Feb., iqi2. Jade. 191 



ts'ien, "weighing five-thousand." The reverse is blank. The coin 

 in Fig. 3 bears on the obverse the two characters ch'ih tao, "contract 

 knife" in slight relief, and on the knife the two characters wu pai 

 "five hundred," while the reverse is also blank. 1 



It will be noticed that a raised rim borders the entire coin and also 

 the square hole. 



While there is in general no marked difference between the jade and 

 bronze types of this coin, an essential variation remains in the circular 

 and square perforations. It may be appropriate to recall here the 

 theory of L. C. Hopkins 2 according to which the cash is a mere reproduc- 

 tion in metal of the emblematic perforated jade disk pi. This view 

 finds a certain support in the statement made in K'ang-hi's Dictionary 

 that the first metal coins were shaped like these pi; but the form of the 

 perforation is passed over with silence, and as, in view of Chinese 

 geometric symbolism, a strong contrast must be supposed to exist 

 between a round and a square hole, this important point is left un- 

 explained by the theory of Hopkins. The combination of the cash 

 with the knife underlying our specimen certainly was only a personal 

 whim of the fantastic Wang Mang ; we may cut out the knife, and then 

 we have a jade cash with a round hole, and such seems to have really 

 existed in times before Wang Mang. It seems possible and plausible 

 that this coin may have sprung from the jade disk pi with which it 

 agrees except in dimension. A square perforation has not yet been 

 found in a pi, but the Po hu t'ung mentions pi with a square inside, 

 without saying, however, that this square was a perforation (see above 

 p. 154). The square would indicate Earth in Chinese sentiment, 

 but the Chinese have left to us no explanation as to why the holes of 

 their coins have always been made square. 



In the numismatical work Kin ting ts'ien lu (Ch. 1, p. 1 b) a square 

 metal coin rounded off at the corners with a round hole is engraved 

 (Fig. 94) with the statement that it was issued by the legendary 

 Emperor Shen-nung, the round hole being looked upon as a special 

 characteristic of this type. While we need not accept the association 

 of this coin with Sh£n-nung or any period of a similar antiquity, I 



1 The Wang Mang coins are still highly appreciated by Chinese collectors and 

 bring good prices according to the scarcity of the single types. The following 

 price-list has been quoted to me in Si-ngan fu as the present standard of valuation: 

 Wang Mang 1000 cash = 200 cash (about $0.12). 



" . " 200, 300, 400, 600 cash = 4 Taels each (about $2.40). 

 " 500 and 5000 cash =6 Taels each (about $3.60). 

 " 700, 800, 900 cash = 15 Taels each (about $9.00). 

 " 40 cash = 50 Taels each (about $30.00). 

 A piece of the last type is in the collection of H. E. Tuan Fang. 



*The Origin and Earlier History of the Chinese Coinage (Journal Royal Asiatic 

 Society, 1895, p. 330). 



