Item number: A3774

Reference number: DCD#173

Year: AD 579-582

Material: Bronze

Size: 23.5 x 23.2 mm

Weight: 4.2 g

Provenance:

1. Spink 2023

2. Dr. Werner Klaus Burger Collection

This coin is the Taihuo Liuzhu (“Great Currency, Six Zhu”), first cast in the eleventh year of the Taijian era of Emperor Xuan of the Chen dynasty (AD 579) and issued until the emperor’s death.

In form, it follows the traditional Han cultural-sphere type of a round coin with a square central perforation. Both obverse and reverse possess complete outer rims and inner borders. The obverse bears the inscription Taihuo Liuzhu engraved in yu zhu seal script, read vertically from top to bottom and horizontally from right to left. Yu zhu seal script derives from Qin seal script and is so named for its rounded strokes and even thickness, and is typically written in a rectangular form. The character liu (six) resembles a human figure standing with legs apart and hands on the hips, and apocryphal interpretations accordingly arose describing it as “standing akimbo and weeping for the Son of Heaven.” Coupled with the fact that Emperor Xuan of the Chen dynasty died within less than three years, and that his successor Chen Shubao proved incompetent and morally deficient, the Taihuo Liuzhu came to be regarded as one of the most notorious inauspicious coins. The calligraphic strokes are comparatively irregular, a variety referred to as the “coarsely executed script” type (zi cu lü ban). The reverse is plain and uninscribed.

Chen Baxian proclaimed himself emperor in the second year of the Taiping era of the Liang dynasty (AD 557), founding the Chen dynasty. In its early years, the Chen regime made mixed use of coins from previous dynasties alongside privately cast issues such as the so-called “Goose-Eye” coins, while grain and textiles also functioned as media of exchange. It was not until the reign of Emperor Wen of Chen, Chen Qian—the nephew of Chen Baxian—that new coinage was introduced. As recorded in the Basic Annals of Emperor Wen in the Book of Chen: “In the intercalary second month of the third year of the Tianjia era, on the day jiazi, the five-zhu coinage was recast.” The Treatise on Food and Money in the Book of Sui likewise states: “When first issued, one was worth ten Goose-Eye coins.” Goose-Eye coins circulated in both the Northern and Southern Dynasties and were so named because of their small diameter, wide perforation, thin flan, and hollow appearance resembling a goose’s eye. Although the authorities periodically attempted to prohibit them, such measures ultimately proved ineffective. Emperor Wen’s reform of the coinage sought to stabilise the monetary system while also securing revenue from minting. During his reign, the economy remained stable; diligent governance and political clarity gradually restored state capacity after the devastation of the late Liang, earning the period the appellation “the Lesser Prosperity of the Tianjia era.”

After Chen Qian’s death, a child heir ascended the throne, with his uncle Chen Xiang acting as regent. Within less than three years he was deposed, becoming known as the Deposed Emperor of Chen, and Chen Xiang succeeded as Emperor Xuan. After his accession, Emperor Xuan suppressed internal disturbances and rebellions among frontier generals, and externally launched a northern campaign that advanced as far as Shouyang—a strategic city that had changed hands several times since the Liu Song—an episode known in history as the “Northern Expedition of the Taijian era.” In AD 577, however, after the Northern Zhou destroyed the Northern Qi, its forces marched southward, and the Chen dynasty again lost all its positions north of the Yangtze River.

In the eleventh year of the Taijian era (AD 579), perhaps in order to make up for military expenditures, Emperor Xuan issued the Taihuo Liuzhu. Although its weight approximated that of the five-zhu coin, one Taihuo Liuzhu was officially rated as equal to ten Tianjia five-zhu coins. This provoked widespread popular resentment, and apocryphal sayings circulated to the effect that “the Taihuo Liuzhu coin stands akimbo and weeps for the Son of Heaven.” The valuation was soon revised so that one Taihuo Liuzhu equalled a single Tianjia five-zhu coin. Not long thereafter Emperor Xuan died, which many contemporaries regarded as a fulfilment of the prophecy. After the accession of the Last Emperor of Chen, the coin was apparently deemed inauspicious and abolished, with the five-zhu coinage restored. In the third year of the Zhenming era of Chen, corresponding to the ninth year of the Kaihuang era of the Sui (AD 589), Sui forces entered Jiankang, the Last Emperor of Chen was captured, and the Southern Dynasties came to an end.

Werner Klaus Burger (AD 1936–2021), a German numismatist, was renowned for his pioneering research on Qing dynasty coinage. Born in Munich, he completed his studies in Sinology at the University of Munich in AD 1962. In 1963, he went to teach German at Fudan University in Shanghai. However, during the Cultural Revolution in 1965, after the closure of academic institutions, he was reassigned to tend sheep in Suzhou. Subsequently, he relocated to Hong Kong, where he devoted himself entirely to numismatic research. In AD 1974, he completed the first doctoral dissertation on Chinese numismatics, which was later expanded into his magnum opus, Ch’ing Cash, a chronologically organised catalogue of Qing dynasty coinage. His collection encompassed a comprehensive range of Qing coins and related archival materials. Burger passed away in Hong Kong in 2021 at the age of 85. His contributions to the field of numismatics remain profoundly influential.

物件編號: A2057

參考書目編號: DCD#173

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 23.5 x 23.2 mm

重量: 4.2 g

來源:

1. 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

2. 布威納博士舊藏

此錢為「太貨六銖」，於南朝陳宣帝太建十一年(公元579年)始鑄，鑄行至宣帝崩。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統的方孔圓錢。正背面外輪內廓俱全。正面錢文為以玉箸篆鐫銘的「太貨六銖」，由上而下，由右至左對讀。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。「六」字似一人開腿站立叉腰，時有讖緯言此為「叉腰哭天子」，加以陳宣帝不出三年而崩，繼位的陳叔寶又無才無德，使「太貨六銖」成為著名的凶錢之一。字體筆劃較不規整，稱「字粗率版」。錢背光素無文。

陳霸先於梁太平二年(公元557年)代梁稱帝。陳初雜用前朝貨幣與私鑄錢，如鵝眼錢等，兼以穀帛為用。直至陳霸先侄，陳文帝陳蒨改鑄新錢，如《陳書·世祖本紀》載：「天嘉三年閏二月甲子，改鑄五銖錢。」《隋書·食貨志》亦載：「初出，一當鵝眼之十。」鵝眼錢於南北朝皆有流通，以其小徑廣穿薄肉，空洞似鵝眼，因而得名。官府時禁時縱，終不能止。陳文帝改鑄新幣以穩定貨幣，同時也收鑄幣之利。其在位期間經濟穩定，勵精圖治，政治清明，逐漸恢復梁末大亂以來衰落的國力，故有「天嘉小康」之譽。

陳蒨死後，太子幼主即位，以其叔父陳項攝政。不及三年，被廢，是為陳廢帝。陳項代之即位，是為陳宣帝。宣帝即位後，內平內患及邊將叛亂，外則一度北伐，攻至自劉宋起便幾度易手的壽陽，史稱「太建北伐」。但公元577年，北周滅北齊後揮師向南，陳朝於長江以北的全部據點又復失守。

太建十一年(公元579年)，或許是為了彌補軍資，宣帝鑄行「太貨六銖」，重量近五銖，卻以一「太貨六銖」當「天嘉五銖」十。因此民怨沸騰，而有讖緯言「太貨六銖錢，叉腰哭天子」，不久改為當一「天嘉五銖」。但宣帝不久後駕崩，民多認為應驗。陳後主即位後，或因此錢不祥而廢，復行五銖錢。陳禎明三年，即隋開皇九年，公元589年，隋軍攻入建康，陳後主遭俘，南朝滅亡。

布威納(Werner Klaus Burger，生卒年公元1936-2021年），德國錢幣學家，以研究清代中國錢幣聞名。他生於德國慕尼黑，公元1962年於慕尼黑大學完成漢學學業，公元1963年赴上海復旦大學教授德語。公元1965年，因文化大革命學校關閉，被派往蘇州牧羊。因此移居香港，專注錢幣學研究，最終於公元1974年完成中國錢幣學首篇博士論文，後增補為其代表作《清錢編年譜》(Ch’ing Cash)。其收藏涵蓋清代錢幣及相關文獻。布威納於2021年在香港逝世，享年85歲，其對錢幣學的貢獻影響深遠。