Qin and Han coins occupy an important position in the history of Chinese coins. The coins of the Qin and Han Dynasties can be divided into three parts: half-liang coins, five-baht coins of the Han Dynasty, and Wang Mang coins. Banliang coins are divided into three stages according to the time of casting. Before Qin Shihuang unified the six kingdoms, they were called Qin Banliang. After the unification, they were called Qin Dynasty Banliang, and the Han Dynasty was called Han Banliang. Banliangqian has been in use for hundreds of years through the Qin and Han Dynasties, and has undergone several changes during this period. Throughout the ages, scholars have judged the category and era relationship of Banliangqian based on weight, size, calligraphy style, coin shape characteristics, etc., but if you want to think about it, It is not easy to strictly distinguish between pre-Qin banliang, Qin banliang and Han banliang.
The Han Dynasty inherited the system of the Qin Dynasty. In the early days, half a liang of money was still used, and the size and weight of the half liang of money were constantly explored, so that it could gradually achieve the purpose of being used by the people. In the fifth year of Yuanshou (118 BC), five baht coins were minted. From the fifth year of Yuanshou to the fourth year of Wude in the Tang Dynasty (621), this kind of "five baht" copper coins with money inscriptions were used for more than 700 years. They are the most popular currency in China. occupies an important position in history. The two-baht system coins and the later Tongbao system coins formed the two major monetary systems of Chinese coins. The short-lived coins of Wang Mang's new dynasty provided examples for later generations with their diversity, experimentation in commemorative coins and excellent casting.
One and a half taels of coins
The Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC) was the first unified authoritarian centralized regime in Chinese history. It was the Qin Dynasty during the Warring States Period. established on the basis of the country. Before the unification of the Qin Dynasty, most of the half-liang coins were round coins with round holes, and later changed to round coins with square holes. Coins were mostly minted by merchants to make huge profits. The casting of Qin Banliang in the Warring States Period began around the second year of King Huiwen of the Warring States Period (336 BC) before the "First Banking of Money". In the seventh year of Jian Gong (408 BC), with the development of production and the expansion of social division of labor, Shang Yang was appointed to carry out reforms in the seventh year of Xiangong (378 BC). In the 12th year of Xiaogong (350 BC), the capital was moved to Xianyang, and in the 14th year (348 BC), it was "first established as Fu". Renting is land rent in kind, and "fu" means that in addition to paying land rent in kind, farmers still have to pay the tax in currency. Craftsmen and merchants also paid taxes in currency. The "Qin Ji" appended to "Historical Records: The Chronicles of the First Emperor" records that King Huiwen "made money for the first time in the second year of his establishment." The records of the Qin State casting money in the history books are relatively late. "The first coinage" does not mean that the Qin State did not start casting money until King Huiwen. Qin's round coins appeared relatively late, but due to their superior shape and weight units such as qin and baht, coupled with the influence of Qin's national power, after being put on the market, they created favorable conditions for Qin to unify its currency system.
Yingzheng unified China in 221 BC, "using Qin's laws to be the same as the world's laws, and using Qin's coins to be the same as the world's coins." It was stipulated that gold should be used as the upper currency and copper coins as the lower currency, and the unit should be yi (twenty taels or twenty-four taels). All coins should be minted by the central government. For the first time, private minting by private parties was strictly prohibited. Sima Qian's "Historical Records Pingzhunshu": "As of the Qin Dynasty, the coins of a country were of the third grade. Gold was named yi, which was the upper coin; copper coins were named 'half liang', which was as heavy as its text, and it was the lower coin; and pearls, jade, turtles and shells were the lower coins. Silver and tin are treasures for ornaments, not coins. "Gold is mainly used for external rewards, gifts and large-scale transactions in the palace. Pearls, jade, turtle shells, silver and tin are the treasures of ornaments. This ended the chaotic situation of the Six Kingdoms period in which coins had complicated shapes, different characters, and units of varying weights. It established the basic coin shape of Chinese feudal society, unified the characters and shapes of coins, and the unification of coinage rights was directly beneficial to To improve the stability of the currency system, he consolidated and strengthened the country's right to mint and issue coins. The fact that Qin coins did not mint place names is a reflection of the concentration of minting rights. This kind of copper coin with a square hole and a round outside was used for more than 2,000 years until the early 20th century. It had a huge impact on Chinese currency and also affected Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Vietnam and other countries.
In addition, the Qin Dynasty also used physical currency-cloth while using coins. According to 1975, bamboo slips unearthed from the Qin Tomb in Suihudi, Yunmeng County, Hubei Province, among which the "Golden Cloth Rules" stated: "The cloth is eight feet wide, and the blessing (breadth) is two feet and five inches wide. The cloth is evil, and its breadth is not as wide as the style. no". The purpose of stipulating the length and width of each piece of cloth is to unify the standard and facilitate it as a means of circulation. The exchange rate between each piece of cloth and copper coins is also clearly stipulated in the "Golden Cloth Rules": "Twelve pieces of money are equivalent to one piece of cloth, and the money in and out is equivalent to gold cloth." That is to say, each piece of cloth can be equivalent to eleven copper coins. use. In order to prevent merchants from focusing on money but not cloth, or focusing on cloth but not money, the "Golden Rules" also stipulates: "Those who live in Jia City and officials in the government must not choose to trade money or cloth. Those who choose to trade money or cloth will be ranked in the ranks." If the officials follow the instructions without caution, they are all guilty." This means that there is no choice between the two means of circulation, money and cloth.
The shape of the coins of the Qin Dynasty is very political. The circle symbolizes the destiny of heaven, and the inner square represents the imperial power. The money is made into a circle outside and square inside, which symbolizes the rule of the world and the supremacy of imperial power. The "half tael" coin is so It also became a symbol of the "imperial power of destiny" in the Qin Dynasty. "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals: Wandao Pian": "The way of heaven is round and the way of earth is square. The sage kings follow it, so the world is established. Why is it said that the way of heaven is round? The essence is rising one by one, the circumference is complicated, and there is nothing to keep. Therefore, it is said that the way of heaven is round; why is it said that the way of heaven is round? When talking about the square of the earth, all the different types of things have their own duties and cannot interact with each other. Therefore, it is called the square of the earth. The master is the circle, and the ministers are the square. If the square is not easy to change, the country will be prosperous. "In the Qin Dynasty, twenty-four baht was one tael. , "Half Liang" means twelve baht, and these numbers are all six or multiples of six. It is no accident that so many six elements appear on Qin Banliang. "Six" is the number of water in Yin Yang and Five Elements, and is the embodiment of the ideological meaning of the ancient Yin Yang and Five Elements theory.
Some people think that the form of copper coins with a round outer surface and a square inner surface reflects the ancient cosmology of a round sky and a square place. It is not certain whether this view existed in the Qin Dynasty, but the form of round coins with square holes has been fixed for a long time since then, and there is an element of contingency in it. There is also its inevitability in the Qin Dynasty, because the Qin Dynasty had already used half a tael of copper coins during the Warring States Period. Because the round coins were easy to carry and the square holes were convenient for filing, they were continued to be used for a long time. Qin Banliang became the prescribed model for making money in China, and it also marked that China's metal currency entered a new period in which the weight name and currency name were unified to record the currency. This was an advanced form of metal coinage at the time.
(1) Pre-Qin Banliang
"Historical Records: Records of the First Emperor of Qin" records: In the second year of King Huiwen of Qin (336 BC), "money was first introduced". Qin established cities very early. After that, after three hundred years, the number of cities gradually increased. In the seventh year of Xiangong's reign, the system was issued and "it was first implemented as a market". Qin County was founded in the Spring and Autumn Period. After entering the Warring States Period, they were continuously added. The "Chronology of the Six Kingdoms" records that "Xiaoyi was initially taken as thirty-one counties"; a year later, in the 13th year of Xiaogong, the system was issued: "It was initially a county with ordered officials." "Chronology of the Six Kingdoms" records: In the twelfth year of Duke Xiao, "it was ordered to establish fields and open streets." It took forty-five years and the fourth year of King Zhaoxiang to officially promulgate the system of "initially setting fields and opening streets." In the tenth year of King Huiwen of Qin's reign, Zhang Yi was appointed prime minister, marking the beginning of Qin's establishment of prime ministers. After seventeen years, in the second year of King Wu (309 BC), it was decided that "the prime minister should be appointed for the first time". According to this, "the first line of money" is the same as "the first line of money", "the first line of the city", "the first line of the county", "the first line of the field", "the first line of the prime minister", etc. "Xing" actually means "promulgation"; "Qian" actually means "money system". Therefore, in the second year of King Huiwen's "initial payment of money", the fixed money system was issued. Customized money should be minted before the "first line of money". "Chronology of the Six Kingdoms" also records: In the same year, the emperor "congratulated the money". "Chronology of the Six Kingdoms" is a chronology of major events in the Six Kingdoms during the 270 years from the Warring States Period to the fall of Qin, recorded by Sima Qian. During this period, the six countries minted new coins in many varieties and times, but the emperor's "congratulations on the money" only recorded this one. Therefore, the "first line of money" was the money issued.
In the pre-Qin Banliang (the lower limit is about before the unification of the Qin Dynasty), Qian's writing is in large seal script, or has the meaning of small seal script. The writing style is old and clumsy in seal style, and the calligraphy style is relaxed, flexible and full of changes. The word Banliang is in It occupies a large position on the coin surface and is very eye-catching. The money body is often not round, the face and back often have no inner and outer shells, the wear is not square, the thickness is uneven, the back is rough and uneven or has copper stains, the money-shaped periphery is not polished and processed, there are many burrs, the casting opening is wide and not smoothed, there are up, down, left and right The casting handle formed at the gate and trough is mostly reserved. The craftsmen also wrote money inscriptions on the money model according to their personal writing habits. The strokes of the money's brushes were applied with different weights, resulting in uneven strokes, either explicit or implicit (hidden writing). Some have many strokes and few strokes, which are unrestrained and free. The thin characters are thin and powerful, the bold characters are rough and clumsy, and the characters are majestic. The fonts can be divided into round folds and square folds, among which the round folds are more hidden. Round folds, rounded fonts. Square fold, square shape. There are many specifications and types, and it is difficult to see the same. Compared with the money inscriptions, the shape and perforation casting of the coins are not casual enough, and the proportional relationship between the money inscriptions and the money-shaped perforations is not taken into consideration. The perforations are just practical holes for penetration. During this period, the text and money layout of Banliang coins focused on the weight concept of "banliang", which proved that there was no fixed method for money at that time and the casting was not uniform. The concept of "money" had not yet been completely abstracted from commercial copper, reflecting the An original layout relationship.
Pre-Qin half liang, the money shape is mostly more than 3 centimeters, and there are also smaller ones. Most people believe that the Pre-Qin Banliang must have been very heavy when minted. A large number of coin excavations have shown that although the Pre-Qin Banliang was named "Banliang", the actual weight varied greatly, with a large proportion ranging from 3 to 6 grams. In 1981, 1.5 kilograms of Qin banliang coins were unearthed from Zhangpan, Xuchang County. Among these banliang coins, the diameter of the largest one was 33 mm, and the smallest one was 21.7 mm; the heaviest one was 9.5 grams, and the lightest one was only 3.2 grams. Among the thick and heavy banliangqian, there are pancake-shaped banliangqian. Compared with the general heavy early banliangqian, the characters of the panliangqian are shallow and flat, and many of them are blurred.
The word "Zhong Ding" or "Zhu" written on the back of the three-hole cloth is written in the upper and horizontal directions. The strokes are deep and the order is exactly the same as the writing order of seal script. In the past, most people in the academic community believed that the short "ban" character with a lower horizontal line was one of the main features of pre-Qin banliang coins. However, it is not uncommon for pre-Qin banliang coins to have a long lower horizontal line. There are cases where the upper part of the middle vertical part does not come out and the entire lower horizontal part is missing. Even if the short strokes are missing, the maker does not make up for the missing strokes.
When the character "人" is written, some have a long head on one side and a short head on the other side. There are "长人二", "short person liang", and "长人二". "Short person", with round shoulders and very short upper body. Some "double people" are not like "double people", and "cross" (that is, double people are written as crosses) is not like "cross". In the past, the numismatic community believed that "cross liang" was a characteristic of the late four-baht and half-liang coins, but the two characters of the early half-liang coins also had this kind of variant calligraphy, but only rarely. Among the half-liang coins of this period, there are also two people who wrote the word "liang" in a special way with two or three vertical lines on the upper part and a "T" on the lower part. This kind of calligraphy is rare to see in the late half-liang coins. . This shows that the writing of Qian Wen at that time did not pay attention to standards. The earlier the Ban Liang Qian was, the more casual the Qian Wen was.
The immaturity, randomness, and primitiveness of coin writings are more prominent, highlighting the cultural characteristics of the pre-Qin era. The variety of shapes and calligraphy of Banliangqian before the Qin Dynasty should also reflect the regional factors in the casting of Banliangqian, in addition to the generally considered factors of the times. In the late Warring States period, Qin's annexation war against the six kingdoms resulted in a rapid expansion of its territory. The new occupied areas were different from Qin's own territory in terms of cultural background and scientific and technological conditions. They also needed to be forged in the "new occupied area" according to the political and economic requirements of the military occupiers. "Half Liang" is the new coin with the inscription on the face. The new half-liang coins minted under such circumstances must also have their own regional characteristics.
There were obvious regional differences in the circulation of pre-Qin banliangs. According to archaeological materials, almost all Qin banliangs were unearthed in most areas of the Qin Dynasty's territory, but the unearthed quantities were uneven. Shaanxi Province, which is the political center, has the most unearthed objects, followed by Sichuan and Gansu provinces and adjacent provinces and regions. Rarely found in remote areas far away from the political center, the circulation scope is limited to the territory of the Qin State. Most of them circulated with the military, so they were often found in the routes of the Qin army's military campaigns across the six kingdoms.
(2) Qin Banliang (Qin Unification Period)
When the First Emperor unified China (221 BC), he still used Banliang. At this time, the half-liang coins produced by the casting company were called Qin Banliang. The money is round on the outside and square on the inside, with no inner and outer contours, and a flat back with no writing. The two characters "banliang" in seal script are listed on both sides of the perforation, and the money writing is raised. The surrounding area is not very regular and there is copper flow. The upper side of the word "half" is folded horizontally, the lower side is shorter than the upper side of the word "liang", the thickness of the strokes is uneven, and the size of each coin is different. According to the Qin measuring system, half a tael is twelve baht, which is equivalent to 8.28 grams. According to Qin law, the legal half-liang coins should be equal in name and reality, so some half-liang coins that are well-made, have regular writing, and weigh about 8 grams were probably cast in the era of Qin Shihuang
Judging from a large number of unearthed materials, The diameter of the Qin Dynasty official-made half-liang coins was about 27 mm, and their weights were mostly different from half-liang coins (12 baht, 8.28 grams). There were very few of them that matched half-liang coins, and there was a big difference in size and weight. The Qin banliang unearthed from Gaojiahe, Fengxiang, Shaanxi, have the same shape but different sizes. It ranges from heavy to light. Maximum diameter 3.4 cm, weight 12 grams. The smallest one is only 2 centimeters and weighs 2.25 grams. The Banliang coin unearthed from the Qin Cemetery in Gaozhuang, Fengxiang, Shaanxi Province, has a maximum diameter of 3.2 centimeters and a weight of 6.75 grams. The smallest one has a diameter of 1.15 cm and weighs 0.2 grams. Among the more than 540 half-tael coins unearthed at the Yuchi Village site of the First Emperor's Mausoleum, 50 coins were measured. The diameter of the largest coin was 28.3 mm, the smallest was 26.4 mm, the heaviest was 6.01 grams (8.2 baht), and the smallest was 6.01 grams (8.2 baht). 2.3 grams (3.3 baht). Although coins are exclusively minted by the royal family, they often change from time to time, with varying weights and sizes. If the requirements are strict, many half-taels are not standard enough. According to historical records, Xiang Liang, the leader of the peasant uprising army in the late Qin Dynasty, once minted half of Qin's two coins. From this, it can be seen that "ban liang" is only the legal value, not the actual weight of the coin. Most of the coins circulating in society are weight-reduced half liang coins. Ban liang coins have lost the actual sense of weight money and have become A symbol of abstract meaning, it can be seen that the weights and measures promulgated by Qin Shihuang were difficult to implement uniformly, and the currency standardization legally implemented by Qin Shihuang was also imperfect.
The half-liang of money used by the Qin Dynasty is recorded in the bamboo slips of Yunmengsuihudi, Hubei Province, which were buried in the 30th year of the First Emperor (217 BC): "A thousand coins and a basket, whether the money is good or not, is mixed with facts. People use money to mix the good and the bad, so don’t take any differences.” According to this law, there was a difference between good and bad coins in circulation at that time, that is, they were used mixedly. The coins of the Qin Dynasty were also mixed at the same time.
"Historical Records Chronology of the Six Kingdoms" also records: In that year, the emperor "congratulated money". "Chronology of the Six Kingdoms" also records: Ying Zheng died, and Hu Hai "returned to Qian". Hu Hai, the second emperor of Qin Dynasty, "reinstated money" in order to reiterate the Qin money system. Although there was a theory in the past that "Fuxing Qian" was changed to Qingxiaobanliangqian by Hu Hai, because unearthed data confirmed that Qingxiaobanliangqian was minted in large quantities in the pre-Qin period, the Qin Bamboo slips "Jin Bu Lv" also clearly stipulates: "Qian is good and bad, miscellaneous." "... the common people use money, and there is a mixture of good and evil, so don't dare to be different." Therefore, this statement should be rejected. However, Hu Hai reiterated the historical facts of the Qin system, but both physical evidence and historical evidence were available. For example, the "Gaonuhe Stone Bronze Quan" unearthed in Sanqiao Town, Xi'an in 1964, in addition to the edict on the unification of weights and measures engraved in the 26th year of Yingzheng's reign, there is also a reaffirmation engraved in the first year of the Second Emperor's reign. edict. "Chronicles of the First Emperor of Qin" says: In the first year of the Second Emperor's reign, at the request of Li Si and other ministers, he "engraved the imperial edict" and "engraved all the stones that the First Emperor ordered", which also reiterated the Qin system and orders recorded in the carved stones. Therefore, the record of "re-issued money" once again proves that the "initial issue of money" is indeed the issued money system.
In the Qin Dynasty, the laws were strict and the people were short of copper coins. According to "Historical Records": Liu Bang served in the army, and the officials said goodbye. Each person gave three coins, but Xiao He only gave five coins. At that time, the number of money given out was three to five, which shows the preciousness of the coins. What is the reason for the small amount of money? It was related to the business depression at that time. The Qin regime suppressed the people, conquered the dead, built cities and guarded the borders, built palaces and tombs. Almost all adult men in the country were serving the imperial power. People's lives dropped to the lowest level. Naturally, the commodity economy could not prosper, and the entire society was objectively declining. The demand for currency has also been greatly reduced.
In short, Qin Shihuang unified the currency system, which greatly facilitated commodity exchange and economic exchanges across the country. It is not only beneficial to the tax collection of feudal countries, but also provides convenience for the development of commodity economy. At the same time, it promotes the formation of an economic community within a vast territory.
In addition, from the perspective of material utilization and production technology, the shape of "half liang" money saves casting materials than any other shape, which is an optimal choice, and the square hole in the middle is convenient for fixing and filing. It shows that people at that time had in-depth research and discussions on material utilization and work-hour efficiency. "Qin money was the currency of our country for the first generation, and it was also the beginning of the round coin system with square holes. It was the first of two thousand years of Chinese coin system" (Jiang Ruoshi said).
According to legend, there was a kind of half-liang coin that was used in unification. The coin text was written by Li Si, a politician and calligrapher at that time. Li Si was good at calligraphy. The stone carvings on Langyatai in Mount Tai were the standard seal script written by him. The body is harmonious, the writing is meticulous, and it is simple and vigorous. It is a masterpiece of early calligraphy. Based on the Qin Dynasty calligraphy, Li Si swept away the complexity and redundancy of various pre-Qin coin calligraphy. The Qian Dynasty's strokes are extraordinary, childish and graceful, and structured like iron and stone. The continuous strokes are twisted and twisted, which embodies the Qin seal script. style, forming the Xiaozhuan style, bringing the art of Qian calligraphy into a new stage.
Qin Banliang. The formats include: large sample, small sample, American-made, and no text. There are: wide wear, narrow wear, flower wear and heavy wear. Put on one horizontal line, put on the next horizontal line, put on the next horizontal line. Star and moon pattern, Yang pattern "two", and shade pattern "two". The fonts include: Yinqiwen, Zuoyu, large characters, small characters, fat characters, thin characters, vertical needle, and flat script. Half characters are divided into: major half, minor half, rising half, descending half, long half, oblique half, missing half (only two characters). The two characters include: long character liang, long person liang, lianshan liang, cross liang, chutou liang, dot liang, missing pen liang, etc.
3. Half Liang of the Han Dynasty
In the first year of Qin Prince Ying (206 BC), Liu Bang became the hegemon, Qin Prince Ying surrendered, and Qin died. Liu Bang proclaimed himself emperor, and his country was named Han. Its capital was Chang'an (today's Xi'an), and it was called the Western Han Dynasty in history. During the Western Han Dynasty, copper coins with a weight of half liang and five baht coins were mainly used, as well as leather coins, platinum and gold coins. In 25 AD, Liu Xiu established his capital in Luoyang, which was known as the Eastern Han Dynasty in history. From the Western Han Dynasty, Wang Mang's New Dynasty to the early Eastern Han Dynasty, people conducted many explorations on the appearance, size, weight, and materials of coins, and finally chose the square-hole garden coin of copper coinage-five baht as the coin for people's daily use. This disciplined five-baht coin line has been in use for more than 700 years and has had a significant impact on Chinese coins. The currency of the early Han Dynasty, recorded in history books, included six types: pod money, eight baht and a half liang, five cents, four baht and a half liang, three baht coins, and Emperor Wu's half liang (or three cents). In fact, there are only two types of Qian Wen: half liang and three baht. Because the five types of pod money, eight baht, five cents, four baht, and three cents are only divided into serious and heavy, the money inscriptions are all half a liang.
1. Half a pair of elm pods
Casting was popular in the early Western Han Dynasty. In the early Han Dynasty, the protracted Chu-Han War severely damaged social production, leaving the country poor and the people in poverty, and the economy depressed. When Liu Bang raised his army, he began to mint his own money. Although he inherited the old name of Qin Banliang, the actual weight of the money was only about three baht. Liu Bang forced this underweight (value) currency to be used equally with the heavy Qin Banliang in his military sphere of influence. thereby making a profit. "Historical Records Pingzhunshu" records: "The rise of the Han Dynasty took over the shortcomings of the Qin Dynasty. The husband joined the army, the old and the weak were transferred to food and salary, the work was poor and the money was scarce. Since the emperor could not have an equal army, the generals or prime ministers would ride on ox carts to unite the people. There is no hidden cover. Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty implemented Huang Lao Wuwei's political philosophy and was committed to economic recovery. The coinage also reflected Huang Lao Wuwei's political thoughts, which made it difficult for the people to use money. Minting regulations: The weight of the half-liang coin weighing twelve baht in the Qin Dynasty was reduced to three baht, and the inscription was still "half-liang". Localities and people could freely mint it, which began the first time after the founding of the Western Han Dynasty. The reform of the currency system was the beginning of money making in the Western Han Dynasty.
Emperor Gaozu adopted the policy of letting the people make money privately. Countless counties and people made their own money. The size of the money was extremely inconsistent and difficult to standardize. It was known in history as " Pod money is a metaphor among the people. Because it is light and thin and looks like the fruit of an elm tree, it is called elm pod half liang. As a result, the weight of coins becomes lighter and lighter, causing prices to skyrocket. , a horse is worth a hundred gold." This shows the degree of chaos in currency minting at that time. In addition to the factor of weight loss of coins, the hoarding of unscrupulous traders is also an important reason for the soaring prices.
The elm pod unearthed from Xuchang Looking at half a dozen, the production is very crude. The diameter of the coin is generally between 12 mm and 14 mm, the maximum diameter is 14.9 mm, and the minimum diameter is 9.8 mm; the thread diameter is generally 5.6 mm, the maximum thread diameter is 9 mm, and the minimum thread diameter is 4.7 mm; the thickness is average It is between 0.7 mm and 0.9 mm, the thickest is 1.3 mm, and the thinnest is 0.4 mm; the weight is mostly between 0.5 g and 0.6 g, the heaviest is 0.8 g, and the lightest is 0.09 g. The thickness of Qianwen varies, and the thin ones are as thin as human hair. , some strokes need to be carefully observed to be seen. The characters are taller than the money, and the characters are omitted and missing. The characters are positioned up and down and vary in size. Some coins have outer shells and cast handles. , this is probably caused by both public and private castings
The forms of elm pods are: American system, fat characters, thin characters, small characters, long characters, italic characters, missing pen, rising half, falling half. , diagonally half, left reading, repeated reading, narrow crossing, crossing one horizontal line, crossing the next horizontal line, crossing the next horizontal line, etc.
2. Empress Lu eight baht and a half liang (186 BC - BC). 182 years)
In order to improve the shortcomings of the Qin money being too heavy (8.28 grams) and the pod money being too light (about 1 gram) during the reign of Emperor Gaohou (186 BC), in the autumn and July of the second year of Emperor Gaohou (186 BC), Eight baht coins are used in the currency. Eight baht and half liang are used in the Qin Dynasty. The money writing is still "half liang", and the shape of the characters is very similar to the Qin money writing style.
Because the money weighs about eight baht (5.52 grams), it is called "eight baht and a half liang", commonly known as Lu Hou's half liang. The right to mint coins is monopolized by the state, and private minting is prohibited. There should be unified standards for the size of the money body. However, in the early Han Dynasty, prefectures and people mostly minted their own money. The size and weight of the money bodies varied, so it was difficult to unify the standards.
Eight and a half baht. The pattern is large and thin, the text is flat, the characters are shallow, the character structure is sparse, square and broad. There are no inner and outer shells, the back is plain, even in thickness, and the rings are neat. The strokes are divided into two types: right-angled square folds and circular folds. There are more square folds and less changes in the style of the calligraphy, including size, length, thickness, etc. The perforations are round and round, with large, small and wide perforations. The money-shaped periphery is not ground and processed, or there are cast ports and cast handles, and there are two to four spouts. The diameter of the coin is generally between 27 and 31 mm, and the weight is mostly between 3.5 and 5.5 grams.
The word "ban" can be written in broad, square or long, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. Most of the characters for "half" have vertical and horizontal strokes of equal length, and some characters for "half" have upturned lower and horizontal strokes at both ends. There are big, small, oblique, flat, broken pens, missing pens, inverted books, etc.
The characters "Liang" include big, small, long, oblique, flat, broken pen, missing pen, etc. The upper horizontal strokes are mostly short and inward, forming a double "human" shape inside. They can be divided into long people, double people, and connected mountains. The positions of Qian Wen on the money body include rising half and falling two, rising two and falling half, off the wheel, left reading, etc.
The economic decline in the early Han Dynasty, coupled with the fact that the three types of coins circulating in the market, namely the Qin banliang, the Yujiabanliang, and the eight baht and a half liang, were very different in weight and appearance, it became a problem for currency weight control. It has brought great difficulties in standardizing the unit weight of eight baht. From the autumn and July of the second year to June of the sixth year, almost four years, I spent eight and a half two baht and gradually lost weight. In June of the sixth year of the reign of Emperor Gao (182 BC), eight baht was heavy and people were not happy to use it, so they had to change to "five and a half liang".
3. Empress Lu was five and a half liang (182 BC - 175 BC)
Five and a half liang. It is named after its legal weight of one-fifth of half a tael (12 baht). The weight is usually between 1.5-2 grams. Another theory is that the five cents are named after the "diameter of five cents". The Han ruler is five cents, which is about 1.15 centimeters in today's system. This data is far from the diameter of the five cents, which is mostly about 2.2 centimeters. This theory is similar. Not advisable.
Five cents, regular shape, large perforation, long and narrow money text, small seal script with connotation of official meaning. The word "liang" is often "cross liang", and some are "short person liang". There is another kind of five-cent coin with a convex outer edge and a deep concave inside. Half of the characters are on the high side of the outer edge and half are in the low recess. The term is called "Snake Eyes Half Liang".
Due to the narrowness of the five and a half liang penetrating the large flesh, it was difficult to use the original writing technique. In terms of engraving money inscriptions, the method of positioning and engraving money inscriptions began to be used. Among the five cents and their pods handed down from ancient times, you can see money inscriptions engraved with line and point positioning methods. The glyphs of the half-liang coin engraved with the positioning method show the style characteristics of "split strokes". It can be proved that during the casting period of "five cents", people began to pay attention to the norms and forms of money writing. In the banliangqian system, the Han Dynasty style clearly appeared, starting from five cents, which is one of the most prominent types of banliangqian.
4. Four baht and a half liang (175 BC - 140 BC)
During the forty years of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, political stability and social and economic recovery gradually occurred. Commodity trade began to flourish and market prices were relatively stable. It has always been regarded as the "prosperous age" of feudal society and is known as the "Government of Wen and Jing" in history. Forced by the abuse of money making, the issue of currency standardization has become even more urgent. In the fifth year of the Yuan Dynasty (175 BC), Emperor Wen did not order the currency system to be rectified. Four baht coins were also minted, and the people were asked to mint them themselves. "Book of Han: Chronicles of Emperor Wen" contains: "In the summer and April of the fifth year, in order to eliminate theft and make money, four baht coins were made." Qian Wen is still half a tael. It is stipulated that the weight of the money is 4 baht, no adulteration is allowed to reduce the weight, and private casting is allowed. The powerful officials in the country minted money conscientiously, so they sent money from King Wu (Liu Bi) and Deng (Tong) to spread all over the world. Due to limited conditions among the people, it was impossible to mint copper coins of standard weight. Secondly, the private sector mints money for profit, and it is unprofitable if it is not mixed with weight loss. For this reason, on the one hand, the government ordered that adulteration be strictly prohibited and offenders would be punished. On the other hand, the government acquiesced in the emergence of the money system among the people.
Using money scales (law codes) can give half a pound of money of different weights a standard currency value. Some of this kind of money scales are cast in a belt-printed style, with holes on them, and can be hung on one end of the scale by a rope. It is more common to see the inscriptions on the face as Si Zhu, some with place names, such as Lin Si Zhu, Zou Si Zhu, Dong'a Si Zhu, Chen Si Zhu, Yiyang Si Zhu, Xiacai Si Zhu, Rongyi Si Zhu, etc. Qian It is said that there are not many surviving ones, and the latter ones are extremely rare.
Emperor Wen had half a liang. Qian's writing is thick and broad, with a strong seal meaning. The strokes are square and folded, the characters are clear and square, without hidden characters, and the characters are very simple, close to the writing style of the early Western Han Dynasty. The lower part of the character "Half" is evenly spaced, while the upper part of the character "Liang" is longer, most of which are "double persons two". The writing is irregular and can be divided into large characters and small characters. The money body has an inner and outer guo, or an inner guo, or an outer guo. The application of inner and outer linings on the half-liang coin serves as a reinforcement, increases the coin's external bearing capacity, makes the coin less susceptible to damage, and protects the coin from wear and tear. Although this form had appeared as early as the end of the Warring States Period, the half-liang coin was not inherited. After nearly two hundred years of exploration, the coin form finally went the way of Guo, and at the same time it provided the basis for the form of the five-baht coin. experience.
From the fifth year of Jianyuan of Emperor Wu to the fifth year of Yuanshou (136 BC - 118 BC), Emperor Wu Chengwen made half a liang of coins and minted half a tael of coins.
This kind of money is the first stable currency since the Han Dynasty, and it is also the last variety of Banliang money that has been used for more than 200 years. Its size has a profound impact on the casting of Xiaoping money in later generations. At this stage, the fonts of Banliang Qianwen are relatively square, and the size of the characters basically corresponds to the height of the perforation. Generally speaking, the upper and lower edges of Qianwen are flush with or slightly higher than the upper and lower edges of the perforation. At this time, "Banliang" The basic font sizes of the two characters are the same. These characteristics become more prominent in the later stages. Ban Liang's "attention" in the later period was also reflected in Qian Wen's revision of his pen. If there is heavy writing, it is because the original engraved money writing is not standardized and the distance from the edge or perforation is not appropriate. In this case, the inscriber of the model has revised it again, forming a heavy writing. This phenomenon of supplementary writing and rewriting was rarely seen in early half-liang coins.
Emperor Wu's banliang is more beautiful than Emperor Wen's Qianwen. The character "Liang" and "冂" are narrow and long, mostly in the shape of "cross liang" and unmanned liang. The strokes are thin at the top and wide at the bottom. The inner side of the money is flat, and the outer edge is passed through. When polished, there are usually inner and outer guo, or outer guo, or inner guo. Most of the coins are round and square, and some have begun to form outer or inner surfaces. The writing techniques of Qian inscriptions have changed greatly compared with the early days. The most significant feature of this change is the emphasis on the standardization of Qian inscriptions. . Pay attention to the proportional relationship between the money text and the money surface, especially the proportional relationship between the perforation and the money text. On some four and a half baht coins with Guo, Qian Wen not only considered the perforation relationship, but also paid attention to the proportional relationship with the outer edge (outer Guo). The standardization of Qian Wen is the need for the maturity and standardization of the half-liang coin system. Fundamentally speaking: it is a requirement for currency in social development and economic life. After developing to the stage of four baht and half liang coins, the original characteristics of "commodity copper" (copper blocks), a heavy currency, have become increasingly weak in people's ideology. The name ("ban liang") and the actual ( The separation of the "four baht") gave the semi-weighted currency half a pound of money at this time a certain "value symbol" meaning, and the symbolic nature of the currency became stronger and stronger. As the four-and-a-half-tael copper coin becomes increasingly distant from "commodity", there is an increasing need to emphasize the overall beauty of the coin and the rationalization of its layout. The original and backward manufacturing technology has been unable to adapt to the large-scale use of currency and the sharp increase in casting volume. Reusable stone or other hard material money molds have gradually replaced the clay casting molds used in the early days.
Four and a half taels. The diameter of the money is generally about 2.5 cm, and the width is 0.9 to 1 cm. The casting is neat and the writing is clear. The upper part and upper horizontal stroke of the character "ban" are both curved, and the lower horizontal stroke is longer than the upper horizontal stroke. The character "Liang" is formed into the shape of "十", which must be from the period of Emperor Wu's four baht and a half liang. There are three common ways of writing the word "Liang": 1. "双人二", with two "人" characters "" in the middle of the word "Liang". 2. "Lianshanliang", the "double" in the middle of the word "liang" is simplified into a horizontal zigzag line "". 3. "Cross Liang", the "double" in the middle of the word "liang" is abbreviated as a "十" character "". Editions can be roughly divided into the following categories: ⑴Common products, there are no special marks on the money. Generally, the middle vertical and upper horizontal parts of the two characters are not connected. It is extremely rare that the two characters are connected, and they are called "neck half liang". Those with longer fonts and thin and strong strokes are also rare. ⑵ There are Guo types, and there are more ones with outer Guo, and there are less ones with inner and outer Guo. ⑶Zhuanxiang type, in which the characters of Zhuanxiang are inverted left and right, and there are loops of readers, which are rare. It is extremely rare to have half a double back. ⑷ There are few types of signs, including star characters, horizontal characters, vertical characters, incised characters or raised characters, etc., and even fewer with vertical strokes. ⑸Peer money type, the perforations are often diamond-shaped, and those with other characters besides the word "banliang" are rare. Those with names, auspicious words or various patterns are worn by Han people, such as Taichang, Yangrun, Riren Qianjin, Banliang with Hook, etc. Privately minted four and a half baht, with crude writing and most of them unwritten. At that time, four and a half taels of iron were still cast in some areas, which is known to be the earliest iron coin in China
In the late 1970s, the founder of an overseas research association claimed to be the reincarnation of Qin Shihuang and asked his followers to collect Qin Shihuang coins. Half a pound, the bigger and heavier the better. For a time, the value of most of them doubled, and the largest one was said to have sold for tens of thousands. In fact, the particularly heavy and large half-liang coins should have come from the Wen and Jing dynasties of the Western Han Dynasty. At that time, the political situation was stable, the economy continued to develop, and the people were wealthy and full. They were fully qualified to mint some large-scale coins that would not be involved in circulation to express the meaning of winning and showing off their wealth.