Julius von Klaproth. 1822. “Sur l’origine du papier-monnaie” Journal asiatique. November 1822. pp. 257–267.
This is a beautiful example of the caliber of Klaproth’s work. He reads Critisch-historische nebenstunden by August Ludwig von Schlözer, a star historian at Göttingen. Schlözer claims in this work that the Mongols invented paper money. Klaproth notes that contrary evidence had emerged some 60 years earlier, in Antoine Gaubil’s 1739 Histoire de Gentchiscan et de toute la dinastie des Mongous ses successeurs, conquérans de la Chine; tirée de l’histoire chinoise, et traduite.
Klaproth then proceeds to correct the record, sketching the history of Chinese paper currency by reading primary sources. He relies principally on the fifteenth-century Zīzhì tōngjiàn gāngmù xùbiān 資治通鑑綱目續編 in both Chinese and in Manchu translation. He also frequently refers to Mǎ Duānlín’s 馬端臨 Wénxiàn tōngkǎo 文獻通考.
Klaproth’s article includes an amusing note of special interest to Buddhologists. When discussing a copper shortage in the reign of Táng 唐 emperor Xiànzōng 憲宗, he notes: “La cause de la rareté du cuivre, qui se fit sentir si souvent en Chine, était principalement la fabrication d’une grande quantité d’images en bronze, représentant Foe et les saints de sa religion. Aussi voyait-on reparaitre le cuivre et la monnaie, après chaque persécution que cette religion essuyait en Chine” (pp. 259–260).
