Posted 09/15/2021 10:53 pm
This example on zeno.ru has a different inscription, but the reverse double-dragons is an exact match, and the obverse speckled background is identical too.
However, the inscription on this particular piece is more patriotic than ritualistic. The inscription reads "jin zhong bao guo", which was a motto made famous by mediaeval general (and subsequent folk hero) Yue Fei; it means "serve your country with sacrificial loyalty". According to one version of the legend, his mother had this motto tattooed onto his back when he refused to join a pirate gang.
Yue Fei fought a rearguard action to try to save China from both foreign invasion and a corrupt Imperial government, before being arrested on false charges and executed. As you might imagine, the current regime in China is all too happy to see Yue Fei promoted as a national hero.
However, the inscription on this particular piece is more patriotic than ritualistic. The inscription reads "jin zhong bao guo", which was a motto made famous by mediaeval general (and subsequent folk hero) Yue Fei; it means "serve your country with sacrificial loyalty". According to one version of the legend, his mother had this motto tattooed onto his back when he refused to join a pirate gang.
Yue Fei fought a rearguard action to try to save China from both foreign invasion and a corrupt Imperial government, before being arrested on false charges and executed. As you might imagine, the current regime in China is all too happy to see Yue Fei promoted as a national hero.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
to the Community!
