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NOVEMBER, 1927)
CURRENCY AND COINAGE AMONG THE BURMESE
207
the matter. We may therefore surmise that the most common shape was no other than the simplest one, i.e., that of the cruci ble itself in its most convenient oblong form, which is still at present in use for the silver currency. The metal, while still hot and soft in the crucible, is impressed either with a stamp marked with a legend, or concentric circle-lines, or with several stamps inscribed. The stamping causes the metal to rise all round, and the result is to shape the ingot like a boat or shoe. In the middle ages the Chinese ingots of gold or silver in Central Asia were called balish or ydstok, both which words mean "a cushion," and although supposed by some to allude to this so-called shoe-shape, may perhaps refer to the loaf-shape, such as those of ancient Japan and of the Laocian States, which are exemplified in the numismatic collections of the British and other Museums. The previously mentioned shape of ingot is compared to a boat in descriptions of the gold imported from China to India in tho sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Tavernier, in 1676, says that they were called goldschuyt by the Hollanders, i.e., a boat of gold, and this word schuyt is supposed to have suggest. ed the English term shoe, applied not long afterwards to the s ingots. The Chinese silver shoes in the Panjab in 1862, and in Kashgar in 1876, were colled yambu, and compared to a deep boat. Kur was also a term used in the latter place.
"There is no reason to suppose that the present shoes of silver and gold in China do not preserve a form that was used in times anterior to the Han dynasty.
"Sycee, Chinese, fine silk, is the general term for lump silver, and is explained as mean. ing that, if pure, it may be drawn out under the application of heat into fine silk-like threads. This is, of course, a script-etymology, and pure fancy, derived from the ideographical meaning inherent in the symbols, while the historical etymology must be sought for in a foreign term transliterated thereby. Yuenpao is the common name among foreigners for the silver ingot which bears some resemblance to a native shoe. There are a certain number of these silver shoes in the British Museum collection."
In 1834 Prinsep, Useful Tables, pp. 29-30 wrote thus on the subject : “Sycee silver, in Chinese Wan-yin, is the only approach to a silver currency among the Chinese. In it the government taxes and duties, and the salaries of officers, are paid ; and it is also current among merchants in general. The term Sycee is derived from two Chinese words Se-sze, " fine floss silk,” which expression is synonymous with the signification of the term Wan. This silver is formed into ingots (by the Chinese called Shoes), which are stamped with the mark of the office that issues them, and the date of their issue. The ingots are of various weights, but most commonly of ten laels each.
"Sycee silver is divided into several classes, according to its fineness and freedom from alloy : the kinds most current at Canton are the five following:
"lst. Kwan-heang, the Hoppo's duties, or the silver which is forwarded to the imperial treasury at Peking. This is of 97 to 99 touch. On all the imperial duties, a certain percentage is levied for the purpose of turning them into Sycee of this high standard, and of conveying them to Peking without any loss in the full amount. The Hoppo, however, in all probability increases the percentage far above what is requisite, that he may be enabled to retain the remainder for himself and his dependents.
« 2nd. Fankoo or Fan-foo. The treasurer's receipts, or that in which the land-tax is paid. This is also of a high standard, but inferior to that of the Hoppo's duties, and being intended for use in the province, not for conveyance to Peking, no percentage is levied on the taxes for it.
" 3rd. Yuen paou, or Une po, literally "chief in value." This kind is usually imported from Soochow, in large pieces of 50 taels each. It does not appear to belong to any particu. lar government tax.
8 Ono, if not the most, curious form resulting from this process of manufacture is the chilon or chaubinbaut, the well-known Shan shell-money, which is the result of the natural efflorescence of silver under certain methods of smelting.
