两千年间的“佛”与“国”：传统中国对西方货币领袖头像的认知

Buddha vs State: Imperial China's Perception of Political Leaders' Bust on Western Money,91 B.C.-A.D.1911

世界史中的货币图案大抵可分为西方的希腊、罗马体系与东方的中华体系。西方体系有政治领袖头像,东方则无之。虽然《史记》中已有安息大宛之货币有政治领袖头像的记载,但直到1912年,中国才有孙中山下令在中华民国开国纪念币及流通币上"刊第一期大总统肖像"。这一变化影响至今。在约两千年间,中国传统货币上的图案以文字为主,偶有图像,未及国家领袖头像。中国传统货币上的年号,难以让庶民一目了然,历朝铜钱或外国铜钱与本朝铜钱一并流通。鸦片战争以后,中国试图仿铸外国银币,仍未仿铸领袖头像。相对而言,公元1世纪之后,佛教广泛流播中国,佛像深入民间,而清代中国亦以"佛"称外国银币上的领袖头像。孙中山在传统中国的货币文化中引进国家领导人头像,就国家想象而言,是一个革命性的发展。本研究将由深入庶民日常生活的货币图案指出,在宗教治理现象同样浓厚的传统中国与西方,中国的国家意象相对西方较为模糊;相对以往个别有关传统中国国家观念或佛像的研究,本研究指出传统中国有关佛祖与国家信仰的深浅之别。

In world history, money image can be classified into the Occidental Greek and Roman systems and the Oriental Chinese system. The 0 cci（4 ental systems involved the head images of political leaders while the Oriental system did not. Shiji （ Reconds of the Grand Historian）, which was completed in 91 BCE, noted inits 63th biography ‘‘Dayuan”,“ Anxi[ Persia]... uses silver as money coins on which the image of its kingwas minted. ＂ However, this phenomenon was not observed in China until 1912. In that year Sun Yat-sengave instructions of putting the portrait of the republic’s first president on the Founding of the Republic of China Commemorative Coins and the coins in circulation. This change still exerts influence on the present- day Republic of China as well as PeopleF Republic of China. During the two BCE to 1912,the pattern of China’s traditional money was mainly based upon Chinesof images occasionally but the head images of rulers were not touched upon. For common people who weremostly illiterate, the reign titles shown in the money of traditional China was somewhat difficult to identify ata glance. Copper coins of past and present dynasties and that of foreign countries could be put intocirculation concurrently. After the Opium War, China attempted to intimate the minting of silver coins thatwas circulating in the West, but it did not cast its coins with ruler’s from the 1st century onward Buddhism propagated widely in China and Buddha’s fin society. In Qing China people called the head images of rulers contain‘ Buddha. ＂ By way of money image which penetrated into people’s daily life, this study points out that whilereligious governance was obvious and deep-rooted in both traditional China and the West, China’s nationalconstruct was somewhat vague relative to the West, in terms of images on money. Compared with previousindividual studies on the concept of state or Buddha’s figures in traditional China, this study sheds light on the different degrees of Buddha belief and national belief from 91 BCE to 1911. The paper is divided into four parts： 1） No political leaders’ figure head on Chinese imperial money; 2） Chinese traditioto Buddha’s figure heads from the 1st century BCEonward; 3） ‘ Buddha head and nineteenth centuries China’s land contract for the Spanish coins with the king’s bust; 4） Buddha vs statein traditional China.