Horseshoe silver

A silver bullion weighted coin used in China during the Qing dynasty. It is commonly known as horse-shoe silver due to its shape, but the correct name is Yuanbao silver. It is commonly known as both silver and silver due to its weight unit. Gold and silver were used as currency in China dating back to the Han dynasty, but they were not stable as minted coins, and were used as bullion for gifts and presents. They came in shapes such as karasumi, rectangular, and square bars, and actual coins from the Song dynasty have survived. Eventually, bunju and weight shapes became more common, and many have been discovered in the tombs of the Wanli Emperor of the Ming dynasty. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, even though the circulation of silver was widespread, the government did not intervene in its issuance as currency. The shape, purity, and weight of silver ingots, commonly called silver ingots, were left to the customs of the people, and varied widely from region to region. In the Qing dynasty, the weight-shaped ingots were often horseshoe-shaped, with a concave center and raised ears on both sides. This was done by melting silver in a crucible and stirring it to create wrinkles, and the more small holes there were, the higher the purity was, which was appreciated. The unit of liang also differed from region to region, but roughly 50 liang was the standard, and was called yuanbao gin, around 10 liang was called xiao yuanbao or zhong tang, and around 3 to 5 liang was called xiao tang, xiao, or zi. Silver ingots were made in silver furnaces, and countless financial institutions such as sensho and senpo were established throughout the country to exchange them. In the late Qing Dynasty, the 1 yen silver coin (gin yuan) began to be minted in imitation of Western silver, and the silver coin faded into obscurity.

[Masui Tsuneo]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、清(しん)代に通用した銀地金の秤量(ひょうりょう)貨幣。形状によって馬蹄銀と俗称されるが、正しくは元宝(げんぽう)銀。その重量単位によって銀両とも通称される。中国で金銀が貨幣とされたのは漢代にさかのぼるが、鋳貨としては安定せず、地金で賜与や贈答に用いられ、形はからすみ形、長方形、角棒形などあり、現物は宋(そう)代のものが残されている。やがて饅頭(まんじゅう)形、分銅形が多くなり、明(みん)の万暦帝陵から多数発見されている。明・清の間、銀の流通が盛行しても、貨幣としての発行に政府は関与せず、一般に銀錠(ぎんじょう)とよばれる銀塊は、形も純分も重量も民間の慣行にゆだねられ、地方によって千差万別であったが、清代には分銅形の中がへこみ両側の耳とよばれる部分が高くなって馬蹄形が多くなった。これは、坩堝(るつぼ)の中で銀を溶かし攪拌(かくはん)して皺曲(しゅうきょく)をつくり、小孔の多いのは純分がよいものと喜ばれた。両という単位も地方によって異なるが、だいたい50両を標準として元宝銀、10両前後を小元宝または中錠、3両から5両前後を小錠、小(しょうか)、子といった。銀錠は銀炉で作製されたが、その両替のため全国に無数の銭荘、銭舗などの金融業者ができた。清末、洋銀に倣って1円銀貨（銀元）がつくられるようになって姿を潜めた。

［増井経夫］

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