Item number: A3857

Year: AD 1158-1161

Material: Bronze

Size: 23.9 x 23.8 x 0.7 mm

Weight: 3.35 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This is a Zhenglong Yuanbao reign-title coin issued under Hailingwang of the Jin dynasty.

The coin conforms to the traditional square-holed round format of the Sinosphere. The obverse inscription, Zhenglong Yuanbao, is written in regular script and read from the top and proceeding clockwise. In the character zheng, the final two strokes are joined into a single stroke; the lines are clearly cut and form a right angle of approximately ninety degrees. The calligraphy is relatively bold. The coin surface appears to bear traces of an additional inscription, the upper part resembling the character yuan, which suggests either re-engraving or private casting.

Hailingwang, personal name Wanyan Liang, Jurchen name Digunai, was a grandson of Emperor Taizu of Jin, Wanyan Aguda, and a paternal cousin of Emperor Xizong, Wanyan Dan. From an early age he was well versed in classical Chinese texts and thoroughly familiar with the bureaucratic institutions of the Central Plains, while also remaining conversant with Jurchen traditions. His ability to move flexibly between these two cultural and political systems became particularly evident in the direction of his later policies.

In the latter years of Xizong’s reign, tensions between imperial authority and the imperial clan intensified, and court politics grew increasingly unstable. Against this background, Wanyan Liang gradually allied himself with close-attendant military officers and segments of the marginalised imperial clan, and in AD 1149 (the second year of the Tiande era) he launched a coup, assassinated Xizong, and seized the throne. This action was driven both by resentment over political pressure exerted by the imperial clan and by his own personal ambition.

After ascending the throne, Hailingwang swiftly undertook a thorough restructuring of the Jin political system. On the one hand, he carried out large-scale executions of imperial clansmen, weakening the collective counterbalancing power of the Jurchen aristocracy rooted in the traditional “consensual deliberation” system, and enforcing stringent centralisation. On the other hand, he strengthened the Shangshu Sheng and Zhongshu administrative apparatus, promoted civil officials proficient in Chinese law and institutions, and reorganised the civil service examination system, seeking to reconstruct imperial legitimacy and administrative efficiency along the lines of a Central Plains dynasty.

In AD 1153 (the first year of the Zhenyuan era), the capital was formally relocated to Yanjing and renamed Zhongdu. This move aimed not only to enhance effective control over the Chinese heartland but also to prevent direct interference in court politics by the Jurchen homeland. Following the relocation, in AD 1156 (the first year of the Zhenglong era), Wanyan Liang further reformed the central bureaucracy: the Zhongshu and Menxia Secretariats were abolished, leaving the Shangshu Sheng as the sole central administrative organ, closely modelled on the Northern Song Yuanfeng reforms. At the same time, the xingtai administrations were abolished, and the combined civil-military powers of local authorities with de facto separatist tendencies were brought back under direct central control.

In AD 1157 (the second year of Zhenglong), discussions on minting coinage commenced, and the export of copper was prohibited. In AD 1158 (the third year of Zhenglong), the Baoyuan and Baofeng mints were established in Zhongdu, while the Liyong Mint was set up in Jingzhao (modern Xi’an). Craftsmen, technologies, and equipment previously taken from the Northern Song were concentrated there, and large-scale coin casting began, marking the first such endeavour in Jin history. From the outset, the coin inscriptions were described as “lofty and well ordered,” surpassing even the small cash coins of the Song dynasty.

During the Zhenglong era, Wanyan Liang also initiated the construction of Bianjing in preparation for a southern campaign. This was intended both to contest political legitimacy through external expansion and to suppress internal opposition by means of military achievement, thereby completing political integration. However, the enormous mobilisation of labour, extravagant expenditure, and his obstinate, autocratic rule—marked by frequent executions carried out in public—provoked resistance among the Khitan population. In the fifth month of AD 1161 (the sixth year of Zhenglong), a Khitan uprising led by Saba and others broke out. In the ninth month of the same year, while suppressing internal unrest, Wanyan Liang simultaneously launched a southern invasion. After multiple Jin armies suffered setbacks at the front, the Khitan revolt further stimulated resistance among both Jurchen and Han populations. That same month, Wulu, Military Commissioner of the Eastern Capital (modern Liaoning), gathered deserters from the front and rose in rebellion, an event known as the “Eastern Capital Mutiny.”

物件編號: A3857

年代: 公元 1158-1161 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 23.9 x 23.8 x 0.7 mm

重量: 3.35 g

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是一枚金朝海陵王所鑄行之「正隆元寶」年號錢。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統之方孔圓錢。錢面錢文楷書「正隆元寶」，自上而右旋讀。正字的最後兩筆連寫成一筆，筆畫清晰，呈九十度直角。字體較粗，錢幕似另有錢文，上者近「元」，疑為改刻或私鑄。

海陵王完顏亮，女真名迪古乃，為金太祖完顏阿骨打之孫、金熙宗完顏亶之堂弟。他自青年時期即通曉漢文典籍，熟悉中原官僚制度，並能在女真舊俗與漢制之間靈活切換，這一點在後來的施政方向上表現得尤為明顯。

熙宗在位後期，皇權與宗室之間矛盾日深，朝廷政治逐漸動盪。完顏亮正是在此背景下，逐步結合近侍武臣與部分被排擠的宗室力量，於天德二年(公元1149年)發動政變，弒熙宗而自立。原因既有對宗室的政治壓迫，亦有其個人的野心。

即位後的海陵王，迅速展開對金朝政治結構的重塑。一方面，他大規模誅殺宗室成員，削弱女真貴族的在「共議制」傳統中的集體制衡力量，厲行中央集權；另一方面，則強化尚書省與中書體系，重用熟悉漢法的文臣，並整頓科舉制度，試圖以中原王朝模式重建皇權的合法性與行政效率。

貞元元年(公元1153年)正式遷都燕京、改稱中都。既是為了增進對漢地的有效統治，也是為了使女真本部無法輕易干涉朝政。遷都後，於正隆元年(公元1156年)，完顏亮進一步改革中央官制，罷中書、門下省，獨設尚書省，近北宋元豐改制。同時，罷廢行臺，將地方軍政一體，有割據之實的權力重歸中央控制。

正隆二年(公元1157年)，始議鼓鑄，並禁銅外流。正隆三年(公元1158年)，於中都設寶源監、寶豐監，於京兆(今西安)設利用監，集於北宋所掠之工匠、技術、器械，開始鑄錢，為金朝首度大規模鑄錢。初鑄便「字文峻整」，比之宋小平錢猶有過之。

正隆年間，完顏亮著手營建汴京，預備南攻。既是爭奪正統，對外擴張，也是完顏亮試圖透過軍功，壓制內部反對力量、完成政治整合的手段。然而其大役民力，奢侈無算，加以其一意孤行，動輒戮市的暴虐，反而激起契丹人的反抗。正隆六年(公元1161年)五月，契丹人撒八等起義，同年九月，完顏亮一邊對內鎮壓，一邊發動南侵。多路金軍於前線受挫後，契丹人的舉事進一步激發了女真人與漢人的反抗。同月，東京留守(即今遼寧)烏祿收攏前線逃兵起事，是為「東京兵變」。

正隆六年(公元1161年)十一月，由於南宋中書舍人虞允文指揮得當，金軍於水戰中進一步受挫，完顏亮以嚴刑峻法驅逼，軍士多有不滿，後為將帥亂箭弒於揚州帳中，其政權亦隨之瓦解。由率領女真貴族行「東京兵變」的烏祿繼位，是為金世宗。金世宗先是降封完顏亮為海陵郡王，又諡其為「煬」，是故史稱「海陵王」。其史籍中的惡名一方面來自其推動改革，窮兵黷武的暴虐手段；一方面來自重新掌握政權的女真貴族及金世宗對其的汙名。