Round Sycee of Jiangsu and Chekiang Province

Stephen Tai
Feb.24, 1998

Jiangsu Round Sycee
Inscriptions: Jiang Ning *(Prefecture)
Diameter: 47 mm
Weight: 188g (5 taels)
Chekiang Round Sycee
Inscriptions: Hai Yen County, the 28^th year, unknown Manchurian scripts
Diameter: 47 mm
Weight: 175g (5 taels)
Chekiang Round Sycee
Inscriptions: Chang Hsing County, the 1^st year, [Silver shop] Kong Ho
Diameter: 46 mm
Weight: 178g (5 taels)

* Note: Jiang Ning, is also known as Nanjing or Nanking, the capital city of early Ming Dynasty, and the Republic of China.

Jiangsu (also as Soochow) and Chekiang are two neighboring provinces located in the south-east coasts of mainland China. People lived in the two provinces were using a kind of sycee in Ching Dynasty called Yuanding, i.e. round sycee, as above shown. Round sycee circulated in the two places were almost the same, we can hardly identify one's from the other, unless reading the casting place as they inscribed.
Their sycees were mostly dated with year, but always without name of the reign being further specified.
Some of Chekiang's sycee, inscribed with monogram in Manchurian, with their meaning unknown. Up to now, we even have no idea about why Manchurian was used.
A well-known Japanese scholar Kato in his book The Study of Gold and Silver in Tang and Song Dynasty indicated with illustrations, wrote that such kind of round sycee were found being imported into Japan by their merchants and monks in the 49^th year of Chieng Lung (1784, 1736-1795).