Item number: M459-2

Year: AD 1843

Material: Silver

Provenance: J. Collins Medal 2025

This is a miniature China War Medal, intended for wear with civilian formal dress (for example, evening dress with tailcoat).

The obverse bears a left-facing portrait of Queen Victoria, with her hair arranged in a chignon bound by two fillets and a curl falling from the knot. At the hairline she wears the front portion of the George IV State Diadem, the remainder omitted through artistic convention. The portrait follows the same design lineage as William Wyon’s commemorative medal of AD 1837 for Queen Victoria’s accession, itself inspired by Canova’s Fountain Nymph. At the neckline appears “W. WYON · RA”, identifying Wyon as Chief Engraver of the Royal Mint. Around the portrait is the legend “VICTORIA REGINA”, meaning “Queen Victoria”.

The reverse shows a palm tree, beneath which stands a shield bearing the royal arms of the United Kingdom. The three lions passant guardant in the upper left and lower right quarters represent England; the lion rampant with surrounding fleurs-de-lis in the upper right represents Scotland; and the harp represents Ireland. Around the shield is a pile of military equipment, including cannon, cannonballs, flags, firearms, an anchor, drums, and swords. It is noteworthy that William Wyon’s original trial reverse design depicted a British lion trampling a Chinese dragon, but the British government judged this imagery excessively offensive to China and ultimately adopted the more neutral composition of stacked armaments. Around the upper edge is the inscription “ARMIS EXPOSCERE PACIM”, meaning “To demand peace by force of arms”. Below, separated by a horizontal line indicating the ground, a rectangular panel bears the word “CHINA”, identifying the medal as the China War Medal.

The ribbon consists of alternating red and yellow stripes, with a broad red central band flanked by narrower yellow edges. This ribbon is specific to the China War Medal and encompasses the two Opium Wars as well as the campaign of the Eight-Nation Alliance.

The First Opium War broke out in AD 1840 and concluded in AD 1842 with the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing. The immediate trigger lay in AD 1838, when the Daoguang Emperor appointed the Imperial Commissioner Lin Zexu to suppress the opium trade in Guangzhou. Upon taking office, Lin ordered the destruction at Humen of more than 20,000 chests of British-imported opium. This action provoked British dissatisfaction, which was used as a pretext for launching military operations against the Qing dynasty in AD 1840, culminating in British victory in AD 1842.

The Treaty of Nanjing, concluded after the First Opium War, was the first of the unequal treaties in modern Chinese history and plunged the Qing empire into a semi-colonial condition. China lost judicial and tariff autonomy, granted unilateral most-favoured-nation status and extraterritorial rights to the Western powers, established treaty ports and concessions, and opened the five ports of Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Fuzhou, and Guangzhou to foreign trade.

In AD 1843, the British government instituted the China War Medal to reward those who had rendered meritorious service during the First Opium War. The same medal design continued in use during the Second Opium War, although six additional clasps were authorised for that later conflict. After the campaign of the Eight-Nation Alliance, Britain established a new China War Medal, which retained the reverse design and ribbon of the earlier issues, while altering only the portrait of Queen Victoria and the upper legend on the obverse.

物件編號: M459-2

年代: 公元 1843 年

材質: 銀

來源: 克林獎章 2025

這是一枚中國戰爭獎章的迷你版，用以著非軍服正裝(例如燕尾服)時配戴。

獎章正面為維多利亞女王的左側肖像，頭髮以兩條髮帶(fillet)束成髮髻，一縷捲髮自髮髻垂落。前額髮際處以佩戴髮箍的方式佩戴喬治四世登基典禮所戴之喬治四世國冠(George IV State Diadem)的前半部，後半部因藝術化處理而消失。肖像設計延續了設計者威廉·威恩(William Wyon)於公元1837年為維多利亞女王登基而創作的紀念獎章，參考安東尼奧·卡諾瓦(Antonio Canova)的《噴泉仙女》(Fountain Nymph)雕像而製成。肖像頸線處有「W.WYON· RA」，標示設計者為當時皇家鑄幣廠首席雕刻師威廉·威恩。肖像左右環列「VICTORIA REGINA」，意即「維多利亞女王」。

背面為有一棵棕櫚樹，樹下有一面盾牌，上為英國皇家的紋章，左上與右下各一組三隻撲擊的獅子，代表英格蘭；右上躍立的獅子與圍繞獅子的百合紋飾，代表蘇格蘭；豎琴則代表愛爾蘭。盾牌周圍堆疊著火炮、炮彈、旗幟、槍械、船錨、軍鼓、軍刀等各種軍械。值得一提的是，威廉·威恩所設計之原試鑄樣章背圖為一隻象徵英國的獅子踐踏一條象徵中國的龍。但是英國政府考量這個圖像太過冒犯中國，最終決定使用以兵械堆作為意象的版本。上方環列「ARMIS EXPOSCERE PACIM」，意即「以武力求取和平」。下方以橫線作為地面相隔，橫線下方的長方形區塊中「CHINA」標示獎章為中國戰爭獎章。

綬帶形制為紅、黃色帶相間，以紅色色帶為主體，兩側鑲有較細的黃色色帶。該綬帶為中國戰爭獎章的專用綬帶，包含兩次鴉片戰爭和八國聯軍之役。

第一次鴉片戰爭發生於公元1840年，並於公元1842年以簽訂《南京條約》告終。導火線為公元1838年，道光皇帝特派欽差大臣林則徐前往廣州禁煙。林則徐到任後，隨即於虎門銷毀英國進口鴉片2萬餘箱。此舉引來英國不滿，並以此為藉口，於公元1840年對清朝發起軍事行動，最終在公元1842年取得勝利。

第一次鴉片戰爭後所簽訂的《南京條約》，是中國近代史上第一個不平等條約，使清朝陷入半殖民的局面。中國自此喪失領事裁判權、關稅自主權，同時給予列強片面最惠國待遇、設立租界等權益，並開放上海、寧波、廈門、福州、廣州五個港口。

公元1843年，英國政府頒布這面中國戰爭獎章，以獎勵第一次鴉片戰爭期間有功的軍士。而這面獎章的形制沿用至第二次鴉片戰爭，惟第二次鴉片戰爭所授予的中國戰爭獎章還增加了6種銘條。八國聯軍後，英國又設立新的中國戰爭獎章，這面獎章背面的形式、綬帶仍沿用前兩次所頒布的戰爭獎章，唯獨正面維多利亞女王像和上緣字樣有所更易。