Mr. Davis's Extracts from Peking Gazettes. 257 



propose, that " from the summer halflyear of the 4th of Taou kwang, the 

 mint should be shut, and all further coinage suspended : the soldiers re- 

 ceiving their pay in silver, until the relative values of silver and currency 

 approach nearer to a par." The Emperor returns for answer—" The 

 address has been recorded." And a later gazette conveys his assent to the 

 measure.* 



Description of the Coins of the Ta-tsing, or reigning Dynasty of China. 



I. 



SHUN-CHE,t A.D. 1643. The founder of the present Manchow Tartar 

 dynasty, by driving out the Ming, or Chinese dynasty. He compelled the 

 Chinese to shave their heads, and wear long tails, like the Tartars. Reigned 

 eighteen years. The other two characters, Tung.paoi(,% denote that the 

 coin is current throughout the empire. The reverse of the coin bears the 

 Tartar character. 



II. 



Kang-he,§ A.D. lf)6l. The second Emperor of the present dynasty. 

 Reigned sixty-one years. He has been very much praised by the Jesuit 

 missionaries, to whom he showed great favours. 



* The Yuen dynasty or Mongol conquerors of China, established a paper money for the pay 

 of their troops (a fact which is noticed by Marco Polo) ; but, ignorant of the truth, that the 

 circulation cannot absorb, or take up, more than a limited quantity, without a depreciation of its 

 value, they continued their extravagant issues of paper, until it became nearly worthless ; not- 

 withstanding their absurd attempts to keep up its credit, by forbidding the use of any medium of 

 exchange but this. The final expulsion of the Mongol Tartars may be aUributed in some 

 measure to the ruin induced by the above cause. In an interesting memoir on this subject (a 

 copy of which was obligingly transmitted by its author to the Translator of the foregoing), 

 M. Klaproth very truly observes, that the Manchow Tartars, the last conquerers of China, have 

 never attempted to put paper money in circulation ; adding, " car ces barbares ignorent encore le 

 principe fondamental de toute bonne administration financiere, savoir, que plus un pays a ik 

 dettes, plus il est ric/ic et heureux." 



t See Plate III, No. 9. j See Plate III, No. 10. § See Plate III, No. 11. 



