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35-595: Yelü Zongzhen was the eldest son of Emperor Shengzong . He was born to a court lady named Xiao Noujin (蕭耨斤) but was raised by the Empress Xiao Pusage (蕭菩薩哥), the niece of Zongzhen's grandmother Xiao Yanyan . He was enfeoffed as a prince in 1021 at the age of six. When Emperor Shengzong died in 1031, Yelü Zongzhen succeeded his father as emperor. His mother Xiao Noujin became consort dowager and his adopted mother Xiao Pusage became Empress Dowager . After receiving this title, Xiao Noujin became arrogant and gave herself

70-753: A form of corruption and these taxes never reached the imperial government under the traditional fiscal regime. Near the end of the Qing dynasty, one dìng (sycee, or yuanbao ) is about 50 taels. The local tael took precedence over any central measure. Thus, the Canton tael weighed 37.5 grams (1.21 ozt), the Convention or Shanghai tael was 33.9 grams (1.09 ozt), and the Haiguan ( 海關 ; hǎiguān ; 'customs') tael 37.8 grams (1.22 ozt). The conversion rates between various common taels were well known. In

105-556: A part of the Chinese system of weights and currency . The Chinese tael was standardized to 50 grams in 1959. In Hong Kong and Singapore , it is equivalent to 10 mace (Chinese: 錢 ; pinyin: qián ) or 1 ⁄ 16 catty , albeit with slightly different metric equivalents in these two places. These Chinese units of measurement are usually used in Chinese herbal medicine stores as well as gold and silver exchange. The English word tael comes through Portuguese from

140-621: A unit will typically abbreviate it as "tl". China's standard market tael (Chinese: 市两 ; pinyin: shìliǎng ) of 31.25 g was modified by the People's Republic of China in 1959. The new market tael was 50 g or 1 ⁄ 10 catty (500 g) to make it compatible with metric measures. (see Chinese unit for details.) In Shanghai, silver is still traded in taels. Some foodstuffs in China are sold in units also called "taels", but which do not necessarily weigh one tael. For cooked rice,

175-506: Is 1 + 1 ⁄ 3 oz. avoir. Similar to Hong Kong, in Singapore, one tael is defined as 1 + 1 ⁄ 3 ounce and is approximated as 37.7994 g The Taiwan tael is 37.5 g and is still used in some contexts. The Taiwan tael is derived from the tael or ryō ( 両 ) of the Japanese system (equal to 10 momme ) which was 37.5 g. Although the catty (equal to 16 taels)

210-463: Is still frequently used in Taiwan, the tael is only used for precious metals and herbal medicines. The Thai equivalent of the tael is known as the tamlueng , a term derived from Khmer . It was used as a unit of currency equal to four baht ; nowadays, as a unit of weight it is fixed at 60 grams. In French Indochina , the colonial administration fixed the tael ( lạng ) as 100 g, which

245-515: Is written 兩 (simplified as 两 ) and has the Mandarin pronunciation liǎng . The phrase "half a catty, eight taels" ( Chinese : 半斤八兩 , bàn jīn, bā liǎng ) is still used to mean two options are exactly equivalent, similar to the English "six of one, half a dozen of the other". In China, there were many different weighting standards of tael depending on the region or type of trade. In general

280-718: The Malay word tahil , meaning "weight". Early English forms of the name such as "tay" or "taes" derive from the Portuguese plural of tael, taeis . Tahil ( / ˈ t ɑː h ɪ l / in Singaporean English ) is used in Malay and English today when referring to the weight in Malaysia , Singapore , and Brunei , where it is still used in some contexts especially related to the significant Overseas Chinese population. In Chinese, tael

315-549: The silver tael weighed around 40 grams (1.3 ozt). The most common government measure was the Kuping ( 庫平 ; kùpíng ; 'treasury standard') tael, weighing 37.5 grams (1.21 ozt). A common commercial weight, the Caoping ( 漕平 ; cáopíng ; 'canal shipping standard') tael weighed 36.7 grams (1.18 ozt) of marginally less pure silver. As in China, other parts of East Asia such as Japan and Korea have also used

350-496: The Liao dynasty enjoyed peace and prosperity, so it is widely praised that Emperor Shengzong's reign was a golden age of the Liao dynasty Consort and issue(s): Tael Tael ( / ˈ t eɪ l / ), or liang , also known as the tahil and by other names , can refer to any one of several weight measures used in East and Southeast Asia . It usually refers to the Chinese tael,

385-503: The Liao dynasty's southern capital (present-day Beijing ) in the contentious Sixteen Prefectures in 986. Three large Song armies were sent to three different strategic locations on the approach to the southern capital. While initially successful, the young Emperor Shengzong, along with Empress Dowager Xiao, led an army of Liao cavalry to counter the enemy and defeated the Song forces at the Battle of

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420-591: The Qigou Pass in June. Empress Dowager Xiao appointed Yelü Xiuge as her senior general to continue attacks on the Song dynasty in retaliation until the following year. In 1004, the Liao dynasty carried out a large-scale invasion of Song territory, camping out in the town of Shanyuan, about 100 miles north of the Song capital of Kaifeng . This resulted in the Treaty of Shanyuan , signed in mid-January 1005. According to this treaty,

455-466: The Qing dynasty created a number of treaty ports alongside the China's main waterways and its coastal areas, these treaty ports would fundamentally change both the monetary system of China as well as its banking system , these changes were introduced by the establishment of European and American merchant houses and later banks that would engage in the Chinese money exchange and trade finance. Between

490-476: The Song dynasty would pay an annual tribute of 200,000 bolts of silk and 100,000 taels of silver to the Liao dynasty in exchange for peace. This arrangement would remain in place with modifications until the end of the Liao dynasty, and in fact, the Jurchens could continue this arrangement with the Song dynasty with the founding of their Jin dynasty . Emperor Shengzong also institutionalised state examinations for

525-509: The Western powers had managed to take over the complete administration of the Qing's maritime customs from the imperial Chinese governmental bureaucracy. The Imperial Maritime Customs Service developed the Haikwan tael (海關兩), this new form of measurement was an abstract unit of silver tael that would become the nationwide standard unit of account in silver for any form of Customs tax. The Haikwan tael

560-608: The era lacking such a taboo—simply reflect dialectal differences among the Jurchens themselves. Emperor Xingzong's reign was the beginning of the end for the Liao dynasty. The government was corrupt and the army started to fall apart. He attacked the Western Xia dynasty many times, and waged war against the Northern Song dynasty . However, the frequent wars were not looked kindly upon by his people, and there were much anger among them for

595-519: The examinations. Emperor Shengzong began the active patronage of Buddhism , rebuilding temples such as the Monastery of Solitary Joy . Within a century of his reign, an estimated 10% of the Liao population were Buddhist monks or nuns, though this figure may have been exaggerated. While the Khitans did not associate Buddhism with the Chinese people because it was seen more as a Uyghur religion and thus not

630-563: The high taxes. Although Emperor Xingzong was successful in bullying Song into raising the annual indemnities, he was unsuccessful in his invasion of Western Xia due to sandstorms. Emperor Xingzong was interested in Buddhism and spent lavishly for his own pleasure. He died in 1055 and was succeeded by his son Emperor Daozong . Consort and issue(s) : Emperor Shengzong of Liao Emperor Shengzong of Liao (16 January 972 – 25 June 1031), personal name Wenshunu , sinicised name Yelü Longxu ,

665-498: The new title of Empress Dowager despite being a former concubine. She was longtime rivals with Xiao Pusage, and spied on Xiao Pusage several times when Zongzhen was a prince. Xiao Noujin tried persuading her son to get rid of Xiao Pusage, but he refused to comply since Xiao Pusage had no children and raised him as a child. When the Emperor was occupied with a hunting trip, Xiao Noujin sent assassins to murder Xiao Pusage. The Emperor's reign

700-615: The official exchange rate between silver sycees and copper-alloy cash coins was set at 1,000 wén for 1 tael of silver before 1820, but after the year 1840 this official exchange rate was double to 2,000 wén to 1 tael. During the reign of the Xianfeng Emperor , the government of the Qing dynasty was forced to re-introduce paper money , among the paper money it produced were the Hubu Guanpiao (戶部官票) silver notes that were denominated in taels. The forced opening of China during

735-481: The religion of the Chinese, whom they saw as inferior, what is not clear is the extent that Buddhism penetrated the Khitan population, as the bulk of Buddhist shrines and temples were located in the southern part of the domains of the Liao where the largely Chinese sedentary population resided. There is evidence to suggest that the Khitan populace maintained their animistic belief systems along with their rituals. During

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770-460: The rule of Emperor Shengzong, the Liao dynasty instituted feudal reform, spurring its economy. Prior to this, it had depended on territorial expansion, slavery and thievery. Under Emperor Shengzong's rule, most slaves were liberated, becoming normal members of society. The most important parts of the economy from then on were animal husbandry , particularly horse and sheep raising, as well as agriculture and fishing. During Emperor Shengzong's reign,

805-704: The selection of officials, which was done in 988, based on models used by the Han Chinese -led Tang and Song dynasties. Despite the importance of the return of the examination system, it initially only opened the road for very small numbers, as only three to five were awarded initially, and the number only increased to between 30 and 130 candidates passing the triennial exams by 1014. Most jinshi degree holders were not even appointed to office, as Khitan aristocrats were far more likely to receive appointments. Khitan people receiving appointments did so specifically through patronage, as they were expressly prohibited from taking

840-464: 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 tael was still used in Qing dynasty coinage as the basis of the silver currency and sycee remained in use until the end of the dynasty in 1911. Common weights were 50, 10, 5 and one tael. Before the year 1840 the government of the Qing dynasty had set

875-435: The tael ( Japanese : 両 ; rōmaji : ryō ; Korean : 량/냥 (兩) ; romaja : nyang/ryang ) as both a unit of weight and, by extension, a currency. Traditional Chinese silver sycees and other currencies of fine metals 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

910-436: The various colonial powers and the government of the Qing dynasty. The Haikwan tael was on average 5% to 10% larger than the various local tael units that had existed in China, this was done as it deliberately excluded any form of extra surcharges which were embedded in the other units of the silver tael that existed as a form of intermediary income for local government tax collection, these surcharges were added to local taels as

945-536: The weight of the tael is approximated using special tael-sized ladles. Other items sold in taels include the shengjian mantou and the xiaolongbao , both small bao buns commonly sold in Shanghai. In these cases, one tael is traditionally four and eight buns respectively. The tael is a legal weight measure in Hong Kong , and is still in active use. In Hong Kong, one tael is 37.799364167 g, and in ordinance 22 of 1884

980-577: The year 1933 the government of the Republic of China abolished the tael and completely replaced it with the yuan in a process known as the fei liang gai yuan ( 廢兩改元 ; 'Abolishing tael and changing to yuan'). During this time the Republican government cleared all banknotes denominated in the ancient tael currency, making all bills which used this currency unit obsolete. Modern studies suggest that, on purchasing power parity basis, one tael of silver

1015-469: The years 1840 and 1900, 1 market tael was worth 1.38 Spanish dollars . Various Western banking companies, the largest of which were the HSBC , and later Japanese banking companies started to begin to accept deposits. They would issue banknotes which were convertible into silver; these banknotes were popularized among the Chinese public that resided in the treaty ports. An important development during this era

1050-399: Was controlled by his mother Xiao Noujin. She was very ambitious and didn't want her power at court to be diminished. Although she promised Emperor Jingzong to be content with her title of Consort Dowager, she issued a false edict stating that she was an Empress Dowager. She had plans for her younger son Zhongyuan to replace Zongzhen on the throne. Yelu Zhongyuan told his brother, and Xiao Noujin

1085-454: Was preferred over the Kuping tael (庫平兩) by many merchants across China, this was because the units of the Kuping tael varied often to the advantage of imperial tax collectors, this form of corruption was an extra source of income for government bureaucrats at the expense of traders. The Haikwan tael unit was completely uniform, it was very carefully defined, and its creation had been negotiated among

Emperor Xingzong of Liao - Misplaced Pages Continue

1120-401: Was sent away from the palace. After the Emperor's death, Xiao Noujin reportedly told her daughter-in-law Empress Xiao Dali not to mourn. The Sinified form of his personal name is usually given as the reason (via the Chinese naming taboo ) for the variant forms of the Chinese name of the Jurchens around this time. More likely, however, the variants—which are also attested in other languages of

1155-613: Was the establishment of the Imperial Maritime Customs Service . This agency was placed in charge of collecting transit taxes for traded goods that were shipped both in and out of the Chinese Empire, these rules and regulations were all stipulated in various trade treaties that were imposed on the Qing by the Western colonial powers. Because these changes were implemented during the height of the Taiping Rebellion ,

1190-452: Was the sixth emperor of the Khitan -led Chinese Liao dynasty and its longest reigning monarch. Emperor Shengzong succeeded his father, Emperor Jingzong , at the age of 12 in 982. As he was too young to rule at the time, his mother, Empress Dowager Xiao , became the regent. Emperor Taizong of the Northern Song dynasty sought to take advantage of the situation by launching an invasion on

1225-426: Was worth about 4,130 yuan RMB in the early Tang dynasty , 2,065 yuan RMB in the late Tang dynasty , and 660.8 yuan RMB in the mid Ming dynasty . As of February 2024 the price of silver is about 254 yuan RMB/tael of 50 g. The tael is still in use as a weight measurement in a number of countries though usually only in limited contexts. In English-speaking countries, measurement scales that support Tael as

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