Indian Antiquary Vol 27

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 37

FEBRUARY, 1898:]
CURRENCY AND COINAGE AMONG THE BURMESE.
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And in estimating the revenges of China, Marco Polo (Vol. II. p. 171 f.) expresses it in "tomans of gold,"31 and Friar Odoric (Cathay, Vol. I. p. 123) in "tumans of balis."99
One cannot, however, lay much stress on all this, as tûman with the travellers evidently meant the abstract number 10,000, for we find Wassaf (A. D. 1300) talking of "tômans of soldiers and tômdns of ra'iyats," and Friar Odoric of " tumans of fire-places, every tuman being ten thousand." The Friar also tells us of a man, whose revenue was "XXX tumane of tagars (bags) of rice, and each tuman is ten thousand.''33
Such being the evidence available, I leave this question here, and pass on to a point of much interest and value in the present argument. Ridgeway, Origin of Currency, p. 15€, following Wade, Tzu Erh Chi, Vol. II. p. 213, points out that the modern Chinese metria system, like that of all the Farther East, the Eastern Archipelago and India, is based on the natural seeds or grains of plants, and then proceeds to talk of ten of a kind of seed called jén (the candarin)." Here Ramphius (1741) comes to our aid, as will be seen from his terms quoted ants, Vol. XXVI. p. 316 f. He there tells us that the Abrus frut:c (i. e., precatorius) seeds are mixed up in weight standards with the Corallariu parvifolia (i. e., Adenanthera pavonina) seeds, and that the latter run ten to a mace (maas) in China, and ten mace to a "tayl." He also tells us that the candareen (condorius or Candorium, as he calls it) is the seed of the Adenanthera pavonina, and that the “Chinensis condorius "34 of the Southern parts of China is rounder, harder, more solid and heavier-35 than the Malayan variety. There can be no doubt, therefore, that the kind of seed called fon" is the Adonanthera seed, and if we are to accept the modern fén as representing the ancient ch, then it follows that the ancient and modern Chinese weight systems, despite differences in denominations, are alike based on the Adenanthera seed.
The mixing up of the Abrus and Adenanthera seeds has already been explained, ante, Vol. XXVI. p. 317 ff., and is to be seen in the following quotation from a Collection of Dutch Voyages, 1702, p. 199. The quotation also shews that the Chinese were then known to use the Adenanthera seed as a weight standard. "They (mixed metal Cash) were not then (1590) currant in China it self,36 where the People pay nothing in Money, but with little bits of Silver, which they weigh against Conduris, or small red Beans, which have a black Spot on one side,"37
31 As a contribution to the study of Marco Polo's narrative I may here make the following remarks. Yuie sagaciously infers that by "toman of gold" Polo referred to "tomans of tiny (ten ounce) notes, and that the "ting" nota was the equivalent of an ounce of gold, as the ounce was understood at that time. But Polo estimates the timan in saggi, and the saggio (Venetian) was one-sixth of an ounoe (Venetian), Yule, Marco Polo, Vol. II. p. 273, Cathay, Vol. II. p. 297. The saggio was therefore equal in say 1278-92 A. D. to 76 grs., while according to Terrien de la Couperie up to 620 A. D. the liang (ounce) was equal to say one-sixth of the modern liang or Chinese oupco, and was in fact about 97 grs. May we not argue, therefore, that all Marco Polo was trying to convey by tho expression saggio was an idea of the liang of his time, to which the saggio might then have been the nearest equivalent in European money that his hearers were likely to understand P Grant this and we can again out all tho calculations as to the real sense of Marco Polo's figures down to say a sixth of the sums hitherto accepted as equivalents, and thus bring them within reasonable limits, and go & step further towards relieving him of the (?) undeserved soubriquet of Marco Milione.
12 So far as I can judge the balie was a ting note (of ten ounces), but it is a very difficult word: see Yulo, Marco Polo, Vol. II. p. 169; Cathay, Vol. I. pp. 115 f., 123, 240 ; Vol. II. PP. 289, 294, 481.
Marco Polo, Vol. II. p. 169: Cuthay, Vol. I. Pp. 123, 153, Johnson's Persian Dict., 1952, calle toman a l'eraian word and says :-"A myriad, 10,000. A sum of money equal to 10,000 Arabio silver drachmas, which are about one-third less than those of the Greeks; also a sum equal to 15 dollars and half (P 10,000 cash). Districts into which a kingdom is divided, each being supposed to furnish 10,000 fighting men when the city of Samarkand, for example, therefore, is put down for 7,000 tomans, it implies that she holds 70,000 men ready to bear arms on the requisition of her sovereign. A large division of tribe." This desoription seems to fairly cover the general usage of the word. It is called tomand and tomond in Stevens, Guido, pp. 124, 120.
M Rumphius' vernacular Chinese synonyms are tajontajo, tajontajui, congri, tachonaidji, tachongaidji, which I suppose represent characters for some such word as chungchi or chungai.
36 This may account for the få being reckoned at about 5 gra., while the Adonanthera sood is reckoned at about 4 grs.
36 This, of course, is wrong. 37 At p. 221, op. cit., the Conduri in correctly described, and it is noted that it is called Baga in JAVA