Tael
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- This article is about the Chinese system of weight measurements. See here for the fictional fairy character in the video game The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
The tael (Chinese: 兩; pinyin: Liǎng), was part of the Chinese system of weights and currency. There were many different weighting standards of tael depending on the region or type of trade. In general the silver tael weighed around 40 g. The most common government measure was the Kùpíng (庫平; treasury) tael, weighing 1.2 Troy ounces (37.3 g). A common commercial weight, the Cáopíng (漕平) tael weighed 1.18 Troy ounces (36.7 g) of marginally less pure silver.
Silver currency as ingots were called sycee, but they were not denominated or made by a central mint and their value was determined by their weight in taels. They were made by individual silversmiths for local exchange, and as such 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. The local tael also took precedence over any central measure, so the Canton tael weighed 37.5 g, the Convention or Shanghai tael was 33.9 g (1.09 oz troy), and the Customs or Hǎiguān (海關) tael 37.8 g (defined as 11⁄3 oz avoirdupois, about 1.22 oz troy). The conversion rates between various common taels were well known.
Sycee were first used as a medium for exchange as early as the Qin Dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty, a standard bi-metallic system of silver and copper coinage was codified with 10 silver coins equal to 1,000 copper cash coins. Paper money and bonds were introduced in the 9th century. However, the tael was still the basis of the silver currency and sycee remained in use until the end of the Qing Dynasty. Common weights were 50 taels, 10 taels and 5 down to 1.
[edit] Modern usage
The word is still in use. In Mainland China, it is equivalent to 50 grams since the country has gone metric (See Chinese unit for details). In Taiwan and Hong Kong it is equivalent to 10 mace (qián 錢) at 37.429 g, usually in the Chinese herbal medicine stores as well as gold and silver exchange . In Shanghai silver is still traded in taels.
