Item number: A3452

Year: AD 1678

Material: Brass

Size: 24.3 x 24.5 x 0.6 mm

Weight: 2.4 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This coin is a contemporary imitation of the Zhaowu tongbao small cash coins cast by Wu Sangui, Emperor of the Wu Zhou regime, in the seventeenth year of the Kangxi reign (AD 1678), when he adopted the reign title Zhaowu. It was likely produced either in Vietnam or by private furnaces within Qing territory.

The obverse inscription Zhaowu tongbao is written in regular script, arranged vertically and read from right to left. In the character zhao, the lower horizontal stroke of the ri component is raised, a feature known as xiati ri (“lower-lifted ri”), while the dao component is written in the abbreviated form 々, producing what collectors term the “rhombic-headed zhao”. In the character bao, the fou radical appears in the variant form 尔, yielding 寳. The calligraphic style and fabric resemble those of the Yongding tongbao, a coin inscribed with a Tang-style Kaiyuan tongbao legend and attributed to Mạc Tuyên Tông (Mạc Phúc Nguyên) of the Mạc dynasty in Vietnam; for this reason the present piece is described as exhibiting a “Kaiyuan hand”, and it is also referred to by some as a “separate-furnace Cảnh Hưng hand”. The metal has a greyish tone, possibly due to a relatively high lead content.

The reverse is plain and uninscribed, with low relief around the rim and an almost featureless surface.

Wu Sangui (AD 1612–1678), originally a prominent Ming general stationed in Liaodong, later facilitated the Qing entry through Shanhai Pass, aiding in the defeat of Li Zicheng’s forces, and subsequently surrendered to the Qing court. He was enfeoffed as the Prince of Pingxi and tasked with governing Yunnan. To stabilise the southwest, the early Qing established the Three Feudatories system, granting Wu Sangui, Shang Kexi, and Geng Jingzhong significant military, administrative, and fiscal autonomy as feudatory princes. However, the growing power of the feudatories posed a threat to the central Qing authority. In the early Kangxi period, the Qing court resolved to abolish the feudatories, prompting Wu Sangui to launch the Revolt of the Three Feudatories in AD 1673 under the banner of “opposing the Qing and restoring the Ming.” In AD 1677, as the revolt faltered, Geng Jingzhong and Shang Kexi surrendered to the Qing. In AD 1678, to bolster morale, Wu Sangui proclaimed himself Emperor, establishing the Wu Zhou regime with the era name Zhaowu and designating Hengzhou as its capital. Despite its claim to restore the Ming, the Wu Zhou regime was primarily centred on the Wu family, relying on military control and coin minting to sustain its finances. Wu Sangui died later that year, succeeded by his grandson Wu Shifan, but the regime rapidly collapsed, extinguished by Qing forces in AD 1681. Wu Sangui and the Wu Zhou regime remain controversial in historical discourse, viewed alternately as symbols of rebellion or as figures of transitional significance.

Mạc Tuyên Tông (Mạc Phúc Nguyên), who reigned from AD 1546 to 1564 as the fourth emperor of the Mạc dynasty, ascended the throne at a time when the court was weakened by conflicts among powerful regional figures manipulating members of the royal clan in contests for succession. The subsequent period was marked by the sustained northern offensives of the Lê–Trịnh forces and the progressive decline of Mạc authority. By this time the dynasty’s effective control had contracted severely, being largely confined to Thăng Long (present-day areas of the Red River Delta in northern Vietnam). The court depended upon military commanders, fortified positions and geographic barriers to resist the persistent advances of the Trịnh. During his reign, Mạc Phúc Nguyên sought to consolidate the regime, stabilise the localities and adjust military dispositions, maintaining a prolonged stalemate with the Lê–Trịnh coalition, before dying of smallpox. After the fall of the Mạc dynasty at Thăng Long in AD 1592, its remnants withdrew to Cao Bằng, managing to persist for some time by relying on intermittent intervention from the Ming and Qing courts, until they were finally extinguished by the Trịnh in AD 1677.

物件編號: A3452

年代: 公元 1678 年

材質: 黃銅

尺寸: 24.3 x 24.5 x 0.6 mm

重量: 2.4 g

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

此錢仿鑄吳周皇帝吳三桂於康熙十七年(公元1678年)，建元昭武時所鑄之「昭武通寶」小平錢。可能為越南或清朝民間私爐所仿鑄。

錢面錢文為「昭武通寶」楷書，由上至下、由右至左對讀。「昭」字「日」旁下橫劃上提，稱「下提日」，「刀」旁寫為「々」，取形稱「菱頭召」；「寶」字「缶」旁從「尔」，呈「寳」。錢文風格與材質類似越南莫朝宣宗莫福源仿唐「開元通寶」錢文所仿鑄之「永定通寶」，故稱「開元手」，也有稱「別爐景興手」者。銅色泛灰，可能是因為較高的鉛含量。

錢幕錢穿光素無文，輪廓低矮，幾近光背。

吳三桂(公元1612–1678年)，原為明末遼東駐防大將，後於山海關開關引清兵入關，協助清軍攻滅李自成，遂降清廷，得封平西王，鎮守雲南。清初為穩定西南，設三藩制，分別封吳三桂、尚可喜、耿精忠為藩王，給予其軍政自主與稅收特權。然三藩勢力日益坐大，構成對中央政權之威脅。康熙初年，清廷決意撤藩，吳三桂遂於公元1673年以「反清復明」為號召起兵，發動三藩之亂。公元1677年，因戰事不利，耿、尚氏先後降清。公元1678年，吳三桂為振奮軍心，自立為帝，建號「周」，年號昭武，定都衡州，史稱吳周政權。吳周政權雖號稱復明，實則以吳氏家族為核心，以軍事控制地方、鑄行錢幣以支撐財政。吳三桂於同年病逝，其孫吳世璠繼位，但政權迅速敗退，至公元1681年為清軍所滅。吳三桂及吳周政權被後世視為亂臣逆子或時代過渡的象徵，頗具爭議。

莫宣宗莫福源(Mạc Tuyên Tông, Mạc Phúc Nguyên)，於公元1546至1564年間在位，為莫朝第四位皇帝。甫繼位便遭遇地方權臣挾皇族爭位，令末朝元氣大傷。加以黎鄭聯軍持續北伐、莫朝國勢日漸衰弱的情勢下。當時莫朝的實際控制範圍已大幅縮減至昇龍(今越北紅河三角洲部分地區)，朝廷需倚賴武臣、防守據點與地理屏障以抵禦鄭氏勢力的步步進逼。莫福源在位期間致力鞏固政權、安撫地方與調整軍事部署，與黎鄭聯軍形成僵持，後感染天花病逝。

莫朝於公元1592年滅亡後，北遷至高平，依託明、清政權的不時介入，直至公元1677年才為後黎朝鄭主所滅亡。