In writing the year in official documents, foreigners usually use the cyclic characters to denote it, so as not to acknowledge the Emperor; but the people designate the year by the reign of his Majesty, sometimes adding the cyclic characters; 甲子同治二年二月十五日 kiahtsz' Tungchi's 2d year, 2d moon, 15th day, stands for April 2d, 1863. The cyclic characters are also applied to the months and days of the year in a separate but continuous series for each. These are always given in common almanacs. A second is called miáu, of which 60 make a fun, but these The wide use of clocks and terms are derived from European sources. watches has introduced the terms tien-chung, "stroke of the clock," for the hour; and mien-li for minute. The days of a month are always numbered consecutively from 1 to 29 or 30; the first ten days are called,, tsú yih, tsú 'rh, &c. The months are numbered from 1 to 12, except the first, which is called Eching yuch; an intercalary month is denoted by prefixingjun to the preceding number, asi. e. intercalated sixth month. A month of 29 days is called ♬ siáu yuch, and of 30 days tá yuch, the lesser and greater months; a year of 12 months contains 354 days, the intercalated year has 384 days. The four seasons are called Mtsieh chun, hiá, tsiú, tung-spring commencing with newyear. They are also denoted by 24 tsich ki, ortsieh ling, periods corresponding to the day on which the sun enters the first and fifteenth degree of one of the zodiacal signs; consequently their places in a lunar calendar will change every year, but in the solar year of Europeans they fall nearly upon the same day in successive years. When an intercalary month occurs, they are still reckoned as usual; but the intercalation is made so that only one term shall fall in it. The equinoxes and solstices, and some of the festivals, are regulated by the tsieh ki. Some of them contain 14, and others 16 days, but their average length is 15 days. Their names and approximate positions in our year are here given; one or another of them change a day back or forth from year to year, and do not regularly fall on the same day. Oct. 8 han lu Sep. 23 is fun autumnal equinox;} Oct. 23 shwáng kiángfrost descending; Nov. 7 lih tung in Libra. 寒露 cold dew; } in Scorpio. winter begins; the 28 kung The days and months are also continuously denoted by the names of houses, or constellations, which are as follows :—' These characters are applied in regular order to the days of the month. Four of them (those printed in Italics) always mark the Christian Sabbath, while the others designate the } Chinese Cycles, with the year of their commencement. Comparison of Christian and Chinese Years: This table shows what year of the last Chinese cycle corresponds to the Christian year, and in the next column the current year in the reign of the emperor which answers to it: Kia. stands for Kiaking; Tau. for Taukwang; Hien. for Hienfung; and Tung. for Tung-chi, the reigning monarch. The figures placed after some of the months show which month of that year was intercalated. Year. Cycle. Reign. Commenced. Year. Cycle. Reign. Commenced. Year. Cycle. Reign. Commenced. 1797 54 1 1801 58 5 1803 60 7 1804 1 8 C.G. 39 24th Jan 71854 51 4 20th Feb 3d Feb 23d Jan 3 28th Jan 1821 18 1 Tau. 2d Feb 1845 42 25 7th Feb 27th Jan 14th Feb 5th Feb 1849 46 29 24th Jan 1850 47 30 12th Feb 1851 48 1 Hien 1st Feb 29th Jan 17th Feb 6th Feb 26th Jan 14th Feb 3d Feb 23d Jan 3 10th Feb 30th Jan 18th Feb 1864g 1 3 7th Feb 1865 2 4 26th Jan Comparison of Dates in Chinese and Christian Years. The object of this table is to assist those who wish to ascertain the corresponding dates in the Chinese and Christian years for 18 years past. CHAPTER VI WESTERN MONEYS, WEIGHTS, &c. Section 1. ANNAMESE MONEYS, &c. THE coins of Annam or Cochinchina are gold and silver taels,-the former being usually fourteen or fifteen times the value of the latter,and dong, or cash, shaped like the Chinese, and made of zinc. The precious metals are scarce among the people, and most transactions are carried on by means of the cash, which is very inconvenient, owing to its brittleness and great weight. A The gold and silver used by the Annamese is generally refined, but sometimes much alloyed. The golden ingot, or loaf as it is called, is the largest; there is a half ingot of gold of the same shape, of 5 taels' weight, worth 277 rupees, or about 693 francs, 40 cent. The dinh vang, or golden nail, weighs one tael, and is worth 138 fr. or 534 rupees. silver ingot of the same form as the loaf, called nen bac, weighs 10 taels; it is an oblong piece of silver, worth 32 Co.'s rupees, or $14, or 81 fr. 57 cent. There is another piece of silver money, called dinh bac, or nail, weighing one tael, worth about 8 fr. 15 cent., or 34 rupees; this has its subdivisional halves and quarters; the half is called una dinh bac. The golden loaf of 10 or 5 taels equals $238 or $119; the golden dinh vang of 1, or tael weight, equals $24, $12 or $6; the silver dinh bac of 1,ortael weight, equals $1.40, $0.70, or $0.35. Besides these more strictly native coins, king Minh-menh issued a coinage of dollars about 1830, the pieces of which were intended to be of the same weight as the Spanish dollar; but in general it is not worth more than 13 of a rupee (4 francs) or about 70 cents, from the great adulteration of the metal, one third of it being copper. His successor Thieu-fri coined both gold and silver dollars, having a dragon on one side and his name on the reverse. The whole, half, and quarter gold dollars, are worth $12, $64, and $34 respectively; the same denominations of silver are worth $0.70, $0.35 and $0.17. The workmanship of all these gold and silver coins is highly creditable. The copper coinage is cast; 60 dong or cash make 1 mot tien, or heap; and 10 mot tien make 1 kwan or string of 600 cash, which are estimated between 50 and 60 cents, and weigh about 3 lbs. av. The rates of ex change between cash and the silver coins vary from three to six kwan to a dollar. On the average, 2600 zinc cash are equal to a Spanish dollar, and 600 to 25 cents. These rates existed ten years ago, but the exchange latterly has diminished, and the use of silver has increased. The earliest silver and gold coins were shaped like cakes of Indian ink, but much thinner. They have slightly raised edges, and their value and date are marked on them in raised characters. At every new issue |