A CHINESE WORK ON NUMISMATICS. 575 



Notes of Ch'ung-tsung (1087-1138 A.D.) of the Western Hsia 



Dynasty. 



Ch'ung-tsung of the Western Hsia Dynasty came to the throne in 

 1087 A.D. During his reign of fifty-three years, he changed the name 

 of the era nine times, of which Yiian-te (1119-1126 A.D.) and Ta-te 

 (1135-1139 A.D.) are those with which we are concerned. Though 

 the books of history do not record the issuance of notes in his reign, 

 such notes have been in the possession of the Chu Family. They are 

 one kwan and fi^•e kwan in denomination. Their color is gray, and 

 the border-decoration consists of clouds and bats. On one of them at 

 the top appears horizontally: "Great Hsia Issuance Treasure-Note", 

 and in the middle is the denomination, "5 Kwan", and the pictorial 

 representation of five ingots. On the two sides of the picture, written 

 in the "jade chopstick" [?] seal stj^le, inscriptions are inserted which 

 read respectively: "Ta-te Treasure-Note" and "To be current in 

 the world". It is strange that a note issued in the Yiian-te Era 

 should bear the name " Ta-te " which was not adopted until nine years 

 after the end of the Yiian-te Era, i. e., in the forty-ninth year of 

 Ch'ung-tsung's reign. The wi-iting below reads: " The Board of Rites 



having petitioned", etc., ending with "Yiian-te, year, 



month, day." 



The other, which is the one kwan note, has a border decorated with 

 ch'ih* dragons. The title on the top reads: "Great Hsia Army 

 Treasure-Note". In the middle appears the denomination, "One 

 Kwan", and the pictorial representation of 1000 cash. Below is an 



inscription which reads: " to be used by the Army " 



(Though the text of this note is like that of the Military provision 

 note of the Yiian Dynasty, their application differs). The inscrip- 

 tion ends : " If District officials . . . . , the same punishment shall apply 

 to all. Yiian-te,. . . .year,. . . .day." It seems that the two char- 

 acters which together mean "conceal" and another character for 

 "month" have been omitted. 



Dragon.s whose horns have not grown. K. T. 



