Today is the second day of the second month of the first month of the lunar calendar, the day when the Chinese folk dragon rises, the legend of the dragon has flourished among the Chinese people, the ancient totem worship of the dragon, the historical source is said to be more than thousands of years.
Group photo with Huang Xiquan, former director of the China Numismatic Museum
In June 2006, I flew to Guiyang to attend the Sixth National Congress of the China Numismatic Society and the re-election of the Council, after the meeting, I did not participate in the tourism activities organized by the Society, but made a special trip to Duyun City, the capital of Qiannan Autonomous Prefecture, to inspect the ancient characters of the water tribe, and Long Guangpeng, a reporter from the Autonomous Prefecture Television Station, received me throughout the whole process, and he was also a numismatic recipient. Previously, I had a strong interest in ancient coins with aquarium scripts found in Guizhou, and many of them had dragon patterns on them. This time in Guizhou, we can't let go of this rare opportunity to investigate. During the meeting in Guiyang, one night I visited Mr. Chen Xiaonan, a teacher at Tsinghua Middle School in Guizhou. I talked to Mr. Tan about the history of Sandu Aquarium Autonomous Prefecture, about the cultural heritage of aquariums, and so on. I was very excited, and I didn't get tired of talking until late at night. At that time, Mr. Tan took out the ancient coins of the Guizhou real estate he had collected for many years and asked me to look at them, of which three very rare varieties aroused my great interest, which were the physical materials for the study of aquarium culture and water calligraphy, and Mr. Chen and his family finally agreed to sell one of my choices.
This piece is also the first time found in the local area, it is a solitary product, bronze casting, very thick and heavy hand, in addition to the image of the double dragon on the front and the Han national dragon has a large difference, the text on the back is not a common Chinese character. Fish and dragons seem to be the concept of fish dragons, and the images of fish and dragons are different from those of the Han people, simple and clumsy, with a strong ancient atmosphere, with the shadow of the neolithic stone jade dragon. Fill the blank space with cream. In archaeology, the ornamentation of the protruding nipples of the elephant woman cast on the utensils is called milk ding (or grain pattern). On this coin, the milk represents the stars, which are set against the backdrop of the starry sky. Because the flying dragon is in the sky, it has the ability to ride the clouds and drive the fog and call the wind and rain, so it makes sense to arrange it in the sky. Also because after the fish transforms into a dragon, it is the head of all souls, that is a god, so in some areas, the people still regard the fish as a god, and dare not provoke, let alone fry and cook. For example, in the northern region of Shanxi, more than twenty years ago, I did not know that fish could eat, and I did not dare to move when I looked at the fish in the pond, saying that it was a god.
In Duyun I showed this coin to Brother Guangpeng, who was very surprised and said that he had never seen this variety. So we went to the street together and asked a Wei surnamed Shuizu silverware craftsman (known locally as Mr. Shuishu) who had studied water books, and he looked at it and said with certainty: The twelve zodiac characters on this are the way water books are written.
In some later media reports, the incident was mentioned in that year:
Guizhou Daily (January 7, 2015) reported: In June 2006, Professor Liu Chunsheng, a director of the Chinese Numismatic Society, a visiting professor of the School of Finance and Economics of Chinese Min University, a member of the compilation committee of the Chinese Numismatic Dictionary and editor-in-chief of the "Chinese Numismatic Dictionary Crushing The Qian Compilation", bought a Guizhou ethnic minority folk coin from a numismatic collector during the Sixth National Congress of the Chinese Numismatic Society held in Guiyang. Professor Liu Chunsheng, an expert in folklore coins, realized that this coin should be a precious "water book" to spend money. Professor Liu Chunsheng elaborated in his blog "Qianzhi Trip (II) Unexpected Harvest": "It is late at night when I return to the hotel, under the lamp, I repeatedly appreciate this 'ancient coin (spending money)' with strong national characteristics, beautiful and warm paste, heavy and heavy hand, the age should be no later than the Song Dynasty. This raises some questions, the earliest written record of guizhou local bureau minting money is the sixteenth year of Ming Hongzhi, then the age of this ancient coin is much earlier than the Ming Dynasty, the question arises: who cast it? Guizhou's productivity has lagged far behind that of the hinterland, and it is extremely underdeveloped in ancient times, but the minting process of this coin is not too bad, and it has also been found that the craftsmanship and age of several ancient coins are almost the same as this money, what is the answer? ”。 To this end, Professor Liu Chunsheng made a special trip to Qiannan Duyun to investigate and investigate the "Water Book" folk coins. During the investigation, I received Professor Liu Chunsheng, and together with him, I consulted a silversmith surnamed Wei with this coin, and learned that the twelve "water book" characters on the coin correspond to the twelve characters of "zi, ugly, yin, 卯, 辰, 巳, 午, 未, Shen, 酉, 戌, 海" in the Chinese characters, representing the twelve land branches. In contrast, Professor Liu Chunsheng has described it in his blog "Qianzhi Trip (Eight) Duyun Journey". In March 2009, Professor Liu Chunsheng once again made a detailed interpretation of the understanding of this folk coin in his blog "The Ancient Writings and Mysteries of the Guizhou Water Tribe", he believes, "This coin is a fish dragon on one side, and the image of the fish and dragon is different from the Han people, and it is very ancient." The blank space is filled with milk, which represents the stars, which are used as a background in the starry sky."
Qiannan Daily reported: In June 2006, Liu Chunsheng, director of the China Numismatic Society and editor-in-chief of the "Chinese Numismatic Dictionary of Pressure Victory Money", collected an Aqua folk coin in Guiyang. On one side of this coin is a fish-based dragon, and the image of the fish and dragon is different from that of the Han people, and it is very ancient. The blank space is filled with milk cubes, which represent the stars, which are used as a background in the starry sky.
Guizhou numismatic enthusiasts wrote on the blog: In the past 10 years, the continuous discovery of water book coins has aroused the great attention of some famous collectors, scholars and ancient spring researchers in China, and many numismatic experts have made a special trip to Qiannan to investigate, such as the director of the Chinese Numismatic Society, a visiting professor of the School of Finance and Economics of Chinese Min University, a member of the compilation committee of the Chinese Numismatic Dictionary, and the editor-in-chief Professor Liu Chunsheng made a special trip to Qiannan in 2006 to investigate the "Water Book" folk coins, and gave the "Water Book" coin a high evaluation.
Took a group photo with Long Guangpeng, a reporter from Qiannan Autonomous Prefecture Television Station and a numismatic enthusiast
Take a group photo with local coin lover Liu Guiming
According to relevant information: Water book is the ancient script and water tribe book common name for the aquarium living in the upper reaches of the Longjiang river and duliu river in the north of Qiannan. In addition to containing a large number of original religious beliefs, the Water Book also preserves the celestial phenomena, calendar materials and ancient texts of the Aquarium that need to be excavated and deciphered.
Most of the records in the Water Book are dates, directions, auspicious signs, and exorcisms for shamans in terms of primitive religious beliefs. It is only because the water tribe believes in ghosts and gods, so the water book is very widely used. This unique function of the water book has promoted the inheritance of the worship of aquatic ghosts and gods from generation to generation.
The celestial signs and calendar materials reflected in the water book are an extremely precious historical and cultural heritage. It is spread in the shui tribe settlement area in the upper reaches of the Longjiang and Duliu rivers in guibei, qiannan, and the aquarium language calls it "lesui", transliterated as "泐睢 lèsuī", and the written symbols are similar to oracle bones, and there are also Chinese characters in ancient characters. In 2006, it was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage. The water book still plays a very important role in the social life of the water tribes, such as marriage and funeral still according to the "water calendar" calculated and decided according to the water book.
The history of the water book, the current academic circles are inconclusive, there are Ming Dynasty said, Tang Dynasty said, and some think that there are thousands of years of history, I personally believe that the water tribe is the name of the Tang Dynasty central government to the local Sui (suǐ) tribe at that time, the Sui people have their own script at least before the Tang.
At present, the vast majority of Shui people no longer understand the water book, people who understand the water book are respected as Mr. Water Book, water book since ancient times has the precept of passing on men not to women. According to statistics, before 2007, there were still more than 500 Mr. Shuishu in Sandu County, and then nearly 200 people have passed away, and only more than 300 are left, and most of them are more than ancient.
In addition to the above interpretation of the water book text, there are two other issues discussed here:
First, the phenomenon of double dragon male and female is a reflection of the ancient philosophy of yin and yang
There is also an interesting phenomenon on this coin, which once again confirms the view that I have always insisted on: as long as it is the face of the double dragon, it has been divided into male and female since ancient times, and the same is true on the early ancient coins, and the double dragon is also divided into male and female, and it must be different in the pattern in a certain part of the dragon's body, as a difference between male and female. This is not a whim of craftsmen, but the connotation given by the ancient Chinese philosophy of yin and yang, yin and yang wash away all things, and everything in the universe has the way of yin and yang. If yin and yang are balanced, everything is in order, and if it is not, there will be problems.
For example, the depiction of the double dragon on this coin, the two claws and the tail are obviously different. On the other aquarian coins illustrated in this article, the Double Dragon motif differs. Not only ancient coins, but also other ancient works of art before the Ming and Qing dynasties have this phenomenon.
A mural found in the tomb of Xinmang in Luoyang Jinguyuan is one of the most wonderful and typical shapes in the Portrait of Erlong Wearing Bi. There are two dragons and four bi and auspicious clouds in the mural, two dragons, one male and one male, arranged left and right, flying upward through the jade bi located on the left and right sides, the dragon heads meet above, the mouth contains the jade bi above, and the dragon's tail intersects below.
The two Han bronze double dragon head hooks in my collection are also good examples:
One is a hermaphrodite with a hook, with one end of each sex.
The hermaphrodite is hooked
The other double hook is distinguished between male and female, one is that the male has a back tendon and the female is rounded; the opposite male button is larger than the female button.
Han Shuanglong double belt hook
In all these cases, this composition of the sexes did not gradually disappear until the Ming and Qing dynasties after the Song Dynasty, indicating that cultural traditions were constantly lost and even broken in the evolution of history.
Second, on the issue of the age of minting folk customs in Guizhou
In addition, because I proposed that the minting date of this coin is not later than that of the Song Dynasty, some local friends have raised some questions, the earliest written record of the local bureau minting money in Guizhou is the sixteenth year of Ming Hongzhi, so if the age of this ancient coin is much earlier than the Ming Dynasty, the question arises: Who cast it? Guizhou's productivity has lagged far behind that of the hinterland, and it is extremely underdeveloped in ancient times, but the minting process of this coin is not too bad, and it has also been found that the craftsmanship and age of several ancient coins are almost the same as this money, what is the answer? ”
Now I come to answer this question, in fact, our understanding of ancient production technology is often biased, the Ming Dynasty only set up a bureau in Guizhou to mint money is not bad, but it does not mean that there was no mature metal casting process in the local area before, for example, the world-famous Yunnan copper drum unearthed in some areas of Guizhou, its casting age can be traced back to the spring and autumn of the 8th century BC to the middle of the Warring States period in the 5th century BC, and the works of the Han Dynasty are the most exquisite. That being the case, there was no technical obstacle to minting some folklore coins in the Middle Ages. Moreover, the folk type of winning money is not only minted, and it is entirely possible for folk to imitate money-type artworks according to money.
Chuxiong, Yunnan Province, unearthed a bronze drum from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period
Wanjiaba type Jomon brass drum, spring and autumn. Collection of Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture Museum.
Spring and autumn bronze clasp. Collection of Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture Museum.
Additional amendments on March 3, 2022
About the Author
Liu Chunsheng, a cultural scholar, pen name Qi Geng, is the owner of Yizhai and HanfengTang. He is a member of the Chinese Writers Association, a former director and expert database member of the Chinese Numismatic Society, a standing director and an expert committee member of the Beijing Numismatic Society, and a member and editor-in-chief of the Compilation Committee of the Chinese Numismatic Dictionary. He is the author of the novel "Heavenly Rain", the collection of cultural essays "Tanhua Collection", "Love Man Lüliang Mountain", the monograph "Appreciation of Ancient Chinese Hollow Spending Money", and "Hitting Horses and Hundred Dollars". He is the chief editor and publishes the first "Chinese Numismatic Dictionary and The Compilation of Winning Money", and published more than 1.5 million words of literary and academic articles. The original public account "Wen Shi Gong".
This article has been published by the author's permission
Special thanks to Wen Shi Gong for his support