tael (兩) | = | 37.5 g |
catty (斤) | = | 600 g (16 taels) |
picul (擔) | = | 60 kg (100 catty) |
last (rice) | = | 1,200 kg (20 piculs) |
morgen (甲) | = | roughly 8,516 square meters, or about 2.1 acres |
mile (Dutch) | = | 7.4 km |
Currency values varied by place of exchange and time, with significant changes during the seventeenth century. The rates shown here are meant as a rough guide.
tael (兩) of fine silver | = | 1.4 Spanish real |
Spanish real | = | 60 light stuivers |
gulden | = | 20 light stuivers |
For context, consider these salaries and prices:
A Chinese laborer in Taiwan might earn around 3 reals per month. |
A Dutch East India Company sailor (matroos) might earn about the same (8 or 10 gulden per month at roughly 3 gulden per real). |
A Dutch East India Company "assistant-merchant" (ondercoopman) might earn around 13 reals per month (40 gulden). |
A Dutch East India Company "merchant" (coopman) might earn around 23 reals per month (70 gulden). |
A horse cost around 50 reals. |
Thus, a real was worth on the order of US $200 (today’s dollars), and a tael about 50 percent more.
This excerpt from a VOC source focuses on Taiwan in the seventeenth century and is thus worth reproducing.1
1 Reael van agten doet 52 stuyvers. |
1 Reael van 56 stuyvers. |
1 dito doet 73 condryn. |
1 Thayl 10 maes. |
1 Maes 10 condryn. |
100 Thayl Japans van 57 stuyvers doet 143 3/4 Rycksdaelder. |
16 ditos swaerte 1 catty. |
1 Thayl fyn schuyt Silver doet 71 a 773 stuyvers. |
24 Dubbelde stuyvers doen 1 Rycksdaelder van 51 stuyv. |
73 Thayl Goudt wort gereeckent tegen 100 Rycksd. swaerte. |
1 Picol Chinees doet 1262 lb. |
1 Vat Vlees |
1 dito Spek |
1 dito Boter |
1 Legger hout in 350 en, |
1 Aem 90 kannen van 10 mutsjens. |
Note 1: "Uytrekening van de Goude en Silvere Munts Waardye, inhout der maten en swaarte de gewigten van Indien" (Middelburg: Johannes Meertens, Drucher van de Ed. Geoctroyeerde Oost-Indische Compagnie, 1691), VOC 11207. The source contains similar data for dozens of other trading posts. I am grateful to Paul van Dyke for informing me about this remarkable document and sending me his transcription. back