910 FINANCIAL REFORM AND THE ECONOMY
ferent from the Chinese. He declared that the reason "why currency does not
circulate is not because it cannot do so; it is only because the people do not use
it" (emphasis added). It was the task of "the man [or men] at the top" to recog-
nize the advantages of cash and resolutely undertake methods to guarantee its
circulation, but it did not mean that he should "force people to do so or disrupt
[their lives]." If the proper measures were adopted, it would only take a few
years for cash to circulate naturally, "just as if the sluices [in the irrigation dikes]
had been opened for the water to flow." Once it did, "the country would be
enriched and the people would prosper, and our country would be changed from
a [collection] of decrepit, isolated, and indolent villages to a land of glorious
and resplendent civilization, the benefits of which would last forever."47
To prevent confusion and loss of confidence in the currency that might occur
if there were a variety of coins of different weight and quality, Yu wanted to restrict
minting to a single type of coin. He prescribed that a brass (tus6k) coin mod-
eled in size, shape, and weight after the Circulating Treasure of the K'ai-ylian
year period (713-4 I) of Emperor Hslian-tsung's reign (the K'ai-yuan t'ung-pao)
in the T'ang dynasty be struck, and that it have the title "Circulating Treasure of
the Eastern Country [Tongguk tongbo]" on its face. Yu reported that the K'ai-
yuan t'ung-pao was reported in the History of the T'ang Dynasty and Tu Yu's
T'ung-tien to have weighed. I tael (. I liang or I ch'ien). Even though the scales
used in China (probably northeast China) in Yu's own time yielded weights three
times greater than the T'ang era, since Korean scales were equivalent to T'ang,
not contemporary Chinese, scales, the weight of the Tongguk t ongbo should weigh
I chon or.l yang according to Korean scales.^48
Yu also insisted that the quality of the coin be maintained at a high standard
by careful selection of craftsmen and high salaries for them. He complained that
in the seventeenth century Korean coins had been very poor in quality, but this
did not mean that Koreans had never done better, for coins minted in King
Sejong's reign in the fifteenth century were all extremely fine and even surpassed
some Chinese coins.
The quality of minting could be improved by a search for a talented man to
take charge of the mint and manage the work of first-class artisans, who would
be allowed to select their own assistants, given ample provisions, and perma-
nently employed at their specialty, contrary to the current lax standards. The
work of the craftsmen was to be investigated by officials, the best rewarded and
promoted and the worst punished, according to the standards of performance
he recommended for the regular system of education.
Penny Cash versus Multiple-Denomination CashIn accordance with Ch'iu Chlin's views, he prohibited either "large" or multi-
ple denomination cash or "small" cash weighing some fraction of the main coin,
and insisted that there should only be a single, standard coin. "The face value
of the coin should not be too far from the cost of the copper [used to make it]