^{page 578 note 1} Ch' ing-ch' ao-wên-hsien-t' ung-k' ao, chilan 13, p. 4967b.

^{page 578 note 2} Tsung Chi-ch'n , ‘A memorial on the traditional money and the laws of money’, Tao-hsien-t' ung-lcuang-tsou-i (THTKT1), chüan 38, p. 9a. Censor Tsung states that the ‘way to tackle a shortage of silver in the Tao-kuang period was to issue more money’. Wu Wên-yung also refers to ‘the replacement of the diminishing amount of silver by issuing more and more money’ during the Tao-kuang reign (see Huang-ch' ao-chêng-tien-lei-tsuan (HCCTLT), chüan 64, p. 16b).

^{page 578 note 3} Ch' ing-shih-lu (CSL), Tao-kuang, 26, x, chia-hsü (10 December 1846), chüan 435, pp. 16a–17b.

^{page 579 note 1} Ch' ing-ch' ao-hsü-wên-hsien-t' ung-k'ao (CCHWHTK), chüan 66, p. 8225, Wang Ch'ing-yün's table (in 1,000 taels):

^{page 579 note 2} CCHWHTK, chüan 67, p. 8232.

^{page 579 note 3} Tung-hua-lu (THL), K'ang-hsi, chüan 89, p. 3a. The edict says: ‘The population increases while the area of land remains constant. Therefore it is necessary to instruct the Viceroys and Governors of the provinces to regard the present amount of revenue from land and population as fixed. Let there be no increase or decrease’.

^{page 579 note 4} CSL, Tao-kuang, 23, iii, chi-tzŭ (25 April 1843), chüan 390, pp. 32a–b.

^{page 579 note 5} CCHWHTK, chüan 67, p. 8232. Wang Ch' ing-yün's table on government expenditure of the Tao-kuang period.

^{page 579 note 6} So far I have only seen this problem discussed in Wu Han's article on Wang Mou-yin in Tu-shih-cha-chi and P'êng Hsin-wei , Chung-kuo-huo-pi-shih , vol. xi. Wu's article is a biography of Wang while P'êng does not give a comprehensive survey of the inflation. Information about the inflation is indeed very scanty

^{page 580 note 1} Ch'ing-shih-kao (CSK), Biographies, chüan 214, p. 5b. Wêng T'ung-shu memorialized the Emperor in Hsien-fêng 6 (1856): ‘It is now impossible to transport copper from Yünnan to the capital’. Ts'ên Yü-ying , the Viceroy of Yünnan and Kueichow, also memorialized the Emperor in Kuangsü 9 (1883) on the same matter and described the dilapidation of the mines after the outbreak of the Rebellion. See THTKTI, chüan 38, p. 18a.

^{page 580 note 2} See Tsêng-wên-chêng-kung-ch'üan-chi (TWCKCC), vol. v, p. 187.

^{page 580 note 3} Morse, H.B., The international relations of the Chinese Empire, I, 468–9Google Scholar. The quotations are for 15 September at Shanghai and for 27 September at Canton.

^{page 580 note 4} In the capital, the rate of exchange rose from 1,500 wên to a tael in 1852 to 2,000 win in 1854; and in Shanghai, from 1,190 in 1857 to 1,650 in 1861. See CSL, Hsien-fêng, chüan 235, passim.

^{page 580 note 5} CSK, Shih-huo-chih, 5, p. 4a; and CCHWHTK, chüan 13, Money 1, p. 4976.

^{page 580 note 6} When he first made his proposal of issuing paper money, Wang was a censor. He was later, in the third year of Hsien-füng, promoted to the post of the Vice-President of the Right of the Board of Revenue. Karl Marx has a footnote about him in Das Kapital, vol. I, ch. 3, n. 83: ‘Der Finanz Mandarin, Wan-mao-in liess sich beigeben, Dem Sohn des Himmels ein projekt zu unterbreiten, welches versteckt auf Verwandlung der Chinesischen Reichsassignaten in Konvertierbar Banknoten hinzielte’.

^{page 581 note 1} See THTKTI, chüan 38, for their memorials.

^{page 581 note 2} In 1838, Ho Ch'ang-ling advocated in a memorial the issue of paper money. He said: ‘In monetary transactions, there are occasions at which the use of cash is unnecessary. A money note is enough. If the payee does not want the note, he naturally refuses to accept it’, ibid., pp. llb–12a. Chu Tsun repudiated both the suggestion of issuing paper notes and of minting big coins. Chu' memorial was submitted in 1846; ibid., pp. 3a–4a.

^{page 581 note 3} The river changed its course in that year.

^{page 581 note 4} CCHWHTK, chüan 20, p. 7696a.

^{page 581 note 5} ibid., p. 7695b, and HCCTLT, chüan 59, p. 3b.

^{page 581 note 6} The step to debase copper money by minting ‘big coins’ was taken for a copper shortage. At first, the Emperor thought Ho's proposal was to increase the weight of each wên. Therefore he said in an edict: ‘Now there is not enough copper for minting small coins, not to speak of big coins’. But in an edit of 1853, he instructed the Board of Revenue to mint ‘big coins’. See HCCTLT, chüan 59, p. 3b.

^{page 581 note 7} ibid., p. 7696a, and THTKTI, chüan 38, p. 6b.

^{page 581 note 8} op. cit., chüan 214, 215.

^{page 581 note 9} CSK, Basic Annals, chüan 20, p. 8b. ‘The silver notes were issued on the wu-shên day, the fifth month of Hsien-fêng 3 (10 June 1853).’.

^{page 581 note 10} Wang's first memorial on this subject was presented in 1851. See THTKTI, chüan 38, pp. 12b–14b, and Wu Han, op. cit., 1956, 74.

^{page 582 note 1} CSK, Biographies, chüan 214, pp. la–b; THL, Hsien-fêng, chüan 9, p. 37a.

^{page 582 note 2} Ch'ing-shih-lieh-chuan, chüan 41, pp. 32a–33a.

^{page 582 note 3} HCCTLT, chüan 60, p. 7b. Hua-sha-na's memorial was submitted in the ninth month and the discussion was held in the month following.

^{page 582 note 4} ibid., p. 8a.

^{page 582 note 5} HCCTLT, chüan 60, p. 8a.

^{page 582 note 6} ibid., p. 8b.

^{page 582 note 7} CCHWHTK, chüan 20, p. 7697a.

^{page 582 note 8} TWCKCC, vol. v, p. 187.

^{page 583 note 1} THTKTI, chüan 38, pp. lla–b.

^{page 583 note 2} COHWHTK, chüan 20, p. 7697b.

^{page 583 note 3} Tsung Chi-ch'ên , ‘A memorial on the traditional money and the laws of money’, THTKTI, chüan 38, p. 9b. It is also interesting to note that the profit of minting iron money was enormous. A catty of iron could be made into 100 coins of 0 o 16 taels each. But the price of iron at the beginning was only 4 wên per catty.

^{page 583 note 4} CCHWHTK, chüan 66, p. 8225b.

^{page 583 note 5} ibid., chüan 49, p. 8037a.

^{page 583 note 6} CSL, Hsien-fêng, 10, fifth month, chi-hai (24 June 1860), chüan 318, p. 23b.

^{page 583 note 7} Lo Yü-tung , 1954, vol. II ch. 1, pp. 1–24.

^{page 584 note 1} Wang Mou-yin, ‘Further discussions on the minting of big coins’, THTKT1, chüan 38, pp. 7b–8a.

^{page 584 note 2} ibid., p. 7a.

^{page 584 note 3} HCCTLT, chüan 59, pp. 9b–10a.

^{page 584 note 4} Tsung Chi-ch'ên, op. cit., p. 9b, and CCHWHTK, chüan 20, pp. 7698–706.

^{page 584 note 5} Tsung Chi-ch'ên, op. cit., and Chao Shu-chi, ‘A plea for the abolition of big coins’, 1859, THTKTI, chüan 38, p. 9b.

^{page 584 note 6} P'êng Hsin-wei, op. cit., vol. II, p. 543.

^{page 584 note 7} Chao Shu-chi, op. cit., p. 9b.

^{page 584 note 8} P'êng Hsin-wei, op. cit., p. 543, and HCCTLT, chüan 60, p. 11b.

^{page 584 note 9} CSL, Hsien-fêng, 10, second month, chia-ch'ên (1 March 1860), chüan 307, p. 22b.

^{page 585 note 1} CCHWHTK, chüan 20, p. 7701a.

^{page 585 note 2} THL, Hsien-fêng, chüan 35, p. 44a.

^{page 585 note 3} CSK, Shih-huo-chih, 5, p. 4b, and P'êng Hsin-wei, op. cit., p. 541.

^{page 585 note 4} CCHWHTK, chüan 20, p. 7699a.

^{page 585 note 5} CSL, Hsien-fêng, 10, fourth month, ting-hai (12 June 1860), chüan 322, p. 8b.

^{page 585 note 6} ibid., and Tsung Chi-ch'ên, op. cit., p. 9b. The same thing happened again in the fifth month of Hsien-fêng 11 (1861). See Ch'ou-pan-i-i-vu-shih-mo, Hsien-fêng, 11, sixth month, chüan 80, pp. 32b–33a. This was brought to Prince Kung's notice, because some of the people who went to the houses to cash their notes claimed to be representatives of Russian firms.

^{page 586 note 1} In 1854, the four Imperial mints turning out iron coins used up 12,000,000 catties of pig iron. CCHWHTK, chüan 20, p. 7700a.

^{page 586 note 2} ‘Copper coins became rare after big coins were introduced. But when iron money appeared, copper coins simply vanished.’ Tsung Chi-ch'ên, op. cit., p. 9b.

^{page 586 note 3} CSL, Hsien-fêng, 11, eighth month, jên-hsu (10 September 1861), Mu-tsung chüan 2, p. 19b.

^{page 586 note 4} CSL, Hsien-fêng, 10, ninth month, hsin-hai (3 November 1860), chüan 331, p. 18a.

^{page 586 note 5} Lo Erh-kang , Chung-wang Li-hsiu-ch'êng tzŭ-chuan-yüuan-kao-ch'ien-cheng, 1954, 122–3.