View source for Sycee

{{Short description|Former Chinese ingot currency}}
[[Image:Chinesischer Goldbarren.JPG|thumb|Imperial gold sycee]][[File:Illustrirte Zeitung (1843) 06 008 1 Syceesilber.PNG|thumb|upright=0.8|Silver sycee]]
[[Image:ChinesischeSilberbarren.jpg|thumb|Drawing of a boat-shaped silver sycee]]
[[Image:Yuanbao.JPG|thumb|Silver sycee]]
[[Image:ChineseGoldIngot.jpg|thumb|Gold sycee and molds]]
A '''sycee'''{{refn|group=n|Uncommon variant spellings include '''sisee''' and '''seze'''.<ref name=oed/>}} ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|aɪ|s|iː|,_|s|aɪ|ˈ|s|iː}};<ref name=mw>{{citation |title=Merriam-Webster Online |contribution=sycee |contribution-url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sycee |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/ |access-date=22 March 2016 }}.</ref><ref name=oed>{{citation |title=Oxford English Dictionary, ''1st ed.'' |contribution=sycee, ''n.'' |contribution-url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/196093 |url=http://www.oed.com |date=1919 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press }}.</ref> from [[Cantonese language|Cantonese]] {{lang|zh|{{linktext|細絲}}}}, {{zh|j=Sai3 Si1|y=sai-sī}}, {{literally|fine silk}})<ref name=mw/><ref name=morse>{{citation |last=Morse |first=Hosea Ballou |author2-last=Piry |author2-first=A. Théophile |display-authors=1 |date=1908 |title=The Trade and Administration of the Chinese Empire |publisher=Longmans, Green, & Co. |page=148 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jiUKAAAAIAAJ }}.</ref> or '''yuanbao''' ({{zh|t=[[wikt:元寶|元寶]]|s=[[wikt:元宝|元宝]]|poj=Goân-pó|j=jyun4 bou2|p=yuánbǎo|l=primary treasure|first=t}}) was a type of [[gold]] and [[silver]] [[ingot]] currency used in [[imperial China]] from its founding under the [[Qin dynasty]] until the fall of the [[Qing dynasty|Qing]] in the 20th century. Sycee were not made by a central bank or mint but by individual [[goldsmith]]s or [[silversmith]]s for local exchange; consequently, the shape and amount of extra detail on each ingot were highly variable. Square and oval shapes were common, but boat, flower, tortoise and others are known. Their value—like the value of the various silver coins and little pieces of silver in circulation at the end of the [[Qing dynasty]]—was determined by experienced [[Money changer|moneyhandlers]], who estimated the appropriate discount based on the purity of the silver and evaluated the weight in [[tael]]s and the progressive decimal subdivisions of the tael ([[mace (unit)|mace]], [[candareen]], and [[Chinese cash (currency unit)|cash]]).
In present-day China, gold sycees remain a symbol of wealth and prosperity and are commonly depicted during the [[Chinese New Year]] festivities. Paper imitations of gold- or silver-colored sycees are burned along with [[hell money]] as a part of [[Chinese ancestral veneration]] for [[Tomb Sweeping Day]] and the [[Ghost Festival]].
{{anchor|Kaiyuan tongbao|Etymology}}
== Name ==
The name "sycee" is an irregular [[romanization of Chinese|romanization]] of the [[Cantonese language|Cantonese]] pronunciation of the [[Chinese characters|characters]] for "fine silk".<ref name=mw/><ref name=morse/> This is variously explained as deriving from the ability to draw pure gold or silver out into fine threads<ref name=oed/> or from the silky sheen of quality silver.<ref>{{citation |title=Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies |date=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VuoMAQAAMAAJ |page=133 |publisher=Academy of East Asian Studies at Sungkyunkwan University }}.</ref>
{{anchor|ding}}
The name "yuanbao" is the [[pinyin]] romanization of the [[Standard Mandarin|Mandarin]] pronunciation of the characters for "inaugural treasures". Under China's [[Tang dynasty]], [[ancient Chinese coinage|coins]] were inscribed ''[[Kaiyuan Tongbao|Kai{{strong|yuan}} tong{{strong|bao}}]]'' ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|開|元|通寶}}}}, "Circulating Treasure of the Beginning of an [[Chinese era name|Era]]"),<ref>{{cite book|last1=Louis|first1=François|title=Chinese Coins|page=226|url=http://nsc.iseas.edu.sg/documents/belitung/The%20Belitung%20Wreck/11_louis3_224to227.pdf|access-date=2015-02-15|archive-date=2015-02-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215183224/http://nsc.iseas.edu.sg/documents/belitung/The%20Belitung%20Wreck/11_louis3_224to227.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Bronze ''Kaiyuan tongbao'' coin |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/cm/b/bronze_kaiyuan_tongbao_coin.aspx |website=Explore Highlights|publisher=British Museum|quote=The characters ''Kai yuan'' mean 'new beginning', while ''tong bao'' means 'circulating treasure' or 'coin'.}}</ref> later abbreviated to yuanbao. The name was also applied to other non-coin forms of currency. Yuanbao was spelt '''mambo'''<ref>{{citation
|first=R.B.|last=Shaw
|title=Miscellaneous notes on Eastern Turkestan
|publisher=Edward Stanford |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London|volume=17|year=1872–1873
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Y9UBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA196
|page=196
}}</ref><ref>{{citation
|first=James |last=Bell
|publisher=A. Fullarton and Company |year=1836
|title=A System of Geography, Popular and Scientific: Or A Physical, Political, and Statistical Account of the World and Its Various Divisions
|volume=6
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=QWA6AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA632
|page=632}}</ref>
and '''yambu'''<ref>{{citation
|first=James A. |last=Millward
|publisher=Stanford University Press |year=1998
|isbn=0804729336
|title=Beyond the Pass: Economy, Ethnicity, and Empire in Qing Central Asia, 1759-1864
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=MC6sAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA62
|page=62}}</ref><ref name=hobson>"[https://books.google.com/books?id=6Z5iAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA830 Shoe of Gold]" in ''[[Hobson-Jobson]]'', p. 830</ref> in the 19th-century English-language literature on [[Xinjiang]] and the trade between Xinjiang and [[British India]].
A ''yuanbao'' was also called a '''{{transl|zh|dìng}}''' ({{zh|t = {{linktext|鋌}}|p=dìng|w=ting|links=no}}) or "silver {{transl|zh|dìng}}" ({{zh|t = 銀鋌|p=yíndìng|w=yin-ting|labels=no}}).
<ref>{{cite journal |last=Morse |first=H.B. |author-link=H.B. Morse |title=Currency in China |journal=Journal of the North-China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society |date=1907 |volume=38 |page=36 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=56xBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA36 |location=Shanghai |quote=The standard ingot of China weighs about 50 [[tael]]s (from 49 to 54) and, formerly called ''ting'' {{lang|zh-hant|鋌}}, is now called ''pao'' {{lang|zh-hant|寶}} (jewel, article of value, as in the inscription on the copper cash ''tung-pao'' {{lang|zh-hant|通寶}} = "current coin") and more commonly ''yuan-pao'' {{lang|zh|元}}}}</ref>
==History==
Sycees were first used as a [[medium for exchange]] as early as the [[Qin dynasty]] (3rd century BC).  During the [[Western Han dynasty]] (206 BC – 9 AD), the [[Wu Zhu]] bronze coins became the main [[currency in circulation]], while [[hoof]]-shaped [[gold ingot]] known as "Horse Hoof Gold" ({{zh|t=馬蹄金}}) served as an adjunct currency for high-value transactions.  During the [[Tang dynasty]], a standard bi-metallic system of silver and copper coinage was codified with 10 silver coins equal to 1,000 [[cash (Chinese coin)|copper cash]] coins.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lockhart|first=James Haldane Stewart|title=The Lockhart Collection of Chinese Copper Coins|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gklmAAAAMAAJ|year=1975 |publisher=Quarterman Publications|isbn=978-0-88000-056-7 |page=xi|quote=the theory is that 1000 copper cash are equal to 10 silver and 1 gold.}}</ref>
[[Paper money]] and [[bond (finance)|bond]]s started to be used in China in the 9th century. However, due to monetary problems such as enormous local variations in monetary supply and exchange rates, rapid changes in the relative value of silver and copper,  coin fraud,  inflation, and political uncertainty with changing regimes, until the time of the Republic payment by weight of silver was the standard practice, and merchants carried their own scales with them. Most of the so-called "opium scales" seen in museums were actually for weighing payments in silver.{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}}  The tael was still the basis of the silver currency and sycees remained in use until the end of the [[Qing dynasty]]. Common weights: 50 taels, 10 taels, 5 taels, 1 tael.
When foreign silver coins began to circulate in China in the later 16th century, they were initially considered a type of "quasi-sycee" and imprinted with [[seal (Chinese)|seal]]s just as sycees were.<ref>[http://www.sycee-on-line.com/Foreign_silver_coins.htm Foreign Silver Coins and Chinese Sycee] at Sycee-on-line.com</ref>
==Contemporary uses==
<gallery>
Image:ChinesenewyearSycee.jpg|[[Chinese New Year]] sycee decoration
Image:Burning-money-and-yuanbao-at-the-cemetery-3249.JPG|Paper ''yuanbao'' [[Ghost Festival|burned at a grave]]
Image:Sycee-Incense.jpg|Sycee-shaped [[incense]] used in [[feng shui]]
</gallery>
Today, imitation gold sycees are used as a symbol of prosperity among Chinese people. They are frequently displayed during [[Chinese New Year]], representing a fortunate year to come.  Reproduction or commemorative gold sycees continue to be minted as collectibles.
Another form of imitation ''yuanbao'' – made by folding gold- or silver-colored paper – can be burned at ancestors' graves during the [[Ghost Festival]], along with [[Hell bank note|imitation paper money]].
Even after currency standard changed in Republican times, the old usage of denominating value by equivalent standard weight of silver survived in Cantonese slang in the common term for a ten-cent and a five-cent piece, e.g., ''chat fan yi'' ({{lang|zh|七分二}} "seven [[candareen]]s, two [[Chinese cash (currency unit)|cash]]") or ''saam fan luk'' ({{lang|zh|三分六}} "three candareens and six cash").
== Notable hoards ==
{{See also|List of coin hoards in China}}
* The [[Xinhua News Agency]] reported on 17 November 2015 that at the tomb of the [[Marquis of Haihun]] in [[Xinjian District|Xinjian]], [[Jiangxi]] a number of gold coins had been found.<ref name="Haihunhou-Gold-Hoard-2015">{{cite web|url= http://www.china.org.cn/china/2015-11/17/content_37093227.htm|title= Gold coins found in ancient tomb.|date=17 November 2015|access-date=12 April 2020|author= Xinhua|author-link= Xinhua News Agency|publisher= [[China Internet Information Center]] ([[State Council Information Office]] and [[China International Publishing Group]])|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Kaogu-Haihunhou-Gold-Hoard-2015">{{cite web|url= http://kaogu.cssn.cn/ywb/news/new_discoveries_1/201511/t20151120_3935511.shtml|title= Gold coins, hoofs found in 2,000-yr-old Chinese tomb.|date=20 November 2015|access-date=12 April 2020|author= Credited as "[[Xinhua News Agency|Xinhua Net]] NetWriter".|publisher= [[Kaogu]] (考古) - [[Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences|Institute of Archaeology]], [[Chinese Academy of Social Sciences]] (中国社会科学院考古研究所)|language=en}}</ref> Excavations of the tomb have been conducted since 2011.<ref name="NewHistorian-Marquis-of-Hainun-2011">{{cite web |url=http://www.newhistorian.com/excavation-haihunhou-tomb-china-completed/7382/ |title=Excavation of Haihunhou Tomb in China Completed |language=en |website=New Historian|date=12 October 2016 |access-date=22 February 2017}}</ref><ref name="Chinanews-Marquis-of-Haihun-2011">{{cite web |url=http://www.ecns.cn/video/2016/03-03/201341.shtml |title=Identity of Han-Dynasty marquis confirmed  |language=en |website=Chinanews.com|access-date=22 February 2017}}</ref> The gold objects unearthed included some 25 gold hoofs (a type of sycee) with varying weights from 40 to 250 grams and 50 very large gold coins weighing about 250 grams each.<ref name="Haihunhou-Gold-Hoard-2015"/><ref name="Kaogu-Haihunhou-Gold-Hoard-2015"/> The gold coinages were packed inside of three different boxes that were placed under a bed that was located inside of the main chamber of the tomb.<ref name="Haihunhou-Gold-Hoard-2015"/><ref name="Kaogu-Haihunhou-Gold-Hoard-2015"/> According to Yang Jie, who leads the excavation team, the gold objects were likely awarded to the Marquis of Haihun by the emperor himself.<ref name="Haihunhou-Gold-Hoard-2015"/><ref name="Kaogu-Haihunhou-Gold-Hoard-2015"/>
* It was reported on 24 September 2015 that a number of cash coins had been found in tombs during excavation work undertaken by the [[Jinan City Archaeological Research Institute]] nearby the Zhaojiazhuang Cemetery, [[Shandong]].<ref name="Kaogu-Zhaojiazhuang-Cemetery-Shandong-2015">{{cite web|url= http://kaogu.cssn.cn/ywb/news/new_discoveries_1/201509/t20150924_3934919.shtml|title= Song and Yuan dynasty graves found in Zhaojiazhuang Cemetery, Shandong.|date=24 September 2015|access-date=12 April 2020|author= Credited as "Chinese Archaeology NetWriter".|publisher= [[Kaogu]] (考古) – [[Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences|Institute of Archaeology]], [[Chinese Academy of Social Sciences]] (中国社会科学院考古研究所)|language=en}}</ref> The tombs yielded cash coins produced during the [[Song dynasty|Song]], [[Tang dynasty|Tang]], and [[Qing dynasties]] with the latest examples being [[Qing dynasty coinage|Xianfeng era cash coins]].<ref name="Kaogu-Zhaojiazhuang-Cemetery-Shandong-2015"/> A tomb identified as "Grave M1" also contained silver sycees issued under the [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin dynasty]].<ref name="Kaogu-Zhaojiazhuang-Cemetery-Shandong-2015"/>
* In March 2017 a large number of cultural relics were discovered at the [[Min River (Sichuan)|Minjiang River]] in [[Meishan]], [[Sichuan]]. The findings at the river included over 10,000 individual items of gold and silver including a number of golden and silver sycees.<ref name="News-Corp-Australia-Network-Sichuan-2017">{{cite web|url= https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/archaeology/chinese-discover-legendary-treasure-buried-in-river-bank/news-story/020d5e022bea4f6c9447be6214254b0d|title= Chinese discover legendary treasure buried in river bank.|date=22 March 2017|access-date=12 April 2020|author= Jamie Seidel|publisher= [[News Corp Australia|News Corp Australia Network]]|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Xinhua-gold-sycee-2017">{{cite web|url= http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-03/20/c_136143370_2.htm|title= China Focus: Legendary sunken treasure discovered in SW China.|date=20 March 2017|access-date=12 April 2020|publisher= [[Xinhua News Agency]]|language=en}}</ref> Furthermore a Xiwang Shanggong ({{lang|zh|西王賞功}}) [[Cash (Chinese coin)|cash coin]] issued by [[Zhang Xianzhong]] was unearthed at the Jiangkou stretch of the Minjiang River.<ref name="Xinhua-News-Agency-Top-10-Archeological-finds-of-2017">{{cite web|url= http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-04/11/c_137101160_10.htm|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180428154308/http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-04/11/c_137101160_10.htm|url-status= dead|archive-date= April 28, 2018|title= China's top 10 archaeological finds of 2017|quote= 10. Archaeologists found artifacts at the site of a peasant uprising at the end of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) from the Jiangkou stretch of the Minjiang River in Meishan, southwest China's Sichuan Province.|date=11 May 2018|access-date=10 April 2020|author= ZD|publisher= [[Xinhua News Agency]]|language=en}}</ref>
== See also ==
{{Portal|Money}}
* [[Economic history of China]]
* [[Gold bar]]
* [[Silver standard]]
==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=n}}
==References==
{{Reflist|1}}
==Further reading==
*[[Joe Cribb|Cribb, Joe]]. ''A Catalogue of Sycee in the British Museum: Chinese Silver Currency Ingots c. 1750–1933''. British Museum Press, London, 1992.
==External links==
{{Commons category|Sycee}}
*[http://www.charm.ru/library/sycee2.htm Examples of Chinese silver sycee] (images)
*[http://www.sycee-on-line.com/ Sycee On Line]
**[http://www.sycee-on-line.com/Sycee_history.htm Chinese Sycee History] at Sycee-on-line.com
{{Chinese currency and coinage}}
[[Category:Chinese numismatics]]
[[Category:Coins of China]]
[[Category:Currencies of China]]
[[Category:Gold objects]]
[[Category:Gold standard]]
[[Category:Numismatics]]
[[Category:Silver coins]]