The face of China

by E. G. Kemp

YEH TAN RAPID

The Yeh Tan rapid (nicknamed Mutton Point by the prosaic foreigner) is one of the most dangerous, and we made great preparations in case of accident, packing up our things carefully in oiled paper—a most useful Chinese article, as it is a very cheap kind of waterproof. Our men made quite other preparations, which they firmly believed in. A quantity of special sacred paper was waved—burning—over the front of the boat; incense sticks were fixed up and lighted; finally a cock was killed, and its blood and feathers plentifully bespattered around. This was extremely distracting to me, as I was well embarked on a sketch when it took place under my very eyes. The subject of the sketch was quite characteristic—a beautiful rosy russet hillside, with a temple peeping out of the trees, and a long narrow line of village above the high-water mark of the river. On the shingly river-bed were temporary booths used as restaurants.

Finding ourselves tied to the bank for an indefinite time, we began to cook our lunch; but no sooner was the pot boiling than our red-boat men appeared saying they had got up the rapid (they were not obliged to wait their turn like ordinary boats), and were come to escort us on shore. We asked if our boat was allowed to take precedence of the big junks, and were told that it was; and as our trackers had already gone ashore, it lent colour to the fiction, and we started off cheerfully enough. The boatmen shouldered our suit-cases, which we were afraid to risk, as they contained not only clothes and sketches, but money in the shape of lumps of silver called “tings,” that were to last us for several weeks, and which weighed many pounds. It is really tiresome to have to carry money in this form and have it cut up and weighed in little bits, with which to buy the cash of the district, before you can purchase anything. In the more Europeanised East, Mexican dollars are used, also bank-notes; but from this time on we were obliged to use only the rough silver lumps and copper cash. Sometimes the reckoning was by taels and sometimes by dollars. The tael is an ounce of silver—namely, one and one-third English ounces—but there is no coin to represent the tael. The silver shoe is about fifty taels, but the taels vary in value at different places—the Peking tael is not the same, for instance, as the Hankow tael: altogether, the money system is hopelessly complicated. It made us feel, however, that we had got beyond the pale of civilisation, and we never attempted after this to do any purchasing ourselves, but were fortunate enough to be able to leave our money matters with perfect confidence in Mr. Ku’s hands. The result was that we did our journey much more economically than other similar travellers, and were saved all worry.

It may be of interest to the reader to see one of the latest Government edicts on the subject of the currency, and to know that it has decided in favour of a uniform tael, the value of which is fixed at the astonishing figure of 1549 cash. According to the reports of the governors of the eighteen provinces, there were eleven provinces in favour of the tael as against eight in favour of the dollar currency. As the tael has never existed in coin form, and dollars are largely used, there is much to be said in favour of the latter; but the Chinese stick tenaciously to their own peculiar belongings, and in all financial transactions with foreign countries the tael has been the term used in the past.

The following edict appeared in the Peking Gazette, October 5, 1908:

“An Imperial Decree in response to a memorial of Prince Ching and other Ministers of the Government Council, and of Prince P’u-lun and other Members of the Senate, who, in obedience to our Commands, have deliberated upon the subject of a uniform national currency.

“A standard currency is the fundamental principle of public finance, and various countries have adopted a gold coin as their unit of value, with the subsidiary currency of silver and copper tokens. Under well-framed regulations such currencies have been found convenient and profitable. But it requires years of preparation to be ready for such a measure, which can by no means be attained at one step. The finances of China are in confusion, and the standardising of the currency is an urgent necessity. If actual gold coin were to be taken as the standard unit, it would be difficult to raise the necessary amount; while if gold were merely taken nominally as the standard unit, grave dangers would be incurred. It is evident, therefore, that we should first standardise and render uniform the silver currency, and then carefully proceed to take measures for a further advance; with a view to assuring the adoption of a gold standard in the future.

“The memorialists have pointed out that the use of the tael and its fractions has been so long established that it would be difficult to substitute any other denomination in its place. The Committee of Finance in a previous memorial also recommended the determination of the tael as the silver coin to be used.

“We, therefore, command that a large silver coin shall be struck weighing one K’up’ing tael, and that large quantities of silver coins weighing .5 of a K’up’ing tael shall also be minted for general convenience in use. Also there shall be small pieces of one mace and of five candareens, of less pure silver, which will serve as subsidiary currency. The two silver coins aforesaid shall be .980 fine, while the two small silver pieces will be .880 fine.

“This silver currency, except in so far as calculations under treaties and agreements with the Foreign Powers will require to be made as before, shall be uniformly used by all Yamens, great or small, in Peking or the provinces in all their Treasury transactions, and all allowances for differences of weight or touch, or meltage fees, &c. &c., shall henceforth be perpetually forbidden.