Daily Wages of Unskilled Chinese Laborers 1807–1902

Many of the stores in and around Peiping (Peking) keep very full and complete accounts, recording in separate books the purchases and sales of the commodities in which they deal, their silver-copper exchange transactions, the expenditures for food purchased for their employees, their sundry purchases and their expenditures for wages. These account books have been looked on as valuable records and many of the stores have preserved them for many years. Some of the books have been lost through the years, but in many instances it is still possible to secure a relatively complete set of accounts covering from 100 to 150 years.