Page 184 - Ming_China_Courts_and_Contacts_1400_1450 Craig lunas

Collection Registration Broussonetia Morus Morus Bambuseae Hibiscus Oryza Triticum Cannabis
number papyrifera alba australis tribe mutabilis sativa sp. sativa
paper mulberry white Chinese bamboos hibiscus rice wheat hemp
mulberry mulberry
British 1913,1011.30
Museum

British 1942,0805.1
Museum
British OR.9730
Museum
British CIB.EA.260
Museum
British CIB,EA.261
Museum
British CIB,EA.262
Museum
British CIB,EA.263
Museum
British CIB,EA.264
Museum
British CIB,EA.265
Museum
British Library ORB 40/862
British Library ORB 40/863

Table 1 Identifications of selected sampled Ming dynasty notes in the British Museum and British Library collections.
Key: filled cell = fibres and other plant cells present from this taxon
Examination of tiny samples (that were so minute that representative of all fibre types used for the manufacture of
their source was undetectable) taken from the Ming notes and Ming paper money. There may be other plant fibres in
the comparative reference specimens was undertaken in the unsampled areas of the notes already studied as well as in
Hitachi S-3700N variable pressure scanning electron notes not yet available for study. Single location sampling also
microscope (VP SEM) using the backscatter electron means that the identified taxa in Table 1 cannot be presented
detector. From the outset of the VP SEM examination, it was quantitatively or even semi-quantitatively, so a simple
9
clear that many different types of fibres and other plant cells present/absent notation has been used.
were present in the samples taken from the original British Identification of genus or species was possible through the
Museum Ming notes and from two of the British Library VP SEM examination of Ming note samples at appropriate
examples (Table 1). As these tiny samples were removed from magnifications. A single SEM view was not sufficient to
a single specific location on each note, the identifications characterise each sample or fibre type, so many SEM
presented in Table 1 cannot be interpreted as being images were captured for each of the Ming notes and
reference specimens. Specialist botanical expertise was
Plate 19.5 VP SEM image of Broussonetia papyrifera (paper crucial for the identification of the fibres and other plant
mulberry) fibres from Ming dynasty paper money. British Museum, cells present in Ming dynasty paper money, not least because
London, 1913,1011.30
the morphological features of these cells had been greatly
altered during the paper-making processes. Identification
was only possible where sufficient diagnostic features were
present in association with one another, and where these
features were not compromised by fungal hyphae, ink,
pigments, dirt, encrustation or deterioration. It is self-
evident that fibre atlases and online fibre databases were not
useful for comparative purposes in this particular study;
such resources invariably illustrate modern textbook
examples of fibres in pristine condition.
The VP SEM analyses revealed surprising results;
although fibres from white mulberry and paper mulberry
(Pl. 19.5) had been used, all of the notes contained several
different types of fibres and other plant cells, including
bamboo (Pl. 19.6), rice straw, wheat straw, hibiscus and
hemp, as well as other types of mulberry, such as Chinese

174 | Ming China: Courts and Contacts 1400–1450