cast  oval  shoes  close  on  5°  ae .
weight,  and  Tientsin  as  well.  The  shoes  of  îangsi
rectangular,  with  the  lip  projecting  at  each  en  OI \7  -i
an  inch,  weighing  also  about  50  taels.  The  shoes  or  1
have  the  top  of  the  solid  part  parallel  to  the  bo  om  ,
in  the  Newchwang  shoe  it  is  inclined,  so  that  a  one
the  solid  part  is  only  two-thirds  the  thickness  o  ®  0  ,
end;  Newchwang  shoes  weigh  from  53  1°  54  tac  s&gt;  r
quotations  for  “  transfer  money  ”  (v.  infra)  are  pci  s  10
nominally  53  taels.  Except  to  make  change  the  sma  u
of  silver  are  seldom  seen  at  Shanghai,  and  when  icceivi
from  other  cities  are  sent  to  be  cast  into  shoes.
The  silver  contained  in  the  shoe  is  called  sycee,  ^
Cantonese  pronunciation  of  hsi-sze,  “fine  silk  ,  w  ien
is  theoretically  standard  silver  of  a  fineness  of  1,000
called  tsu-seh  wen-yin.  .  1
Throughout  China  generally,  except  at  Shanghai  an
in  the  country  subordinated  to  it,  silver  is  rated  for  qua  1  y
by  millièmes  of  a  standard  of  “  pure  silver.”  Thus,  a
Tientsin  all  silver  is  reduced  to  a  theoretic  local  stan  ar
of  992  ;  at  Chef00,  to  one  of  976  ;  at  Hankow,  to  one  o
967.  At  Shanghai  and  through  the  greater  part  of  Kiangsu
and  Anhwei  silver  is  rated,  not  by  millièmes  of  a  P ul ^
silver  ”  standard,  but  by  the  addition,  to  each  shoe  of  a  ou
50  taels  weight,  of  a  quantity  to  indicate  the  degree  o
superiority  of  quality  over  a  presumed  standard  w  1C
(subject  to  a  certain  degree  of  confusion  between  premium
and  discount)  is  944  of  the  China  standard  of  “  pure  silver.