Lands of Asia layouts (Eng) 26.11.21

part iv | migrations of cultures
Coins
It is possible to distinguish two major periods of the ingress of Chinese coins into
historical and cultural areas of the eastern and central parts of Central Asia.
The first period is of wu zhu (wu shu) coins issued between 118 BC and AD 618
and Hou ch’uan (Huo Quan) coins from the time of Emperor Wang Mang (AD 9–23).
The second period, from the 7th–8th centuries AD, includes bronze coins of the
Tang dynasty, which had a significant influence on the formation of monetary systems
in some regions in the eastern and central parts of Central Asia, especially Sogdia.
Discoveries of coins from other Chinese dynasties are extremely rare. In fact,
we only know of one – a bronze coin with a square hole, from the Northern Zhou
dynasty (AD 557–581), issued in AD 579. It was discovered at the Budrach site, the
capital of the ancient Chaganian region, 6 km from the town of Denau in today’s
Surkhan Darya province in Uzbekistan.
Bronze wu zhu coins were produced in China for over 700 years. Their first official
issue was under the Emperor Wu-di in 118 BC and continued to be struck until the
establishment of the Tang dynasty in 618 ad. Wu zhu coins are round, with a square
hole in the centre. Both the obverse and reverse sides always have an outer rim; the inner
rim, applied along the edge of the square hole, is present only on the reverse. The legend
on wu zhu coins consists of two characters for ‘Wu’ and ‘zhu’ placed on the obverse, on
either side of the square hole, and they are read from right to left. Coins weigh 1.5–3
grams, and have a diameter of 25–30 mm, with some variations on either side.
Initially, the casting of wu zhu coins was not confined to official government
mints, but was also undertaken by individual, provincial mints and small workshops.
When mint regalia (the right to mint coins) was established in 113 BC, it became the
prerogative solely of the central government.
Wu zhu coins are quite common in the eastern and central parts of Central
Asia. They have been found particularly in Ferghana, where, by 1988, 42 such coins
had been found in 32 graves at 16 burial sites. In addition, two wu zhu coins were
discovered more recently during excavations of Mugkhona in the Gava region of
Northern Ferghana. Two similar coins were also found during excavations of the
Munchaktepa burial site near the town of Pap in the Ferghana valley. Finds of wu zhu
coins are also known in other areas. In particular, four degraded coins were found
in Penjikent. Thirteen wu zhu coins, three of them from a habitation layer, were
discovered during excavations at Munchaktepa I and II, located near the Farkhad
gate in Northern Tajikistan. Another, similar coin was found at the site of Kanka in
the Akkurgan district of the Tashkent region. In addition, such coins have also been
found in the Alay mountains, in Kum-Aryk (Kyrgyzstan), in a child’s grave in the
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