Notes
1. This statement is all that the Treatise
says concerning the period when Wang Mang was ruling for Emperor
P'ing.
2. Cf. 99 A: n. 26.9.
3. A quotation from Analects XIX, xxiii,
3.
4. Cf. 99 B: 11b.
5. Cf. 99 B: 14a ff.
6. A sentence also found in 99 B:
14b.
7. A statement characteristic of the
Legalists (Bodde, China's First Unifier, p. 214f); perhaps also of the
Confucianists. Mencius says that Confucius was timely (V, ii, i,
5).
8. This ordinance is quoted in a more
elaborate form in 99 B: 8a-9a, q.v.
9. This ordinance is quoted in a more
elaborate form in 99 B: 8a-9a, q.v.
10. A T'ang manuscript of HS 24 A has been preserved in Japan in the Hōjōin of the
Shimpuku Temple in Nagoya. Yang Shou-ching (1839-1915) had a tracing of it made
in 1895; it was edited by Li Shu-ch'ang (1837-1897) and published as vol. 21 of
the "Ku-yi Ts'ung-shu", under the title, Ying T'ang-hsieh-pen
HS Shih-huo Chih. Unfortunately, this tracing is not always
accurate. Dr. Takao Yamada has published a photolithographic facsimile, under
the title, Han-sho Shokka-shi 漢書食貨志, under the auspices of the Koten Hozon-kai
古典保存會.This manuscript taboos the words
shih-min 世民 (they usually lack a stroke; occasionally, as on folio leaf 7, reverse
[b], column 7 of the facsimile, and 8a(1,5), the word 萌 is written for min [this
latter form of taboo is not in Ch'en Yüan's list]). Shih-min was the personal
name of Emperor Wen 文, the Grand Exemplar (the T'ai-tsung) of the T'ang dynasty.
This manuscript also taboos the word chih 治, which was the personal name of
Emperor Ta 大, the Eminent Exemplar (the Kao-tsung). The words
tan 旦 (6a4) and yu 豫
(5a3, 10a3), which were the personal names of the Penetrating Exemplar (the
Jui-tsung) and the Dynastic Exemplar (the Tai-tsung), respectively, are however
written correctly. The word yung 用 (16a9, 18b8, 19a2, 19b2, 20a7), which formed
part of the personal name of Li K'o-yung, the founder of the Later T'ang
dynasty, is also written correctly. At its inception, the T'ang rulers were
quite lenient concerning taboos of imperial names. But as Confucianism became
more and more influential, the observance of these taboos became more and more
stressed, until, in the period of the Five Dynasties, which followed upon the
fall of the T'ang dynasty, imperial taboos were observed strictly. (Cf. Ch'en
Yüan, Shih-hui Chü-li, p. 95b.) In the T'ang period, there were tabooed the
personal names of the seven immediately preceding generations of emperors, and
also those of the dynastic founders, as well as that of the reigning emperor,
i.e., those of the Eminent Founder (the Kao-tsu), the Grand Exemplar, the
Eminent Exemplar, the seven emperors immediately preceding, and the reigning
sovereign. (Cf ibid., p. 49b.) From the above noted
phenomena, this manuscript was written in either of two periods: (1) between
650 (when the Eminent Exemplar began his reign) and the reign of the
Penetrating Exemplar, i.e., 684 (when he was first enthroned) or 710 (when he
began his independent reign), or else (2) after the seventh reign after that of
the Dynastic Exemplar, down to the end of the T'ang period, i.e., in
847-904.On the back of this scroll there has
been transcribed the Buddhist Amida Sutra, with a colophon stating that it was
written in the second year of the period Kaho 嘉保, a Japanese date corresponding
to 1095. The scroll is doubly boxed. On the outer box is written the words, "
橘逸勢真跡 Handwriting of Tachibana no Hayanari." The inner box also has this attribution
inscribed on it; on the cover of this box is the signature of Kohitsu Ryôhan
古筆了伴 (1827-1853), who came of a family for generations acknowledged to be
authorities on matters of ancient handwriting, so that this attribution is very
likely from him.Hayanari went to China in the closing
years of the Enriki period (782-805) and after his return served in the court,
being noted for his calligraphy. At the end of the scroll is a vermillion seal,
that of the
Office of Civil Affairs, used on official documents from 770 to
some date before 864. It is then quite possible that this manuscript was
written in the middle of the ix century by Hayanari, after his return from
China. In that case it represents an exemplar then preserved in Japan. Hayanari
was made Governor of Tajima Province in 840; the date of his death is unknown.
Dr. Yamada however seems to place little reliance upon the attribution of this
scroll to Hayanari. He and his colleagues believe that this scroll comes from
the early Nara period (646-710). (I thank Dr. Shio Sakanishi, formerly of the
Library of Congress, for the above information.)There is the further possibility that
this manuscript is a copy by Hayanari or some other Japanese scribe of a
Chinese exemplar then preserved in Japan. Dr. Sakanishi states that no Japanese
would have taken any liberties in copying an old Chinese manuscript, not even
altering the writing to conform to Chinese taboos that had arisen after the
exemplar had been written. If so, this exemplar was written between 650 and 684
or 710 and the present manuscript was written between 650 and the first part of
the ninth century, to possibly about 820, when that seal ceased to be
used.At this point, this T'ang manuscript
omits the word 出 after the 咸.
11. The T'ang manuscript reads 淩 for 陵, and
omits the word 假, although space is left for it.
12. The Official ed. has emended 驕 to 質, but
the T'ang mss. and other texts read the former word.
13. The T'ang mss. reads only one 謷, but in
quoting Yen Shih-ku's note, it reads two.
14. The T'ang mss., the Ching-yu ed., and
the Official ed. read 嵗; the Chi-ku-ko ed, and Wang Hsien-ch'ien read 年.This edict is also found in 99 B: 20a.
15. For 它 the T'ang mss. writes 他, a
graphic variant not found in the HS.
16. Taken from T'ien K'uang's
memorial in 99 C: 16a.
17. Repeated from the edict quoted in
99 C: 17a.
18. Repeated in 99 C:
17b.
19. Where this sentence is repeated
in 99 C: 18a, 贍 is used for the 澹 here.
20. For the 飢 of the other texts, the
T'ang mss. writes 餓.I have compared this T'ang
manuscript with the Ching-yu ed. of 1035, with what seems to be a copy of the
1131 Szechuan large character ed., also a Yüan reprint of a Sung Academy ed.,
the Te-fan-tsui-lo-hsien ed. (betw. 1457 and 1573), the Wang Wen-sheng ed. of
1546, the Chi-ku-ko ed. of 1642, and the Wang Hsien-ch'ien ed. of 1900. In the
part translated here, there are ten differences between the T'ang manuscript
and these other texts. Except for the difference noted in n. 21.10, in every
case these other editions agree against the readings of the Japanese T'ang
manuscript. Its variants are then textually unimportant. No significent
variations occur and some are sheer blunders. Cf. also Pelliot, BEFEO, 2
(1902), 335.
21. This passage does not seem to be
a quotation from any single edict, but merely a summary; cf. 99 B: 21a, 28a; C:
8b, 17a for such utterances. "Barbarians who have troubled the Chinese" is a
phrase from Book of History II, i, 20, Legge, p.
44.
22. Cf. HS 99
A: 30a for the complementary account.
23. Cf. HS 99
A: 30a for the complementary account.
24. Cf. HS 24
B: 2b, 3a. The reference is to Kuo-Yü (iv or iii cent. B.C.) 3: 13b-15b, sect.
5, (de Harlez, Jour. Asiat., ser. 9, vol. 3 [Jan.-Feb. 1894], pp. 58-61) which
says, "In the twenty-first year of King Ching [524 B.C.], when [the King] was
about to have large cash cast, [seemingly for the purpose of securing more
revenue], Duke Mu of Shan said, `It should not be done. Anciently, when
Heaven's visitations descended, thereupon [the ruler] evaluated [the state's]
merchandise and currency, and standardized the weight [of the currency] in
order to assist the common people. When the common people suffered [because the
currency was too] light, then he made heavier currency in order to make [the
lighter ones] circulate, whereupon the larger ones (mu) acted as a standard
(ch'üan) for the smaller ones (tzu)
and [the smaller ones] circulated, so that
the common people secured [the benefits of] both [denominations of coins].
However, when [business conditions] would not support the heavier [coins], then
[the ruler] made many lighter [coins] and circulated them, and also did not
suppress the heavier ones, whereupon the smaller [coins] (tzu) acted as a
standard (ch'üan) for the larger ones
(mu) and [the larger ones] circulated so
that [both] the smaller and larger [coins] were beneficial. If now you, King,
abolish the lighter [coins] and make heavier ones, and the common people lose
their property, will they be able not to default [on their taxes]?' ... But the
King did not listen and eventually cast larger cash."Chi-chung Chou-shu (possibly
forged from ancient materials after the Han period), 2: 7b, 8a, also refers to
this incident: "When the currency for the land tax was too light, [King Wen]
made larger [coins] in order to make the smaller ones circulate and altered the
price of merchandise, in order to adjust it for travelers, so that
[merchandise] might have no obstacles [in trade]."Ying Shao explains this economic
policy as follows (in a note to HS 24 B: 2b, 3a): "The
mother (mu) is the heavier one. It is a moiety larger, hence it is the mother
(mu). The son (tzu) is the lighter.
It is lighter and lesser by half, hence it
is the son (tzu). When the common people suffered by the lightness of the
currency and the expensiveness of goods, [the ruler] made heavy currency in
order to equalize the [prices] and temporarily circulated these [coins] in
order to do away with the light [coins]. Hence it is said, `The mothers (mu,
heavier ones) act as standards for the sons (tzu, lighter ones),' which is like
saying that the heavier ones are used as the weights by which to weigh the
lighter ones. The common people all secured them. Whether they were farmers or
merchants, had or had no [property], they all secured benefits from
them."Meng K'ang adds, "The heavier
ones were the mothers (mu) and the lighter ones were
the sons (tzu). It is like
the selling of an article for eighty cash: the mother (mu [original cost]) was
fifty [cash] and the son (tzu, [profit]), thirty [cash], comes from it."This same precedent was used to
justify paper money in Yüan times; cf. HJAS 2: 317 (the phrase mentioned there,
tzu-mu hsiang-ch'üan erh hsing, is from the Kuo-Yü.)
25. Cf. James H. Stewart Lockhart,
The Stewart Lockhart Collection of Chinese Copper Coins, "Royal Asiatic
Society, North China Branch," Extra Volume no. 1 (1915), no. 144; H. Glathe,
The Origin and Development of Chinese Money, p. 30, nos. 151-161, 163-167. Mr.
H. F. Bowker of Oakland, Cal., an officer of the U. S. Navy, has loaned me a
50-cash coin of this issue which weighs 6.19 g. and is 27 mm. in diameter, as
compared with the 7.68 g. and 27 mm. of the text.
26. Cf. E. Chavannes, Documents chinois,
no. 709; Glathe, op. cit., p. 29, no. 103. The graving-knife coins in Lockhart
ibid., nos. 152, 153, are both probably fakes: no. 152
because of the defective writing of the words for "five hundred" and no. 153
because of its size and the more modern form of the word ch'i. In this matter I
am glad to have the concurrence of the numismatist, Mr. H. F. Bowker.
Chin-shih-so, Chin, 4: 29a, b, contains diagrams of the graving-knife and
inlaid-knife coins.Mr. Bowker has very kindly loaned me an
excellently-preserved specimen of a graving-knife coin, obtained from Gakuyo
Katsuyama 勝山岳陽 of Tokyo, a highly esteemed Japanese archeologist, who guaranteed its
authenticity. It corresponds exactly with the description in the
HS text and with Chavannes' illustration. The cutting
edge of the knife-blade has been sharpened by filing from both sides (with
almost all of the bevel on the obverse side), so that the coin would actually
cut. It weighs 15.80 g. or a little less than 25 shu (16.0 g.), which latter
figure may have been its original weight. The circular head of the coin is 28
mm. in diameter (exactly corresponding to the text's "1 inch 2 fen" for the
diameter of large cash; cf. HFHD I, 279 for equivalents), with a hole 13 mm.
square; the blade is 46 mm. long (exactly 2 of Wang Mang's inches, as the text
states).Mr. Bowker has also loaned me what is
plainly the circular head of a graving-knife coin, from which the blade has
been broken off and the break smoothed, thus making a round cash out of the
coin. It weighs 9.48 gm.; about two-thirds of the graving-knife coin's metal
was in its head. Since the edges of cash were smooth and not milled, such a
mutilation would be unnoticed until the inscription was read, which is
"ch'i-tao (graving-knife)." Mr. Bowker has also loaned me three other coins
which are similar round heads of inlaid knife-coins. Cf. Glathe
ibid., p. 30, no. 162.Chang Yen (iii cent.) plainly knew only
these broken-off knife-coin heads, for he glosses this passage as follows: "In
my opinion, in shape and substance, the graving-knife [coins] and inlaid
knife-[coins] which are extant today are like [Wang Mang's] large cash, but the
raised edges to their circumferences and holes are thick---different from those
of these large cash. In shape [these knife-coins] are like the rings on swords.
The shape of the body of the graving-knife [coins] is round, not two inches
long. The legend to the left [of the hole] reads, `ch'i (graving),' and to the
right reads, `tao (knife),' and they do not have the words,
`wu-po (five hundred [cash]).' "Yen Shih-ku (581-645) states that Chang
Yen is mistaken and that the Wang Mang knife-coins of his day tallied with the
description in the text. Chang Yen seems merely not to have known unmutilated
knife-coins. (Cf. also the end of n. 21.5).
27. Cf. Glathe, op. cit., 29, no. 104. Mr.
Bowker has also kindly loaned me a well-preserved Wang Mang inlaid knife-coin,
also obtained from and guaranteed by the same archeologist. It corresponds with
the description in the text (except for the substitution of
p'ing for chih,
which is discussed later). This coin weighs 23.74 g. (a little less than 38 shu
[24.32 g.]), so that these coins probably originally weighed about 40 shu. The
cutting edge of the blade has been filed sharp, with an even bevel on both
sides. Its dimensions are exactly the same as those of the graving-knife coins,
except that it is thicker and heavier. On the field of the circular part of the
coin, above and below the hole, are the words, "yi-tao (one knife-[coin])," in
seal characters, engraved into the body of the coin and inlaid with gold, level
to the field of the coin. This gold inlay is mentioned in the HS text, without specifying what is inlaid. The blade of the
coin bears the words, "p'ing wu-ch'ien (standardized at five thousand [cash])"
in raised bronze characters, like the legends on other Han coins. The reverse
of the coin is bare of any legend.In the account of the legend on these
coins, for "worth," the text reads the word chih 直.
But this coin has p'ing 平. I
suspect that the chih in the HS text is an error, from
attraction to the word chih in the legend on the one-cash coins in Wang Mang's
coinage of A.D.9. P'ing, which meant "standardized," denoting the establishing
by the government of a fixed value for an article, is much more appropriate for
these coins, which were really fiat money. Liu Feng-shih (1041-1113), the Sung
Ch'i ed. (xi or xii cent.), and Ch'ien Chan (1744-1806) moreover all quote the
legend on these coins with the word p'ing. The latter of these writers noted
that the words yi-tao are engraved and inlaid with gold, while the rest of the
legend is raised.Lockhart's inlaid knife-coins
ibid. nos. 146-152, seem all either to have been fakes
or counterfeits or to have been copied incorrectly from Chinese numismatic
books. He nowhere mentions the gold-inlaid characters, which are the most
striking feature of these coins and are testified to as early as by Chang Yen
in the third century. Mr. Bowker remarks that Lockhart "obviously did not have
these coins or he would have mentioned the gold characters." The word p'ing in
Lockhart's drawings is not correctly formed (except perhaps in no. 147); the
vertical line should project below the bottom horizontal line. Mr. Bowker
writes me, "I have never seen a specimen like no. 148, and am sure it is a
fake. The same applies to no. 147, on account of the incused line around the
blade on both sides, not to mention the smallness of the characters." No. 149
comes closest to Mr. Bowker's specimen, but the proportions are somewhat
incorrect.Chang Yen knew only the circular heads
of these inlaid knife-coins, from which the blades had been broken off. His
gloss (trans. in n. 21.4) continues, "The inlaid knife[coins] are moreover
engraved with characters, which are filled with actual gold. Their legend,
above [the hole], reads, `yi (one),' and, below [the hole], reads, `tao
(knife-[coin]).' " This description agrees with Mr. Bowker's specimens. The
heaviest of these heads weighs 15.97 g., so that about two-thirds of the metal
was in the head. The amount of gold inlaid in the two engraved characters is
negligible, so that it was not worth gouging out.When Wang Mang ascended the throne and
dispossessed the Han dynasty, these knife-coins became nefastus, unpropitious,
since they denoted the Han surname, Liu (cf. p. 245f). After Wang Mang
demonetized them, their possession probably became a mark of loyalty to the Han
dynasty. Wealthy nobles, who had obediently exchanged their gold for these
knife-coins, found them now not only worthless, but even dangerous to possess.
Probably many nobles did not dare to melt down their knife-coins, for someone
in their household would be sure to inform the ever-watchful government of the
deed, and counterfeiting was a serious crime. Hence the blades were broken off
these coins, making them into round cash. As such they would have been worth
their weight in bronze or (perhaps more likely) they may have circulated on a
par with the fifty-cash coins---the owners lost 99% of their money by turning a
5000-cash coin into a 50-cash coin, but that doubtless seemed better than
losing the whole value of these coins and being punished for possessing
them!In the Ch'üan-pi 泉幣, issue 1, July, 1940
(pub. at Shanghai), Mr. Ts'ai Chi-hsiang 蔡季襄 publishes a photograph of a
10,000-cash coin, shaped like a circle with a square attached to it, with the
legend, "Worth ten thousand [cash from] the chests of gold in the state's
treasure 國寶金匱直万." Mr. Ts'ai decides that it is a Wang Mang coin from the issue of
A.D. 11.I cannot agree with him. If it was from
Wang Mang's age at all (the use of the word chih,
instead of p'ing, raises
doubts), it must have been intended for the issue of A.D. 7. At that time, Wang
Mang "nationalized" gold, paying for it probably at the rate of 10,000 cash per
catty (the value he set in A.D. 11), so that a 10,000-cash coin was really
needed in making this exchange. The round shape denotes heaven and the square
shape denotes earth. Mr. Ts'ai argues that the word kuei 匱 (chest) in its legend
was the name for 10,000 catties of gold in Wang Mang's time (cf.
HS 99 C: 25a), just as Kuan-tzu (ch. 5,
"Shen-ma," sect.
"Shih, nung, kung, shang"; Szu-pu Ts'ung-k'an ed. 1: 12b)
states, "A hundred yi 鎰
of actual gold [make] one ch'ieh 篋 (box)," and
Nan-shih, 53: 25b "Memoir of the
King of Wu-ling, Hsiao Yüan-cheng," states, "One catty of actual gold makes one
ping 餅 (cake) and a hundred ping
make a ch'ou 簉 (secondary unit)." (Gold was cast
into cake-shaped ingots; Mr. Ts'ai publishes photographs of such ingots from
Chou and Former Han times.)This 10,000-cash coin is not mentioned
in any Chinese history. It was needed in A.D. 7, but if such coins had been
issued, they would have been used plentifully in purchasing the nobles' gold
and would not be so rare and unmentioned. But in the issue of A.D. 7, the coins
of a higher denomination than one cash were all multiples of five: 50, 500, and
5000 cash. (Five, along with the other odd numbers, is the number of Heaven,
not Earth; cf. Book of Changes, App. III, i, 49; Legge, p. 365.) Emperor P'ing
was sickly; the knife-coins, with their symbolism of metal and knife [HS 24 B: 21b] denoted the Liu house; similarly the use of
the number five, denoting Heaven [the Emperor was the Son of Heaven] was
probably also magic to strengthen the Emperor.) It would have been unlikely
that a 10,000-cash coin (denoting both Heaven and Earth) would have been added
to this (purely Heavenly) series. In the issue of A.D. 11, the denominations
increase by tens to 50, then by hundreds to 1000; it would have been unlikely
that a 10,000-cash coin would have been added to such a series, leaving so
great a gap between it and the next lower coin. The largest denomination in the
issue of A.D. 14 was 25-cash, so that this 10,000-cash coin could not have
belonged to that series. In my opinion, if this coin is really from Wang Mang's
mint (concerning which I have no evidence), it can only have been a mint sample
for the issue of A.D. 7, which coin was rejected because it spoiled the
symmetry and magical effect of that issue. (Cf. also the Tung-yang Huo-pi
Tsa-chih 東洋貨幣雜誌, no. 218.)
28. As a matter of fact, this coinage was
not all begun at the same time. The previous coinage was abolished, except for
the twelve-shu large fifty-cash coins, in the spring of A.D. 9, when there were
also first coined the one-shu diminutive cash coins, so that these two
denominations circulated together (99 B: 7b). Then in A.D. 10 (99 B: 15a), Wang
Mang added the other 26 denominations of this coinage. When compiling this
"Treatise," Pan Ku evidently forgot that this coinage was not all enacted at
the same time.
29. As a matter of fact, this coinage was
not all begun at the same time. The previous coinage was abolished, except for
the twelve-shu large fifty-cash coins, in the spring of A.D. 9, when there were
also first coined the one-shu diminutive cash coins, so that these two
denominations circulated together (99 B: 7b). Then in A.D. 10 (99 B: 15a), Wang
Mang added the other 26 denominations of this coinage. When compiling this
"Treatise," Pan Ku evidently forgot that this coinage was not all enacted at
the same time.
30. Wang Mang took this name from that said
to have been given by King Ching of the Chou dynasty to his large cash; cf.
HS 24 B: 3a.
31. Cf. Lockhart ibid., no. 145; Terrien de Lacouperie, Catalogue of Chinese
Coins in the British Museum, p. 367, nos. 341-343; Chin-shih-so, Chin, 4:
28b.
32. Cf. de Lacouperie ibid., p. 368, nos. 1711, 1712.
33. Cf. Ku-chin Ch'ien-lüeh, by Ni Mo
(1750-1825), 16: 6b; Glathe, op. cit., p. 30, no. 171.
34. Cf. de Lacouperie ibid., p. 369, nos. 1713, 1714; Glathe, op. cit., no.
170.
35. Cf. de Lacouperie ibid., nos. 344, 1715, 1716; Glathe, op. cit., no.
169.
36. Cf. de Lacouperie ibid., p. 370; Lockhart, nos. 136-143.
37. Shu-shih was a prefecture in Chien-wei
Commandery, which mined fine silver. For location, cf. Glossary,
sub voce.
38. Meng K'ang glosses, "Jang 冉 [means] the
border of tortoise shells.... They measured the edge of the two sides of their
backs as a foot and two inches." Li Tz'u-ming, in his HSCha-chi 2: 6a, adds that jang should be (此字為“井“旁“龜“),
which is defined in the Shuo-wen 13
B: 2b as, "The edge of a tortoise carapace.... [The edge of] great tortoise
shells used for] the Son of Heaven is a foot and two inches; for the nobles, it
is a foot; for grandees, it is eight inches; and for gentlemen, it is six
inches." Meng K'ang seems to have had this latter word in mind. The Shuo-wen is
quoting the ancient text of the Lost Book of Rites (now lost), which is quoted
by name in Ch'u-hsüeh-chi 30: 30a.Li-chi XVII, ii, 26 (Legge, II, 114;
Couvreur, II, 82) says, "[The standard] bordered with blue and black was that
[on which were represented] the Son of Heaven's precious tortoise-[shells]."
The "precious" tortoise-shells were those used for divination. Kung-yang
Commentary, 26: 3b, Dk. Ting. VIII, says "The treasures of Chin
were...tortoise[shells] with blue borders," and Ho Hsiu glosses, "Tortoises
[which live to] a thousand years have blue beards." (References from Shen
Ch'in-han.)
39. Wang Nien-sun asserts that after 寸 there
were originally the words 以上, to agree with the statements concerning the size of
the next two sizes of tortoise-shells; K'ung Ying-ta, in a note to Li-chi, ch.
VIII, i, 6, in his Li-chi Chu-su 23: 4a, and the
Ch'u-hsüeh-chi 30: 32b quote
this passage with these words; the T'ung-tien, ch. 8: 11a, (Com. Pr. ed. p. 47)
quotes it without them.
40. Ts'ai Yün (d. ca. 1820), in his Pi-t'an
3: 8b, 9a, asserts that the text's hou 厚 should be
hsü 序. He points out that the
six denominations of cash were named "diminutive," "little," "young," "medium,"
"adult," and "large." There were ten denominations of spade-money, hence
between "large" and "adult" there were added 次 and 第, both of which words mean
"next"; and between "medium" and "young" there were added 差 and hsü, both of
which also mean "next." Hou, "thick," does not fit the meaning at all; in the
seal character, hou and hsü are very
similar. A specimen of this "Still smaller
than medium spade-money," loaned me by Mr. Bowker, bears plainly the
seal-character form of the word hsü, which is practically identical with that
found for hsü in the Shuo-wen,
and is not the word hou.
41. Cf. de Lacouperie ibid., p. 303, no. 1580.
42. The Ching-yu ed. and the Official ed.
read the obviously correct 二 for Wang Hsien-ch'ien's 一.
43. For these spade-coins, cf. de
Lacouperie ibid., pp. 302-306; Ku-chin Ch'ien-lüeh 16:
7b-9a and Chin-shih So, Chin, 4: 30b-32a illustrate a complete set. The
Yokohama Numismatic Society's 橫濱古泉會搨摸集, no. 9 (1912) and Glathe,
op. cit., pp. 28, 29,
nos. 90-99 print a photograph of these ten spade-coins.The legend on these 1000-cash pieces is
"大布黃千 large spade-money valued at a thousand [cash]," for which legend there is
ancient testimony. Ni Mo, in his Ku-chin Ch'ien-lüeh 16: 9b, points out that
the word huang 黃 in this legend is a cursive form of
heng(1) 橫, and that heng(1) is
used for heng(2) 衡, with which it was anciently
interchanged. heng(2), like p'ing 平,
meant "to weigh," hence "to standardize at a given value." Karlgren, Grammata
Serica 707a and m, lists huang and heng(1) as having had the same archaic and
ancient pronunciations. The fact that Wang Mang asserted he ruled by virtue of
the element earth, whose color is yellow, huang, aided in forming this cursive
form of heng(1).Mr. Bowker has loaned me a complete set
of these spade-coins, secured by him from Gakuyo Katsuyama. Herewith a
comparison of these coins with the statements in the HS:
Denomination (in cash) |
Legal weight according to the HS (in grams)
|
Actual weight (in g.) |
Legal length according to the HS (in mm.)
|
Actual length (in mm.) |
100 |
9.60 |
7.0 |
35 |
35 |
200 |
10.24 |
7.86 |
37 |
38 |
300 |
10.88 |
9.44 |
39 |
40 |
400 |
11.52 |
8.09 |
42 |
42 |
500 |
12.16 |
9.38 |
44 |
44 |
600 |
12.80 |
14.15 |
46 |
50 |
700 |
13.44 |
12.02 |
48.5 |
51 |
800 |
14.08 |
15.31 |
50.8 |
52.5 |
900 |
14.72 |
13.37 |
53.1 |
54 |
1000 |
15.25 |
8.42 |
55.4 |
53 |
It is to
be noted that the first five and the 900-cash coin correspond very well with
the sizes indicated in the HS, although their age has
caused them to lose weight. The other four are, in my judgment, very likely
ancient counterfeits or later fakes. Since the Han weights and measures were
gradually increased to their present size, a later faker would make coins in
accordance with the weights and measures of his own epoch, so that they would
be larger and heavier than the Han standards required. Such seems to be the
case with Mr. Bowker's 600-, 700-, and 800-cash coins. The 1000-cash coin may
be an ancient light-weight counterfeit.The outstanding feature of Wang Mang's
bronze coinages is that as the nominal value of the coins increased, the amount
of metal per cash decreased, so that the larger coins were the more
depreciated.
Table of the Bronze Coinages of Wang Mang |
|
Coinage of A.D. 7 |
Coinage of A.D. 9-10 |
Coinage of A.D. 14 |
Nominal Value |
Total Weight |
Shu per cash
|
Total Weight |
No. of shu per cash
|
Total Weight |
No. of shu per cash
|
1 cash |
5 shu |
5 shu |
1 shu |
1 shu |
5 shu |
5 shu |
10 cash |
(same as Han dynasty's cash: unchanged since 118 B.C.) |
3 shu |
0.3 shu |
|
|
20 cash |
|
|
5 shu |
0.25 shu |
|
|
25 cash |
|
|
|
|
25 shu |
1 shu |
30 cash |
|
|
7 shu |
0.23 shu |
|
|
40 cash |
|
|
9 shu |
0.225 shu |
|
|
50 cash |
12 shu |
0.24 shu |
12 shu |
0.24 shu |
|
|
100 cash |
|
|
15 shu |
0.15 shu |
|
|
200 cash |
|
|
16 shu |
0.080 shu |
|
|
300 cash |
|
|
17 shu |
0.057 shu |
|
|
400 cash |
|
|
18 shu |
0.045 shu |
|
|
500 cash |
25 shu?
|
0.05 shu?
|
19 shu |
0.038 shu |
|
|
600 cash |
|
|
20 shu |
0.036 shu |
|
|
700 cash |
|
|
21 shu |
0.030 shu |
|
|
800 cash |
|
|
22 shu |
0.027 shu |
|
|
900 cash |
|
|
23 shu |
0.0244 shu |
|
|
1000 cash |
|
|
24 shu |
0.0240 shu |
|
|
5000 cash |
40 shu?
|
0.008 shu?
|
|
|
|
|
On the origin of spade-coins, cf.
Richard Schlösser, "Der Ursprung der Chinesischen Pu-münzen,"
Artibus Asiae,
1928, no. 1, pp. 12-34. This article contains photographs of more ancient
spade-coins (of which Wang Mang's coins were imitations), also of a complete
set of Wang Mang's coins. Cf. also his, "Die Münzereformversuche des Wang
Mang," Sinica V (1930), 25-37.
44. Meng K'ang glosses, "Lien(1) 連 is another
name for tin," but Li Ch'i declares, "The name for lead and tin ore is Lien(1)."
Yen Shih-ku asserts that both are mistaken, because the Shuo-wen 14 A: 1b says,
"Lien(2) 鏈 is [the same] sort [of thing as] copper." Shen Ch'in-han however replies
that Li Ch'i is correct; the Shuo-wen is merely speaking in general terms; the
Kuang-ya and the Yü-p'ien both
state that Lien(2) is lead ore. F. C. Chang
asserts that zinc was called Lien; Journal of Science 8, 233-243; 9, 1116-1127
(in Chinese). Certain Sung cash are found, upon analysis, to be copper with a
considerable proportion of lead, a small proportion of tin, and a minute amount
of zinc, the latter arising from the impurity of the ore used.
45. Ju Shen quotes Analects V, xvii, in
which a tortoise is called a t'sai, and states that the state of Ts'ai produced
large tortoises. Hence large tortoises were named Ts'ai.
46. Ku-liang Commentary 13: 1b, Dk. Ch'eng,
I, enumerates the four orders of common people as gentlemen, merchants,
farmers, and artisans. HS 24 A: 2a however enumerates
them as gentlemen, farmers, artisans, and merchants. The Han dynasty, following
the Ch'in practise, degraded merchants.
47. Cf. 99 B: 8b, 9a and n.
9.1.
48. Cf. 99 B: 12b. The numbers in square
brackets in the margin and text, here and on pp. 24b, 25a, b are the same as
those in the enumeration of the six monopolies in 99 B: 12b. There was no fixed
order, so I use that list as a reference point.
49. Chou-li 15: 3b f (Biot, I, 326-328)
lists as one of the Chou offices an Office for Money, which "collected what
goods are not sold in the market-place, goods [whose sale] is slow, but which
are used by the common people. [The Yamen] writes their selling-price on a
post, in order to be ready for those in need who would buy them."
50. A quotation from Book of Changes, App.
III, ii, 10 (Legge, 381).
51. Chou-li, 15: 4a (Biot, I, 327),
sub the
Office for Money (Ch'üan-fu), says, "Whoever buys on credit, for [purposes of]
sacrificing, shall not exceed ten days [without paying interest], and for
mourning ceremonies, shall not exceed three months [without paying interest].
Whenever common people wish to borrow on interest, [the head of the Office for
Money] shall discuss it with his heads of departments and then only shall pay
out [the loan; the people shall pay] interest in accordance with [the taxes
paid] as their service to their state," [i.e., if the tax was a tithe, the
interest would be a tithe per year].
52. Cheng Chan (fl. ca. 208) glosses, "The
Yo-Yü are sayings on the origin of music, which King Hsien of Ho-chien, [Liu
Tê, d. 130 B.C.], transmitted [to Emperor Wu]. It speaks of the matter of the
five equalizations." This book has been lost; the only quotations from it that
have been preserved are three brief paragraphs in the Po-hu-t'ung (relating to
other matters) and the following one:Fu Tsan glosses, "Its words are, "When
the Son of Heaven takes land from his nobles and uses it to establish the five
equalizations, then in the market-places there are no two [different] prices
[for the same thing, so that] the four [orders of] common people are constantly
equalized [in their power]. If the strong are not permitted to oppress the weak
and the rich are not permitted to use force upon the poor, then the government
shows additional kindness to the unimportant common people."Shen Ch'in-han declares that this
statement is based on the Chi-chung Chou-shu, 4: 7a, ch. 39, (possibly this
latter book, which seems to be a later forgery, took them from the Yo-Yü) which
says, "When in the market-places there were the five equalizations, then
morning and evening [prices] were the same. [This office] accompanied the
departing, invited those who are coming, assisted the distressed, and rescued
the impoverished."
53. Cf. HFHD, II, 68, n.
17.2.
54. Wang Nien-sun points out that the word
ch'eng 稱 after the 市 is an interpolation by attraction for the subsequent use of
this word. This title is quoted without the word ch'eng in HS 91: 11b (Master in Charge of the Capital Market) and in
sundry quotations of this passage: Wen-hsüan 21: 23a, in a note to Pao Chao's
"Yung-shih Shih" ibid., 36: 22a, in a note to the
"Yung-ming, XI Nien, Ts'ê Hsui-ts'ai Wen" ibid., 53: 20b
in a note to the "Yün-ming Lun"; T'ung-tien 11: 22a (Com. Pr. ed. p. 65); and
Tzu-chih T'ung-chien 37: 8b. Wen-hsüan
1: 8b, in a note to the "Hsi-tu Fu",
however quotes this passage with the word ch'eng.
55. I.e., those who had found tortoises. Ju
Shun explains, "Tortoises have supernatural power 靈, hence it says that they
present themselves 登."
56. Chou-li 13: 9a (Biot, I, 279 f) says,
"All residences which are denuded [of vegetation] have the hempen-cloth [tax]
for occupied land; all fields which were not plowed, pay grain for a house
[occupied by three families]; all common people who do not have an occupation,
pay the contribution of service for a head of a household." This passage
enumerates the three types of taxes mentioned in Mencius VII, ii, xxvii, 1
(Legge, p. 491).
57. The procedure seems to have been
that the Master fixed his prices for equalization as the fair prices for his
market, and bought goods that were unsold in the market-place at their cost to
the producer or at the current price, providing that this price was below his
price for equalization. Then he sold those goods at the price for equalization
whenever the market-price surpassed his price by one cash.
58. I.e., as income-tax (cf. p.
24a).
59. HS 99 B:
12b states however that interest was 3% per month. The usual rate of interest
was 20% per year (91: 6a); so that the government was charging more than the
current rate. This passage adds that borrowers were not to pay more than 10% of
their income as interest to the government.
60. Book of
Odes (no. 165), II, i, v, 3 (Legge, 255).
61. Analects X, viii, 5.
62. Ju Shun explains, "When a
liquor-seller opens a shop and waits for guests, he puts up a wine-jar. Hence a
wine-jar (lu 鑪) is used as the name for the shop." Yen Shih-ku denies this plain
interpretation, but Liu Feng-shih points out that Ju Shun must be
correct.HS 91: 7a
states, "A large capital which communicates with [surrounding] towns sells a
thousand fermentations in one year."
63. Ch'ien Ta-chao says that 曰 should
be 田; the Official ed. has made this emendation, and I have followed
it.
64. Ch'ien Ta-chao remarks that the
Fukien ed. (1549) has emended 鐡 to 錢, which seems correct, since iron was
previously mentioned.
65. In a note to HS
24 B: 17a, Ju Shun glosses, "Ch'i 齊 is `of the same rank 等也.' When there are no
honorable or inferior [grades] they are called the equal common-people
(ch'i-min 民), just as at present we say
p'ing 平 -min." Chin Shao however declares,
"They are Chinese instructed and regulated (ch'i-cheng 整) common people."
Chavannes (Mh III, 588 = SC 30:
35), who did not have Ju Shun's gloss available, follows Chin Shao, but Yen
Shih-ku approves of Ju Shun's interpretation.
66. This sentence is a doublet (except for
verbal differences) of one in 99 C: 1b; that sentence seems however to refer to
a second issuance of these rules.
67. HS 99 C: 10a
mentions this enactment under the date A.D. 20, because it was not to take full
effect until that time. Cf. 99 C: 10a and n. 10.4.
68. Cf. Lockhart, ibid., nos. 155, 156; de Lacouperie ibid., p. 306, nos. 112-115; Glathe, op. cit., p. 29, no.
101; Chin-shih-so, Chin, 4: 32a. Prof. P. M. L. Linebarger of Duke University
has loaned me a well-preserved ho-pu coin of this issue, weighing 15.53 g.
(legal weight, according to the HS, 16.0 g.); length,
57.7 mm. (legal, 58 mm.); width, 23.5 mm. (legal, 23.1 mm.); length of feet 19
mm. (legal, 18.5 mm.); width of opening, 4.8 mm. (legal, 4.6 mm.).
69. Cf. Lockhart ibid., nos. 162-182; de Lacouperie ibid., p. 384, nos. 365-400; Glathe, op. cit., p. 30, nos.
173-75; Chin-shih-so, Chin, 4: 29a.HHS, An. 1 B:
23b says, "When Wang Mang had usurped the throne, he feared evil [because] the
Liu clan had used the word ch'ien 錢 [as the word for `cash'] and [the word for
Liu 劉] contains [the words for] metal (chin 金)
and knife (tao 刀), hence [Wang
Mang] changed [the coinage and the word for `cash'] and made it `currency cash
(huo-ch'üan 貨泉).' [But] someone considered that the words
huo-ch'üan were `The
immortal of the White River (Po-shui chen-jen)'."
Ying Shao, in his Han-kuan-yi
(lost; quoted in T'ai-p'ing Yü-lan 835: 6b, 7a) also remarks this circumstance,
and adds, "This was an auspicious presage of the restoration under the Epochal
Founder, [Emperor Kuang-wu]."The word ch'üan 泉 is composed of the
words po 白 and shui 水, and
huo 貨 is composed of jen 人
and chen 眞, which make-up is
particularly evident in the seal form on these coins, in which the jen extends
all along the left side of the character. The White River was a stream which
arises 50 li northeast of the present Tsao-yang, Hupeh
(Shina Rekidai Chimei
Yoran, p. 531); Emperor Kuang-wu came from the city of Ts'ai-yang, which was
located southwest of the present Tsao-yang (HHS, An. 1
A: 1a); hence it was not surprising that these coins issued by Wang Mang were
later understood as a prophecy of Emperor Kuang-wu.
70. The "large cash" weighed 12 shu and
were nominally worth 50 cash (B: 21a), i.e., 0.24 shu per cash; the spade-money
of 14 A.D. weighed 1 shu per cash and the round cash
weighed 5 shu per cash;
Wang Mang was trying to drive out light coins, something that rulers have
always found difficult or impossible, because of the facts summed up in
Gresham's law.
71. Since the "large cash" had been worth
50 cash, and the new cash were worth 1 cash, such a valuation meant losing
49/50 of their nominal value. Yet the large cash weighed more than twice as
much as the new cash, so that private melting down and counterfeit casting
became inevitable.
72. Cf. 99 C: 4b.
73. Cf. 99 C: n. 4.10.
74. Wang Nien-sun points out that
huang-ch'ung 蝗蟲 was originally ch'ung-huang.
He quotes the parallel expressions
ch'ung-ming 螟 in Li-chi IV, iv, ii,
18 (Legge, I, 306; Couvreur, I, 345); 草茅 in
Yi-li 7: 8a (Steele, I, 50); 鳥烏 in Tso-chuan,
Dk. Hsiang, XVIII, autumn (Legge,
47611); 禽犢 in the Hsün-tzu; the present expression
ch'ung-蟻; ch'ung-huang in
HS 27 Ca: 2b(10); the present huang-ch'ung, which he says
was originally ch'ung-huang (cf.
Ching-yi Shu-wen) in Li-chi IV, iii, 21
(Couvreur, I, 358); and ch'ung-huang in Shuo-wen
13 A: 8b, sub 蠥. The
HS uses huang just as the
Tso-chuan uses ch'ung (as
indicating an insect plague), so that it does not make sense to add a ch'ung
after the huang, for the phrase ch'ung-huang
means that the plague consisted of
other insects in addition to the huang. HS 27 Bb: 20a, b
lists plagues of ming and huang from 130 to 89 B.C., hence in HS 75: 4a(4) Hsia-hou Sheng summed them up by saying that
ch'ung-huang arose, i.e., both locusts and other insects appeared; the present
reading of HS 75: 4a, huang-ch'ung, which means only
locusts, is thus inexact. People did not understand the meaning of
ch'ung-huang, so changed it to huang-ch'ung.
Hence the phrase huang-ch'ung was
originally ch'ung-huang in SC 106: 121 =
HS 35: 7b5, HS 75: 4a4,
HS 90: 17a10 (which is quoted in a note to
HHS, Mem. 67: 10a11 without the ch'ung).
75. H. Bielenstein, BMFEA, no. 19, pp.
125-163, in an illuminating paper, "The Census of China during the Period 2-742
A.D.," (esp. pp. 135-145), shows that, between 2 B.C. (when the population was
56.7 million) and A.D. 140, there was a decrease of 8 or 9 million, i.e., about
15%. The population of northwestern and northeastern China had decreased nearly
18 million, whereas that of south China, especially the present Hunan, Kiangsi,
Kwangtung, and Szechuan, had increased by roughly 9 million. When we make
allowance for the natural population increase in the subsequent century, Pan
Ku's statement, that by A.D. 25 the population fell to half its former figure,
is roughly corroborated, but for north China only. He seems to have been
unaware that millions had emigrated into central and southern China, so that
the total loss in population was not as great as he believed.
76. HHS Tr. 13: 10b
says, "In A.D. 30, boys in Shu circulated a saying,
|
`A yellow bull with a white belly,
|
|
The five-shu [cash] must be
restored.'
|
At this time Kung-sun Shu had usurped the
[imperial] title in Shu. At that time, people said secretly that Wang Mang had
taken yellow [for his color; Kung-sun] Shu wanted to succeed him, hence he took
white [for his color]. The five-shu cash were the currency of the Han dynasty,
[so that this saying] made plain that the Han dynasty must be restored.
[Kung-sun] Shu was thereupon executed and destroyed." Thus even a reference to
a particular coinage had political implications. (Reference from Chou
Shou-ch'ang.)