The Numismatic Chronicle 171 Offprint - Royal Numismatic Society

392
FRANÇOIS THIERRY
川之方至,以莫不增 […] 如月之恆,如日之升,如南山之壽不騫不崩,如松
柏之茂,無不爾或承). 170 See also type 28.
38. 福如東海,壽比南山 Phúc như Đông Hải, thọ bỉ Nam Sơn
Ch. Fu ru dong hai, shou bi nan shan // Happiness [as vast] as the Eastern Sea,
longevity [as old] as the Southern Mountains.
Inscription found on coins of the Minh Mạng 171 and Tự Đức 172 eras.
The fi rst part compares the wished for happiness with the vastness of the Eastern
Sea. The second part is taken from the poem Tianbao in the Shijing (see also type
37). 173 Many Chinese amulets have this eight-character inscription, arranged with
four characters on the obverse, and four on the reverse. 174
39. 萬壽攸酢,萬福攸同 Vạn thọ du tạc, vạn phúc du đồng
Ch. Wan shou you cuo, wan fu you tong // Ten thousand [years of] longevity as the
[fi tting] reward, ten thousand happinesses gather upon them.
Inscription found on coins of the Minh Mạng 175 and Tự Đức 176 eras.
The fi rst four characters are taken from the poem Chuci 楚茨 in the Book of
Odes (Shijing) and are the result of perfect ritual organisation by high offi cials of
ceremonies in honour of the ancestors; 177 the following four characters are the last
characters in the poem Luxiao 蓼蕭 in same work, in which the emperor praised the
princes for their wisdom as an omen for great happiness. 178
40. 天不愛道,地不愛寶 Thiên bất ái đạo, địa bất ái bảo
Ch. Tian bu ai dao, di bu ai bao // Heaven does not care too much about its rules,
Earth does not care too much about its treasures.
170 Shijing, Xiaoya-I-6, pp. 183–4. Waley (Book of Songs, pp. 175–6, no. 167) translates this as
‘May Heaven guard and keep you,/Cause there to be nothing in which you do not rise higher,/Like the
mountains, like the uplands,/Like the ridges, the great ranges,/Like a stream coming down in fl ood;’ …
‘To be like the moon advancing to its full,/Like the sun climbing the sky,/Like the everlastingness of
the southern hills,/Without failing or falling,/Like the pine-tree, the cypress in their verdure–/All these
blessings may you receive!’
171 Lacroix, Numismatique annamite, no. 416; Schroeder, Annam. Etudes numismatiques, no. 141;
Barker, Historical cash coins of Viêt Nam, no. 152.
172 CMV, no. 1810.
173 Shijing, II-I, p. 6.
174 ZGHQ, nos 521, 823; CAC, nos 225–227.
175 Lacroix, Numismatique annamite, no. 430; Schroeder, Annam. Etudes numismatiques, no. 142;
CMV, no. 1550; Barker, Historical cash coins of Viêt Nam, no. 155.
176 AMM, no. V215; Barker, Historical cash coins of Viêt Nam, no. 191.
177 Shijing, Xiaoya-VI-5, p. 278. Waley (Book of Songs, p. 210, no. 199) translates this as ‘Countless
years of life as our reward.’
178 Shijing, Xiaoya-II-9, p. 197. Waley (Book of Songs, p. 84, no. 90) translates this as ‘In whom all
blessings meet.’