[3][4] The first of these being provincial issues of the Guangxu Yuanbao (光緒元寶) which would later inspire the government of the Qing dynasty to standardise its currency nationwide due to the different weights and standards being used across China.

In an attempt to bring order to this chaos some people such as Chen Zhi started advocating for China to place its currency on the gold standard.

[5] The reformer Liang Qichao campaigned for the government of the Qing dynasty to emulate the Western world and Japan by embracing the gold standard, unify refractory the currencies of China, and issue government-backed banknotes with a ⅓ metallic reserve.

[6] In the year Guangxu 29 (1903) the Ministry of Revenue in Beijing had authorised a small number of gold 1 Kuping tael Guangxu Yuanbao pattern coins with the English inscription "29TH YEAR OF KUANG HSÜ - HU POO", the dies for these coins were probably produced at the Japan Mint in Osaka, Japan.

Only a small number of trial coins with this inscription were ever cast that were not meant for general circulation as the gold reserves of the Qing dynasty proved insufficient.