Page:A wandering student in the Far East vol.1 - Zetland.djvu/207

Rh of a single province, the province of Shansi, and their code of honour is of the most exacting description. I have already had occasion to remark upon the hopeless inconvenience of Chinese coinage. It is one of the surprises of this extraordinary country that side by side with the most primitive system of coinage should exist a most efficient banking system, spread like a network over the whole of the empire. Surprise gives way to unfeigned astonishment when it is realised that the banking system of China is the oldest in the world, and was the father, in all probability, of the vast credit and exchange system of Europe. The oldest bank-note known to be extant is a Chinese bank-note issued during the reign of Hung Wú in the fourteenth century, 300 years before the issue of bank-notes in Europe, and 600 years after their earliest appearance in Asia. There is, indeed, little doubt that Europe has to thank Asia for the foundations of her modern civilisation. If she suffered grievous affliction at the hands of the invading legions of Asia, she was at any rate amply repaid.