Fu (tally)
In ancient China a fu () was a tally, made of bamboo, wood, metal (gold, silver, bronze) or jade and used as a proof of authorization. Most commonly, "fu" were made of wood or bamboo in sizes of wooden slips or bamboo chopsticks. Although "fu" have been made in various shapes (such as tiger, dragon, turtle, snake, fish or human), most of them come in the shape of a tiger. Classical description of tallies is found in the Zhou li, which refers to the tallies of jade and horn, and mentions the shapes of tiger, human, dragon, seal, and  banner. Fu (surname 符) was derived from the post of title of an official in charge of the tally. Hu-fu. Two-piece tiger tallies ("hu-fu", in Chinese) were used to verify troop deployment orders from the central government. Left pieces were issued to local commanders, and right pieces were retained by the central government. Government orders were deemed to be authentic if they were accompanied by the right piece matching the recipient's left piece. The word "hu-fu" first appears in the biography of Hsin-ling in the "Records of the Grand Historian", where a stolen tiger  tally is used to relieve the state of Zhao. During the Warring States period, this type of "fu" was made from bronze. The tiger tally from the tomb of King Zhao Mo (趙眜) of Nanyue was cast as a single piece. It demonstrates that "hu-fu" are not uniform and could function as tokens instead of tallies.