The Numismatic Chronicle 171 Offprint - Royal Numismatic Society

390
FRANÇOIS THIERRY
‘year of great abundance’ (dayou nian 大有年), with the description ‘last year the
fi ve grains matured to perfection’ (xi sui wu gu deng yan 昔歲五穀登衍) and the
annotation reading ‘when the fi ve cereals all reach maturity, one writes of a year of
great abundance’ (wu gu jie shu, shu dayou nian 五穀皆熟,書大有年). 155
The combination of these expressions pays homage to the harmony that exists
between Heaven and a good ruler. Heaven provides the peasants with a good climate,
and the ruler fulfi ls his obligations to his people. It also makes reference to the
fundamental role of agriculture in Confucian ideology.
35. 親親,長長,老老,幼幼 Thân thân, trưởng trưởng, lão lão, ấu ấu
Ch. Qin qin, chang chang, lao lao, you you // Love one’s parents, respect one’s
superiors, honour the old, cherish the children.
Inscription found on coins of the Minh Mạng, 156 Thiệu Trị157 and Tự Đức158 eras. On
coins of the Minh Mạng era, the inscription appears in the form 親ㄑ長ㄑ老ㄑ幼ㄑ.
In the Doctrine of the Mean, we fi nd the phrase ‘the principal requirement is to love
one’s parents’ (qin qin wei da 親親為大). 159 In The Great Learning, it says: ‘If the
ruler honours his parents, the people will cultivate fi lial piety. If the ruler respects his
elders, the people will cultivate submission’ (shang lao lao er min xing xiao, shang
zhang zhang er min xing ti 上老老而民興孝,上長長而民興弟). 160 We have here
one of the central themes of Confucian philosophy: the social relations between
parents and children, and between superiors and inferiors.
36. 國富兵彊,內安外靜 Quốc phú binh cường, nội an ngoại tĩnh
Ch. Guo fu bing qiang, nei an wai jing // When the state is rich and the army is
strong, there is peace at home, and calm abroad.
Inscription found on coins of the Minh Mạng 161 and Thiệu Trị 162 eras. This type
was dropped during the Tự Đức era, because the character An had become a taboo
character (see type 20).
155 HHS, II, p. 113. The list of the fi ve grains, wu gu, was not an established list and varies according
to the text. According to the Zhouli (Zhouli, IV-58, pp. 91–2), they were glutinous millet (shu 黍), nonglutinous
millet (ji 稷), wheat (mai 麥), sesame (ma 麻) and soya (shu 菽).
156 Lacroix, Numismatique annamite, no. 422; Schroeder, Annam. Etudes numismatiques, no. 138; AS,
III, p. 13; CMV, no. 1529; Barker, Historical cash coins of Viêt Nam, no. 149.
157 CMV, no. 1609.
158 Lacroix, Numismatique annamite, no. 475; Schroeder, no. 311; CMV, no. 1794.
159 Zhongyong, XX, p. 45. Legge (Four Books, p. 383) translates this as ‘[Benevolence is the
characteristic element of humanity, and] the great exercise of it is in loving relatives.’
160 Daxue, X, p. 18.
161 Lacroix, Numismatique annamite, no. 409; Schroeder, Annam. Etudes numismatiques, no. 139;
AS, III, p. 9; CMVS, no. 394; Barker, Historical cash coins of Viêt Nam, no. 150. Legge (Four Books, p.
334) translates this as ‘When the sovereign behaves to his aged, as the aged should be behaved to, the
people become fi lial; when the sovereign behaves to his elders, as the elders should be behaved to, the
people learn brotherly submission.’
162 Barker, Historical cash coins of Viêt Nam, no. 170.