China – People’s Republic Founders of Chinese Culture Series 1985 Silver Proof 5 Yuan 36mm (22.22 grams) 0.900 Silver (0.643 oz. ASW) Reference: KM# 124 Certification: NGC PF 68 ULTRA CAMEO 2839329-008 中华人民共和国 1985, The emblem of the People’s Republic of China. 5元, Cheng Sheng and Wu Guang on cliff.
Coin Notes: Short cape version: This item is the rarer (10% mintage) variety showing only a fragment of cape under the staff holding arm.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
Wu Guang (traditional Chinese 吳廣, modern Chinese 吴广, died 208 BC) was a leader of the first rebellion against the Qin Dynasty during the reign of the Second Qin Emperor. Life
Wu Guang was born in Yangxia (陽夏; present-day Taikang County, Zhoukou, Henan). In 209 BC, he was a military captain along with Chen Sheng when the two of them were ordered to lead 900 soldiers to Yuyang (漁陽; southwest of present-day Miyun County, Beijing) to help defend the northern border against Xiongnu. Due to storms, it became clear that they could not get to Yuyang by the deadline, and according to law, if soldiers could not get to their posts on time, they would be executed. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, believing that they were doomed, led their soldiers to start a rebellion. They announced that Fusu, the crown prince of Qin, who had wrongly been forced to commit suicide, and Xiang Yan (項燕), a general of Chu, had not died and were joining their cause. They also declared the reestablishment of Chu.
Using 900 men to resist an empire seemed to be a suicidal move, but the people, who had felt deeply oppressed by the Qin regime, joined Chen Sheng and Wu Guang’s cause quickly. Soon, there were people asking Chen Sheng to declare himself “King of Chu”. Against the advice of Zhang Er and Chen Yu, Chen Sheng declared himself “King of Rising Chu” (張楚王).
After Chen Sheng set up his capital at Chen County (陳縣; in present-day Huaiyang, Henan), he appointed Wu Guang as acting-‘King of Chu’ and ordered Wu to head west toward Qin proper. Wu Guang’s forces, however, became bogged down while laying siege to Xingyang (滎陽; northeast of present-day Xingyang, Henan). Wu Guang’s generals became concerned that Qin reinforcements under Zhang Han would soon arrive and attack them on two sides. They wanted to change Wu Guang’s plans, end the siege of Xingyang, and face Zhang Han’s forces directly. Unconvinced that Wu Guang would change his plans, they assassinated Wu and took over the army.
LegacyWu Guang sometimes appears as a door god in Chinese and Taoist temples, usually partnered with Chen Sheng.
China, officially the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since 1949, is a country in East Asia and the world’s most populous country, with a population of around 1.404 billion. Covering approximately 9,600,000 square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the third- or fourth-largest country by total area, depending on the source consulted. Governed by the Communist Party of China, the state exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
China emerged as one of the world’s earliest civilizations, in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, China’s political system was based on hereditary monarchies, or dynasties, beginning with the semi-legendary Xia dynasty in 21st century BCE. Since then, China has expanded, fractured, and re-unified numerous times. In the 3rd century BCE, the Qin unified core China and established the first Chinese empire. The succeeding Han dynasty, which ruled from 206 BC until 220 AD, saw some of the most advanced technology at that time, including papermaking and the compass, along with agricultural and medical improvements. The invention of gunpowder and movable type in the Tang dynasty (618-907) and Northern Song (960-1127) completed the Four Great Inventions. Tang culture spread widely in Asia, as the new maritime Silk Route brought traders to as far as Mesopotamia and Horn of Africa. Dynastic rule ended in 1912 with the Xinhai Revolution, when a republic replaced the Qing dynasty. The Chinese Civil War resulted in a division of territory in 1949, when the Communist Party of China established the People’s Republic of China, a unitary one-party sovereign state on Mainland China, while the Kuomintang-led government retreated to the island of Taiwan. The political status of Taiwan remains disputed.
Since the introduction of economic reforms in 1978, China’s economy has been one of the world’s fastest-growing with annual growth rates consistently above 6 percent. As of 2016, it is the world’s second-largest economy by nominal GDP and largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). China is also the world’s largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a recognized nuclear weapons state and has the world’s largest standing army and second-largest defense budget. The PRC is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council as it replaced the ROC in 1971, as well as an active global partner of ASEAN Plus mechanism. China is also a leading member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), WTO, APEC, BRICS, the BCIM, and the G20. China is a great power and a major regional power within Asia, and has been characterized as a potential superpower.
|