Northern Wei (386-534) Northern Southern Dynasties Tai He Wu Zhu 太和五铢 Yong An Wu Zhu 永安五铢 The Northern Wei Dynasty was founded by a Turkic Tribal power known as the Xianbei 鲜卑 ethnic group after the fall of the Jin 晋 Dynasty that succeeded the Han. When the Northern Wei Dynasty was under the reign of the Emperor Xiao Wendi 孝文帝，he embarked on a revolutionary assimilation program that literally favored the Han Chinese culture and significantly discouraged the existing tribal customs of the Xianbei people controlling Northern China. Reforms included the decreed conversion of Turkic names to Han Chinese, adopting Chinese fashion, language, customs, language and pretty much all aspects of government and culture. He also highly encouraged cross ethnic marriages as a means to expedite the assimilation process. It was during the later part of Emperor Xiao Wendi's reign during the Tai He renal year that the northern Wei Dynasty decided to adopt the Chinese monetary system passed down from the Han Dynasty as opposed to the incumbent barter economic system. Only Tai He Wu Zhus were minted but due to their late issuance in his reign, they were pretty Scarce as compared to the Yong An Wu Zhus issued by Xiao Wendi's successor Xiao Zhuangdi .
interesting! i have a western han wu zhu, they are pretty similar aren't they...but several hundred years older?
The Han Dynasty lasted from around 206 BC to 220 AD. The Han Dynasty was the first to release the highly significantwu zhu 五銖 coinage which was to be the de facto standard currencies for many Dynasties after the Han up until the birth of the Tang Dynasty. Wu zhu literally means 5 zhu with the zhu being an ancient unit of measure and replaces the previous Ban Liang standard coinage. Many coins since then often adopt the wu zhu system with some exceptions such as additional inclusion of regnal year.
Interesting coins, here. Coins made by Turks assimilated into the Chinese population. Love it. ....and ...again the list comes out...
Actually the term Turks are often misunderstood and can be confusing. These Xianbei or central Asian Turks were probably looking no different or hardly dissimilar to the surrounding populace or modern Chinese. Their area of spread were just beyond the Great Wall and likely covered parts of modern day China which we often take for granted as part of traditional China such as Gansu province and parts of Shaanxi province. They would likely dress differently, speak differently and had non-Han sounding names wih quasi-nomadic lifestyles. But that was most likely a cultural matter as opposed to ethnic as the whole concept of "Han" ethnicity was less genetic than it was cultural.
I may not collect the coins you are showing, but I am enjoying your in-depth knowledge of the subject matter! Thanks
Thanks.. The tai he could have been better.. But that's all I could find at the time. At least the association with that part of history and personality that matters
Thanks TIF. I'm not an expert but just a collector who likes to collect this as a theme. Also to avoid the flood of fakes and risk of being suckered (as much as possible), I tried to gather, seek out the advice of real experts from the U.S., UK, Taiwan and China as well as checking out as much as possible articles and writings from experienced collectors in this field. Inadvertently, I picked up the key points and experience as well. I despise fakes as it destroys the real value and purpose of this art and cheating true collectors of hard earned savings. Therefore I try to share as much as possible what I know to hopefully help others avoid that. Being Chinese, it allows me to keep an affordable relic of the past and moments of historical significance..
