Item number: A3953

Reference number: ANQP#102-3

Year: AD 1533-1802

Material: Bronze

Size: 22.8 x 22.9 x 0.6 mm

Weight: 2.35 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This is an Annamese imitation of the Tianxi Tongbao, originally a reign-title coin cast during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, the third emperor of the Northern Song dynasty, and named after the third reign title that he employed. Over the course of Zhao Heng’s twenty-four years on the throne, he successively used five reign titles.

In form, the coin is a traditional square-holed round cash coin of the Sinosphere. On the obverse appears the inscription Tianxi Tongbao (天禧通寶) in regular script, read in sequence from the top and then clockwise. The strokes are uneven in thickness, and the characters are askew. The reverse is plain and without inscription, and is almost entirely flat.

Like the Xianping-type imitation coinage based on the Xianping Tongbao, and the Chunxi-type imitation coinage based on the Chunxi Yuanbao, it is made of a similar dark brownish-black bronze. Likewise, the flan is relatively thin, the inscription is shallow, and the workmanship is crude. However, on the reverse of the Xianping-type coins, both the inner rim and the outer rim are finer, and the character bao (寶) is larger. These coins are often found mixed together with Qing cash. They may have been cast during the Restored Lê dynasty of Annam in roughly the same period, and are also suspected to have circulated on a limited scale in southern China as trade coinage.

Zhao Heng, Emperor Zhenzong of Song, was the third emperor of the Song dynasty and the son of Emperor Taizong, Zhao Jiong. He ascended the throne in the third year of the Zhi Dao era (AD 997) and reigned until the first year of the Qianxing era (AD 1022), a total of twenty-five years. During his reign, he successively employed the five reign titles Xianping, Jingde, Dazhong Xiangfu, Tianxi, and Qianxing. In the early part of his reign, Emperor Zhenzong broadly inherited the governing foundations established under Emperor Taizong. Politically, he placed considerable emphasis on civil governance and continued the Song policy of venerating Confucian learning and according high regard to the scholar-official class. During the first half of his reign, relations between the Northern Song and the Liao remained tense. In the first year of the Jingde era (AD 1004), Liao forces advanced southwards, and, at the urgent insistence of the chief councillor Kou Zhun, Emperor Zhenzong personally travelled to Chanzhou to supervise the war effort. The conflict ultimately ended with the conclusion of the Chanyuan Treaty between Song and Liao, after which the two states broadly maintained a long period of peace. Although this agreement secured peace through the payment of annual tribute, it also brought relative stability to the Northern Song’s northern frontier; nevertheless, Emperor Zhenzong gradually came to regard it as detrimental. In the middle and later years of his reign, he increasingly attached importance to auspicious omens, the feng and shan sacrifices, and Daoist notions of divine portents. Particularly during the Dazhong Xiangfu era, it was repeatedly proclaimed that heavenly texts had descended, grand court ceremonies were held, and the last fengshan sacrifice in Chinese history was performed. After Emperor Zhenzong’s death, his son Zhao Zhen succeeded to the throne as Emperor Renzong of Song.

During the Revival Lê Dynasty period, real power in northern Vietnam was held by the Trịnh lords, while the southern regions were controlled by the rival Nguyễn clan. This division gave rise to the prolonged conflict known as the Trịnh–Nguyễn War, often referred to by historians as Vietnam’s Southern and Northern Dynasties (Nam Bắc triều) period. The country remained politically fragmented for an extended time.

Despite the internal division, the Revival Lê Dynasty witnessed notable developments in culture, the arts, and the economy. Confucianism and the imperial examination system continued to flourish, contributing to what is considered one of the golden ages of Vietnamese cultural history.

In AD 1788, the Tây Sơn uprising overthrew the Lê regime, and the following year, Emperor Lê Chiêu Thống fled to Qing China. This marked the formal end of the Revival Lê Dynasty.

物件編號: A3953

參考書目編號: ANQP#102-3

年代: 公元 1533-1802 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 22.8 x 22.9 x 0.6 mm

重量: 2.35 g

來源: 斯賓客拍賣行 2023

這是安南仿鑄的「天禧通寶」，原為北宋的第三位皇帝宋真宗在位期間，以其使用的第三個年號所鑄造的年號錢。宋真宗趙恆在位的24年間，先後使用過五個年號。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統的方孔圓錢。錢幣正面錢文為楷書的「天禧通寶」，自上而右旋讀。筆劃粗細不一，字體歪斜。背面光素無文，近乎平夷。

以咸平通寶為基本型的咸平手，與以淳熙元寶為基本型的淳熙手幣材類似，為呈黑褐色的青銅，且同樣錢體較薄，文字平淺，工藝粗糙。但咸平手錢背的內廓與外輪均較細，且寶字較大。常與清錢混雜，可能為同時期安南的黎中興朝所鑄，疑亦於中國南方小範圍流通，用作貿易錢。

宋真宗趙恆，為宋朝第三位皇帝，宋太宗趙炅之子，於至道三年(公元997年)即位，在位至乾興元年(公元1022年)，共二十五年。其在位期間先後使用咸平、景德、大中祥符、天禧、乾興五個年號。宋真宗即位初期，大體承繼太宗以來的統治基礎，政治上重視文治，延續宋代崇尚儒學、優禮士大夫的國策。其統治前期，北宋與遼朝關係緊張，至景德元年(公元1004年)遼軍南下，真宗於宰相寇準力請下親至澶州督戰，最終與遼訂立「澶淵之盟」，此後宋遼大致維持長期和平局面。此盟雖以歲幣換取和平，然亦使北宋北境得以相對安定，但真宗逐漸視其為害。真宗朝中後期，日益重視符瑞、封禪與道教祥異之說。尤其大中祥符年間，多次宣稱天書降臨，舉行朝謁等盛典，並進行中國歷史上最後一次封禪。真宗逝後，其子趙禎即位，是為宋仁宗。

黎中興朝這一時期，鄭氏家族實際統治北越，南方則由阮氏政權控制，形成「鄭阮紛爭」，或稱「南北朝」局勢，國家處於長期分裂。儘管如此，黎中興朝在文化、藝術、經濟方面仍有一定發展，儒學、科舉制度繼續推行，成為越南文化的黃金時代之一。公元1788年西山起義軍推翻黎朝，次年黎昭統帝出逃清朝，黎中興朝宣告終結。