272 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY. 



the 70 kwan note with eleven hundred taels of silver; in the case of 

 the 100 kwan note, with fourteen hundred taels. If local officers con- 

 doned or concealed counterfeiters they would be subject to punish- 

 ment. The traces of the two government seals on the face of the 

 notes are quite evident. 



The Ming one kwan note of the period 1368-1398 has already been 

 fully described, it being the note translated by Morse. 



The six notes of the Ming dynasty and of the period 1425-1426 are 

 printed on paper of substantially the same color as the Liao and Sung 

 notes. Ramsden says that the prescribed color was blue black. The 

 denominations are 10, 20, 30, 70, 90 and 100 wen — the wen being 

 the copper cash. They were therefore of small value and were in- 

 tended for general circulation. The paper is uniformly four inches in 

 width, but the notes vary from 10 to 10| inches in length. The im- 

 pressions on the notes vary slightly in length, running from 9 to 

 Sf inches in length, but having a uniform width of 3f inches. They 

 were defined to be War period notes and were emitted on petition of 

 the Grand Council, for military purposes. The counterfeiter was to be 

 decapitated. The reward for the informer or arrester was for the 10 

 cash note 11 taels silver; for the 20 cash note 13 taels silver; for the 

 30 cash note 15 taels silver; for the 70 cash note, 23 taels; for the 90 

 cash note, 27 taels; and for the 100 cash note, 29 taels. The deco- 

 rations of the border are of the same inferior character as those of the 

 Liao and Sung notes. 



The four notes emitted under the Ching dynasty during the Tae 

 Ping troubles (1851-1862) are curiosities but cannot be classed as 

 antiquities. The one tael and the five tael notes each have five 

 dragons in the border ornamentation. The 500 wen and 2000 wen 

 notes each make use of two dragons in the decorative treatment of the 

 border. The paper is white and is sized. The notes are printed in 

 blue, although some of the characters are stamped in black ink and 

 in the dates the brush is used. There are several government seals. 

 Morse, in his article in the Journal of the North China Branch of the 

 Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. XXXVIII, 1907, says of these notes: 

 "From A.D. 1403, it may be said, or at any rate from some time in 

 the reign of Yung-lo (A.D. 1403-1425) there were no fiduciary issues 

 by the government, either of the Ming or the Tsing, until we come to 

 the troubled times of Hien-feng (A.D. 1851-1861) when the necessi- 

 ties of the Treasury drove it to this method of replenishing its depleted 

 reserves." He then quotes from Bushell, a detailed description of 

 the notes, and a statement that they depreciated so rapidly that in 



