It is well known that a great amount of silver, including the Spanish dollars, had flowed into the Ch'ing (清) Empire from the overseas and had a considerable influence upon the social and economic phases in China. But, apart from that, I would like to prove here that some amount of silver, produced in Vietnam and Burma, had been carried by land into China during the Ch'ing Dynasty. The Chinese abroad had been opening the silver mines in Vietnam and Burma since the beginning of the Ch'ienlung (乾隆) era, and the amount of silver carried into China had been enormous, but the silver mines were soon closed through the interferance of the Ch'ing government and the local government. Thus the incoming of the Vietnam and Burma silver into China was short-lived, and, the reason can be traced to the fact that the Ch'ing government in the Ch'ien-lung era had been abundant in the possession of silver. And the shortage of silver of the Ch'ing government during and after the Opium War gave rise to the controversial discussions among some Chinese intelligents concerning the reopening of silver mines in Vietnam and Burma.

史學科開設五十周年記念