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villainous friend

Just saw this note about gold leaf as currency in The Tang Sect Crisis (Long Chengfeng, tr. Lone Crane, wuxiawanderings.com/wuxia/long) and was reminded of the conversation we had about Xie Lian’s gold foil palace in .

The character Water Cat “tipped people at least ten pieces of gold leaf” and “could carelessly squander hundreds of pieces of gold leaf without batting an eye,” but I think this must be a huge exaggeration of actual usage! 😅

Gold leaf, 金葉子, was a form of currency. It was a sheet of gold foil folded in alternate accordion folds. A convenient way to carry around a lot of money. More common in wuxia novels than it was in real life. Silver drafts 銀票 were paper money, common for a time in the Ming dynasty until they were devalued to the point of uselessness. They were drafts to be paid out in silver, hence the name. Common in wuxia novels as a convenient form of currency.
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Soph (they/them)

@villainousfriend ooh, this feels very relevant! folded gold foil as a form of currency specifically, rather than just general "gold=wealth", gives somewhat different vibes to the gold foil palaces! so rich that high-denomination money is a toy for children

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