Coin China Zhoun Wu Sangui - Cash, San Fan Rebellion, Li Yong - 1674 / 1678

Wu Sangui, a former Ming dynasty general who defected to the Qing side, rose up in 1673 against the authority of the Kangxi Emperor, triggering the Revolt of the Three Feudatories. Master of Yunnan and Guizhou, he proclaimed his own dynasty in 1678, the Zhou, under the Zhaowu era, presenting himself as the restorer of the Ming order.

To assert his legitimacy and finance his military campaigns, he had his own coinage struck, of which this coin is a direct testimony. The revolt, which engulfed a large part of southern China, was gradually contained by Qing forces. Wu Sangui died in 1678, shortly after proclaiming himself emperor, leaving his successors in a weakened military position. The rebellion was definitively crushed in 1681.

This monetary issue thus represents an ephemeral production, directly linked to one of the most significant political and military crises in 17th-century China.