Item number: A3768

Year: AD 579-581

Material: Bronze

Size: 29.4 x 29.2 x 1.5 mm

Weight: 7.15 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This coin is a Yongtong Wanguo issue cast and circulated in the final years of the Northern Zhou. Its nominal value was equivalent to ten Wuxing Dabu coins; the Wuxing Dabu was valued at ten Buquan coins, and the Buquan in turn was valued at five Wuzhu coins.

The coin conforms to the traditional square-holed round form of the East Asian cultural sphere, with both obverse and reverse furnished with an outer rim and an inner border. The obverse bears the inscription Yongtong Wanguo, engraved in yuzhu seal script, read from top to bottom and from right to left. Yuzhu seal script derives from Qin seal script and is so named for its rounded strokes and even thickness, and it is often written in elongated rectangular forms. The reverse is plain and uninscribed, and the lines of the inner border are comparatively thick.

In the late Northern Wei, repeated external threats and unrest in the frontier garrisons enabled Erzhu Rong, who had repeatedly suppressed rebellions, to rise to power and to exercise arbitrary authority over imperial deposition and enthronement. After Erzhu Rong was lured and killed by the Wei emperor, his subordinate Gao Huan and Erzhu Rong’s son Erzhu Zhao competed for power. Gao Huan ultimately prevailed and installed Emperor Xiaowu. Dissatisfied with Gao Huan’s dominance, Emperor Xiaowu moved west to Chang’an and aligned himself with Yuwen Tai, who was based in the Guanzhong region and gradually formed an anti–Gao Huan power bloc. In response, Gao Huan established a separate eastern emperor, leading to the division between Eastern and Western Wei in AD 535. Following this split, Yuwen Tai progressively consolidated military and political authority. On the one hand, he relied on the former Wuchuan troops and Xianbei military traditions to establish the fubing system; on the other, he promoted the sinicisation of institutions, rebuilding the bureaucratic apparatus and ritual order. Although the Western Wei continued nominally to uphold emperors of the Yuan clan, real power had already become concentrated in the Yuwen group. In the third year of Emperor Gong of Western Wei (AD 557), Yuwen Tai’s son Yuwen Jue accepted abdication and proclaimed himself emperor, founding the Zhou dynasty, known in history as the Northern Zhou.

To maintain the effectiveness of the fubing forces in opposition to Northern Qi, Northern Zhou military expenditure was substantial. Emperor Wu, Yuwen Yong, first cast the Buquan, valued at five Western Wei Wuzhu coins. In AD 574, the Wuxing Dabu was issued, valued at ten Buquan coins. After Emperor Jing ascended the throne, the Yongtong Wanguo coin was cast and circulated in the first year of the Daxiang reign (AD 579), with a nominal value of ten Wuxing Dabu coins. After several rounds of inflation, although these measures “greatly extracted profits from merchants”, the ratio of weight to face value shows that the Yongtong Wanguo had been reduced to merely one one-hundred-and-sixty-sixth of the value of the original Wuzhu coin. This both provoked widespread private and illicit casting and led to its rejection by the market. In the Hexi region, the various commanderies used gold and silver coins from the Western Regions for trade, while elsewhere older coins may have been used alongside them, or silk textiles adopted as an alternative medium.

Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou, personal name Yuwen Chan, was the last emperor of the dynasty, reigning from AD 579 to 581. During his reign, real power was held by imperial relatives and senior ministers, above all the external relative Yang Jian. In the first year of the Dading reign (AD 581), Yang Jian effectively took control of the court under the pretext of acting as regent, subsequently compelling Emperor Jing to abdicate and establishing the Sui dynasty, bringing the Northern Zhou to an end.

物件編號: A3768

年代: 公元 579-581 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 29.4 x 29.2 x 1.5 mm

重量: 7.15 g

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是一枚北周末年所鑄行之「永通萬國」錢，當「五行大布」十枚。「五行大布」當「布泉」十枚，「布泉」 當「五銖」五枚。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統的方孔圓錢，面背外輪及內廓俱全。正面錢文為以玉箸篆鐫銘的「永通萬國」，自上而下，自右而左對讀。玉箸篆源於秦篆，因筆劃圓潤、肥瘦均勻而得名，多寫為長方形。錢幕光素無文，內廓線條稍粗。

北魏末年，外患與邊鎮變亂頻仍，使多次平亂的爾朱榮崛起，至擅行廢立。爾朱榮遭魏帝誘殺後，爾朱榮旗下高歡與爾朱榮之子爾朱兆相互爭權。高歡勝出後，立孝武帝。孝武帝因不滿高歡擅權，西遷長安，投靠以關中為中心，逐漸形成反高歡勢力的宇文泰。高歡因此另立東帝，東西魏於此分裂(公元535年)。宇文泰在東西魏分裂後逐步完成對軍政權力的整合，一方面倚重武川舊部與鮮卑軍事傳統，建立府兵制，另一方面推動制度漢化，重建官僚體系與禮制秩序。西魏名義上仍奉元氏皇帝，但實權已集中於宇文氏集團。至西魏恭帝三年(公元557年)，宇文泰之子宇文覺受禪稱帝，國號周，史稱北周。

為了府兵制戰力不墮，以與北齊對抗，北周軍事所費不貲。武帝宇文邕首鑄「布泉」，當西魏五銖五枚。公元574年又鑄「五行大布」，當「布泉」十枚。靜帝即位後，於大象元年(公元579年)鑄行「永通萬國」錢， 當「五行大布」十枚。經數次通貨膨脹後，雖「大收商賈之利」，但以重量和幣值的比例來看，「永通萬國」已減為原五銖錢的一百六十六分之一。一方面激起私鑄、盜鑄無數，一方面被市場棄用。河西各郡用西域金銀幣以作貿易，其他地方則可能雜用古錢，或改用絹帛。

北周靜帝，原名宇文闡，為北周末帝，於公元579至581年在位。其在位時，實權操於外戚與權臣之手，尤其是外戚楊堅。大定元年(公元581年)，楊堅以輔政之名實際控制朝廷，隨後迫使靜帝禪位，建立隋朝，北周正式滅亡。