A CHINESE WORK ON NUMISMATICS. 559 



Notes of Emperor T'ai-tsung (1123-1134 A.D.) of the Chin 



Dynasty. 



In 1123 A.D. T'ai-tsung of the Chin Dynasty ascended the throne 

 and estabhshed the era known as T'ien-hui (1123-1137 A.D. ). Ac- 

 cording to the annals of the Sung Dynasty, the Nii-chen, or Nii-chih,* 

 in the twenty-fourth year of Shao-hsing (1154 A.D.) instituted the bill 

 of exchange system modelled after that of the Sung and emitted notes 

 of two sizes, large and small, which were used side by side with the 

 old coins. This year corresponds to the second year of the Ch'en- 

 yiian Era in the reign of Liang (Hai-ling Wang) of the Chin Dynasty. 

 As I was not able to disco^•er the notes thus referred to in the history, 

 I could not print them in this book. However, I acquired the 10 

 kwan note of T'ai-tsung of the Chin Dynasty. The ciuality of the 

 paper resembles the Kao-li variety, but is thicker as the sheets are 

 doubled. The form follows that of the T'ai-tsu notes of the Sung 

 Dynasty.f The color is gray; the borders are decorated with clouds 

 and bats. At the top appears the inscription: " Great Chin Issuance 

 Treasure-Note". In the middle is written: "Ten Kwan" and a 

 pictorial representation of five ingots. At the two sides are characters 

 in the "dropping dew" seal style which read respectively: "Great 

 Chin Treasure-Note" and "To be issued to the world ".t Below 

 appears the inscription beginning with the words "The Civil Board 



having", etc., and ending with "T'ien-hui, year, month, 



day". The emission of the notes took place in 1124 A.D. 



There is another note of which I am the possessor. It is a 5 

 kwan note with a border decoration of the Hsi-fan lotus (Passiflora 

 coerulea). At the top is inscribed "Great Chin Army Treasure- 

 Note"; in the middle is written "Five Kwan" with a picture 

 of one yiian-pao. Below appears the inscription: "Great Chin 



Treasure-Note to be used as the yellow flag. If District officials 



the same punishment shall apply to all." It would appear that the 

 two characters which together mean "conceal" are left out. Next 

 follows " year, day" without the character "month". 



* The name of a tribe which later established the Chin State. K. T. 



t Does this refer to the regulations concerning the notes? The form of the 

 notes of T'ai-tsu's reign is quite different from that of the note herein referred 

 to. K. T. 



J Literally "distributed under the heavens." K. T. 



