Gold, Silver and the Monetary System in the Ming and Qing Dynasties Novels
明清小说中的金银变化母题与货币制度

Many of the Ming and Qing novelists based their stories on the motif of gold and silver. In the continuing variation of this motif, they expressed an unexhausted longing for prosperity through human efforts. Closely related to the silver monetary system, this motive embodied a literary mysticism that reflected the economic demands on the literary creation.