XXIV., pp. 423, 430. "Bark of Trees, made into something like Paper, to
pass for Money over all his Country."
Regarding Bretschneider's statement, p. 430, Dr. B. Laufer writes to me:
"This is a singular error of Bretschneider. Marco Polo is perfectly
correct: not only did the Chinese actually manufacture paper from the bark
of the mulberry tree (Morus alba), but also it was this paper which was
preferred for the making of paper-money. Bretschneider is certainly right
in saying that paper is made from the Broussonetia, but he is assuredly
wrong in the assertion that paper is not made in China from mulberry
trees. This fact he could have easily ascertained from S. Julien,[1] who
alludes to mulberry tree paper twice, first, as 'papier de racines et
d'ecorce de murier,' and, second, in speaking of the bark paper from
Broussonetia: 'On emploie aussi pour le meme usage l'ecorce d'Hibiscus
Rosa sinensis et de murier; ce dernier papier sert encore a recueillir
les graines de vers a soie,' What is understood by the latter process may
be seen from Plate I. in Julien's earlier work on sericulture,[2] where
the paper from the bark of the mulberry tree is likewise mentioned.
"The Chi p'u, a treatise on paper, written by Su I-kien toward the close
of the tenth century, enumerates among the various sorts of paper
manufactured during his lifetime paper from the bark of the mulberry tree
(sang p'i) made by the people of the north.[3]
"Chinese paper-money of mulberry bark was known in the Islamic World in the
beginning of the fourteenth century; that is, during the Mongol period.
Accordingly it must have been manufactured in China during the Yuan
Dynasty. Ahmed Shibab Eddin, who died in Cairo in 1338 at the age of 93,
and left an important geographical work in thirty volumes, containing
interesting information on China gathered from the lips of eye-witnesses,
makes the following comment on paper-money, in the translation of Ch.
Schefer:[4]
"'On emploie dans le Khita, en guise de monnaie, des morceaux d'un papier
de forme allongee fabrique avec des filaments de muriers sur lesquels est
imprime le nom de l'empereur. Lorsqu'un de ces papiers est use, on le
porte aux officiers du prince et, moyennant une perte minime, on recoit un
autre billet en echange, ainsi que cela a lieu dans nos hotels des
monnaies, pour les matieres d'or et d'argent que l'on y porte pour etre
converties en pieces monnayees.'
"And in another passage: 'La monnaie des Chinois est faite de billets
fabriques avec l'ecorce du murier. Il y en a de grands et de petits....
Ou les fabrique avec des filaments tendres du murier et, apres y avoir
oppose un sceau au nom de l'empereur, on les met en circulation.'[5]
"The banknotes of the Ming Dynasty were likewise made of mulberry pulp, in
rectangular sheets one foot long and six inches wide, the material being
of a greenish colour, as stated in the Annals of the Dynasty.[6] It is
clear that the Ming Emperors, like many other institutions, adopted this
practice from their predecessors, the Mongols.
