Eastern Jin

Shen Chong Wu Zhu

東晉

沈充五銖

Item number: A1544

Year: AD 318-321

Material: Bronze

Size: 19.2 x 18.8 x 0.7 mm

Weight: 1.1 g

Provenance: Da Chen Stamps and Coins Collection 2014

This is a Wu Zhu coin privately minted by Shen Chong, a prominent figure from a noble family in Wuxing (present-day Huzhou, Zhejiang), during AD 318–321, the reign of the first emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Emperor Yuan of Jin. This coin is also known as the “Shen Lang Coin.”

The Shen Chong Wu Zhu coin features a square hole design. Due to its relatively high content of lead and tin, the coin appears in a grey-white colour. The obverse of the coin is covered with a reddish patina, and the characters “五銖” (Wu Zhu) are faintly visible on the right and left sides in Chinese characters.

From the late Eastern Han period to the brief reunification of the central plains by the Jin royal family, the political turmoil significantly reduced the supply and quality of currency. Additionally, the Jin government’s policy of laissez-faire allowed private individuals, particularly local power brokers, to mint low-quality coins that circulated in the market. Among the most famous of these were the Wu Zhu coins privately minted by the Wuxing elite, specifically Shen Chong.

In his youth, Shen Chong was a notorious troublemaker in his village. However, his interest in military strategy allowed him to organise his own gang. Shortly thereafter, he began to engage in the illicit minting of coins, leveraging his family’s ancestral property. This was particularly significant during the period when large numbers of immigrants from the north, fleeing the Yongjia disaster and the invasions by the Xiongnu, migrated south with the Jin imperial family. Supported by General Wang Dun, Shen Chong took advantage of this situation by reducing the weight of the coins to expedite their production. As a result, he quickly became one of the wealthiest and most influential power brokers in the region.

However, in AD 322, Shen Chong’s political protector, Wang Dun, led a failed rebellion. Shen Chong, who had supported the uprising, was killed by his subordinate, Wu Ru, while fleeing. Before his death, Shen Chong swore a vengeful oath to Wu Ru, promising that his descendants would ensure the extermination of the Wu family. True to his father’s dying words, Shen Chong’s son, Shen Jin, later avenged him by slaughtering Wu Ru’s entire family.

After Shen Chong’s death, most of the Wu Zhu coins he minted were collected and recast by the public to be repurposed for copperware. However, these coins, known as “Shen Lang coins”, became a source of inspiration for later poets. For example, the Tang Dynasty poet Li Shangyin, in his work “Jiangdong”, wrote the line “謝家輕絮沈郎錢,” vividly describing the lightness of the Shen Lang coins, comparing their weight to the delicate and airy quality of willow catkins.

物件編號: A1544

年代: 公元 318-321 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 19.2 x 18.8 x 0.7 mm

重量: 1.1 g

來源: 大城郵幣社 2014

這是一枚公元318至321年間,東晉第一位皇帝晉元帝統治期間,吳興(今 浙江湖州) 出身的豪族沈充私自鑄造的五銖錢,又被稱作「沈郎錢」。

沈充五銖的外觀為方孔錢,由於含鉛和錫的成分較高,故呈現為灰白色。錢幣正面帶有紅色包漿,右邊和左邊依稀能看到漢字「五銖」兩字。

自東漢末年至晉王室短暫統一中原之際,由於政治局勢混亂使得貨幣的供給和品質大幅縮水。加上晉王室採取放任無為的態度,使得民間豪強私自鑄造的劣質錢幣在市場流通,吳興豪強沈充私自鑄造的五銖錢就是最為知名的代表。

沈充年少時是橫行鄉里的無賴,但是好讀兵書使他得以組織自身的幫會,不久便利用自身的祖產從事錢幣私鑄,尤其時值北方大量的移民隨著晉王室南遷躲避永嘉之禍以來胡人的侵擾,得到將軍王敦支持的沈充更以減重的方式加快錢幣的鑄造,使他很快成為富甲一方的大豪強。

然而公元322年,沈充在朝廷的靠山王敦發動叛變失敗,響應叛亂的沈充也在逃亡途中遭到部屬吳儒殺害。沈充在臨死之前向吳儒發毒誓,他的後人必定要讓吳家滅族。而逃過死劫的沈充之子沈勁,日後果真實踐父親的遺言將吳儒一家殺害。

沈充鑄造的五銖錢在他死後,多半被民間回收重新鑄熔為銅器再利用。但是這些錢幣也以「沈郎錢」的稱號,成為後世詩人的創作靈感,例如唐朝詩人李商隱在作品〈江東〉就寫下「謝家輕絮沈郎錢」一句,生動描述沈郎錢的重量就像柳絮一般輕薄的特性。

類似/相同物件 請看:

臺灣 國立歷史博物館 National Museum of History

https://collections.culture.tw/nmh_collectionsweb/collection.aspx?GID=MSM8MDM6MXM2

中國 天水市博物館 Tianshui Museum

更多相關訊息請參考:

蔡養吾,《中國古錢講話附古錢餘話》(台北市:淑馨出版社,1999)

高英民,《中國古代錢幣》(北京市:學苑出版社,2007)

陳雨露、楊棟,《中國金融大歷史:從西周封建經濟到唐朝盛世真相》(台北市:野人文化出版社,2020)

王永生,《鑄幣三千年:50枚錢幣串聯的極簡中國史》(台北市:聯經出版社,2024)

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