Bamboo tallies, alternatively known as bamboo tokens or bamboo money, were a type of alternative currency that was produced in Eastern China from the 1870s until the 1940s and were used to supplement Chinese cash coins and other small denomination Chinese currencies in a manner similar to paper money. Some bamboo tallies were issued in denominations of wén or "strings of cash coins", some bamboo tallies were denominated in qián, tóngyuán, jiǎo, and yáng, other than in money bamboo tallies could also be dominated in tea bags. During the same time as bamboo tallies were issued other local businesses manufactured paper money denominated in fēn while others used either copper tokens or money made from bones in a similar fashion.
Emergency money
These bamboo tallies were used due to the loss of authority of the government of the Qing dynasty that caused a shortage in currency and a loss of trust in the government, bamboo tallies continued to be used during the turbulent period of the Republic of China as many local private banks at the time were suffering from shortages of coinage so they issued their own currency provisionally. Bamboo tallies continued to be used in China up until the 1960s. Bamboo tallies were issued by local business and trading firms, exchange-offices, merchant guilds or associations, as well as playhouses, other producers include the Jiheyi Society, the Deyuan Society, and the Xuyichang candy shop. The first bamboo tallies from this region were actually manufactured during the Southern Song dynasty, but the modern bamboo tallies were only produced in the aftermath of the Taiping rebellion which devastated the local economy. Bamboo tallies were originally produced by mat-manufacturers of Xushuan in 1877 under the Guangxu Emperor as "emergency money" and had a nominal value of 100 wén. These early bamboo tallies were at first just meant to be used between their suppliers and customers from the countryside but then began to circulate on the entire market which was not prohibited by the local authorities at the time due to the economic situation of the region. From 1895 the local governments of these regions began to officially condone and later issue these bamboo tallies themselves. Several factors such as the Kuomintang takeover of China and subsequent Japanese invasion of China meant that these tokens would remain a popular medium of exchange as these events negatively affected the local economy.
Manufacture
Bamboo tallies were manufactured from bamboo from coastal China; to make these tallies, the skin of the bamboo was removed and then the stalk would be cut into rectangles that would have a hole drilled at the top. On the obverse side the denomination of the bamboo tally was placed and in uncommon cases the date of issue using the sexagenary cycle while on the reverse side an inked serial number along with the name of the issuing bank of merchant would be placed. The sides of the bamboo tallies would often be inscribed with the manufacturing company and anti-counterfeit measures such as the statement "not compensated if lost" and warranty marks are known as shing hao. After the tally was fully inscribed the bamboo would be lacquered in transparentlight red to improve the durability of the tally.
