Item number: A3788

Reference number: DCD#77

Year: AD 1149-1169

Material: Iron

Size: 23.1 x 22.9 x 1.5 mm

Weight: 3.2 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This is an iron Tiansheng Yuanbao coin cast during the Tiansheng reign by Emperor Renzong of Western Xia, Li Renxiao.

The obverse bears the regular-script inscription “Tiansheng Yuanbao”, read in rotation. Below the square perforation, slightly toward the lower left, appears a large dot, a feature known as the “left star below the hole”.

According to the Revised and Newly Promulgated Statutes and Ordinances of the Tiansheng Reign (Tiansheng gai jiu xin ding lüling), the circulation of iron coinage was restricted to the jurisdiction of the Southern Military Commission of Western Xia and was prohibited from entering the capital. In modern times, such coins have been unearthed primarily in the Hetao region of Inner Mongolia. Owing to the intensity of Mongol incursions and to neglect during the compilation of official histories in the Yuan period, relatively few historical sources concerning Western Xia have survived, and the precise territorial scope of the Southern Commission remains unclear. According to Song-dynasty sources, Western Xia began casting coinage with the establishment of the Tongji Supervisorate in the tenth year of the Tiansheng reign (1158 AD). In reality, coin production commenced considerably earlier; only after the creation of the Tongji Supervisorate did large-scale minting begin, and this institution appears to have focused primarily on copper coinage.

The Western Xia state was founded by Li Yuanhao of the Tangut Tuoba clan, who proclaimed himself emperor in the third year of the Daqing reign of Emperor Jingzong of Western Xia, corresponding to the fifth year of Jingyou of Emperor Renzong of the Northern Song, that is, 1038 AD. The capital, Xingling, was located in present-day Ningxia, and the regime established its own Tangut script and a comprehensive set of administrative institutions. Over time, Western Xia formed a tripartite balance of power with the two Song dynasties, the Liao, and the Jin. The dynasty lasted through ten emperors and endured for 190 years. Its last ruler, Li Xian, having failed to resist the Mongols, surrendered and was executed in the second year of the Baoyi reign (1227 AD). By as early as the Zhenguan reign of Emperor Chongzong, Western Xia had already established a unified system of laws and ordinances. In the early Tiansheng period, the Revised and Newly Promulgated Statutes and Ordinances of the Tiansheng Reign were issued, through which Emperor Renzong initially sought to reform existing practices, renew institutions, and preserve imperial authority. However, Allowing the Song defector Ren Dejing, then Vice Prefect of Xi’an Prefecture under Song rule, to present his daughter to the emperor, Ren Dejing subsequently entered the court and monopolised power. In the first year of the Qianyou reign (1170 AD), Ren Dejing’s attempt to partition territory and establish a separate state failed, and he was executed. Possibly out of concern over renewed military rebellion, Western Xia’s military preparedness gradually declined thereafter.

物件編號: A3788

參考書目編號: DCD#77

年代: 公元 1149-1169 年

材質: 鐵

尺寸: 23.1 x 22.9 x 1.5 mm

重量: 3.2 g

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是一枚由西夏仁宗李仁孝，於天盛年間所鑄之「天盛元寶」。

錢幣正面錢文為「天盛元寶」楷書，自上而右旋讀。外輪較寬，稱「闊輪」。「天」字撇劃遠短於捺劃，稱「斜天」。錢幕光素無文。

按《天盛改舊新定律令》，鐵錢的行用限於西夏南院軍司所在地，禁入京師。近代多於內蒙古河套地區出土。因蒙古侵攻猛烈，加以元代修史時的忽略，西夏史料存世較少。南院具體範圍亦不明。按宋方史料，西夏自天盛十年(公元1158年)置通濟監始鑄錢，實則遠早於此，只是置通濟監後始大量鑄錢，通濟監應以銅錢為主。

西夏為党項拓跋氏李元昊於西夏景宗大慶三年(北宋仁宗景祐五年)，即公元1038年，建國稱帝，首府興靈位於今寧夏。並制備西夏文與典章制度。先後與兩宋、遼、金成鼎足之勢。傳至末主李睍，不敵蒙古後，於寶義二年(公元1227年)投降見殺。歷十帝，享國一百九十年。西夏最晚於崇宗貞觀年間便已有統一的法度律令。天盛初年，頒《天盛改舊新定律令》，夏仁宗原欲革故鼎新，維皇權不墜，卻遇宋降夏之西安州通判任得敬獻女仁宗，入朝攬權。乾祐元年(公元1170年)，任得敬裂土分國失敗被誅。或因防備武臣再叛，此後西夏軍備漸漸廢弛。