February 15th 2003.
Next club meeting Monday 3rd March 2003.
Meetings are held at the Abbey Baptist Church, Abbey Square, commencing at 7.00 p.m.
February meeting.
There were 21 members at the meeting, one guest and two members sent apologies for absence. There were five dealer tables.
Tony gave us a fascinating talk, based on Jonathan Spence's "Treason by the Book". The story gave insights into the workings of 18th century China, ruled by an all powerful emperor, Yongzheng, with a formidable "civil service" capable of controlling events in the country from thousands of miles away.
Starting with a letter containing an incitement to treason, delivered publicly to General Yue Zhonqi commander of the Sichuan province, the tale tracks the investigation as it leads back to the ring leader and author of the letter, Zeng Jing, a rural teacher. No stone is left unturned in the investigation, intimidation of witnesses, torture, deception, isolation and insinuation all being considered reasonable practises to arrive at the capture of the potential rebels.
Included in the denouncement of the Emperor and the Manchu Dynasty he represented, was the claim that the Emperor was stockpiling large amounts of bronze to make himself a metal palace. This rumour had started because the Emperor had decreed that no bronzework should be carried out, which at a stroke put the makers of pots and other bronze utensils out of business. In fact the Emperor had made the decree to halt the wholesale melting down of the coinage, since at that time the bronze coins were worth more as metal, and unscrupulous criminals were using the coinage as raw material for the production of utensils.
The long arm of the Emperor even reached beyond the grave, to Lu Liuliang who although dead for the past 40 years, had been an inspiration to the young Zeng Jing and mentioned in the fateful letter. Lu was dug up and "beheaded", his male family members over the age of 16 were killed, the rest of the family turned out and all their possessions forfeit to the Emperor.
However the strangest part of the story now follows. The Emperor decides that Zeng Jing is a simple dupe, led astray by troublemakers, some of whom had been employed by the Emperor's brothers and further takes it upon himself to show Zeng Jing the error of his ways. He delivers vast quantities of official documents to Zeng Jing, sufficient to rebut every claim against him. Zeng Jing is convinced by what he reads, writes an eloquent avowal of his wrongdoing and throws himself on the Emperor's mercy. Miraculously, this appeal is successful and the Emperor grants Zeng Jing a pardon! Furthermore, the various documents and correspondence between the Emperor and Zeng Jing are turned into a book entitled (in short) "Awakening from Delusion" which is then spread far and wide throughout the country as required reading for all scholars. This strange turn of events does not please everyone in the country, including many of the high ranking officials and sadly for Zeng Jing, his pardon was withdrawn after the death of the Emperor. Zeng Jing was sentenced to death and the copies of "Awakening from Delusion" were all ordered to be rounded up by the new Emperor Qianlong.
Neither Emperor comes out particularly well from the encounter. Yongzheng thought that "Awakening from Delusion" would serve as an example of how good an Emperor he was, but in fact by openly publishing the claims in the original letter, he damaged his own reputation. Qianlong conversely, mangaged to convince people that there must have been something in the claims after all, when he ordered the destruction of almost all of the copies of "Awakening from Delusion".
Tony also provided a collection of bronze coins from the period for members to examine.
Social Events
The Spring social will be a skittles evening at the Red Lion pub, Theale on Saturday 26th April. The price is £9 per head (£18 per couple) including a buffet. Will those members wishing to attend please give their names (and monies) to the chairman at either the March or April meeting. We need a minimum of 15 persons to cover the costs, so why not come along?
Last year we did not make it to Birmingham to visit the Art Gallery and Boulton Museum, because the National Council strike resulted in closure of the buildings. So it has been decided that we will try again this year. The outline plan, subject to the accommodation of the museums, is to arrange the visit for late July/early August. We will be asking members to indicate their interest at the March meeting. If you cannot attend the March meeting but are interested in going please let the secretary know. It takes considerable voluntary effort to arrange these trips so your co-operation would be appreciated. Also numbers are limited due to the lack of space at the Birmingham gallery - so it is first come first served. On a positive note however, I did suggest to the curator how it would be possible to accommodate greater numbers than his limit. That it is why it is 5 important that we know quite soon the numbers wishing to partake.
Next year is the 40th anniversary of Reading Coin club. At the last committee meeting we were debating what event(s) we could hold next year by way of celebrations. We discussed possible days out to locations such as Brighton, Bath, Bristol, Oxford, London and what form they should be. Should there be any numismatic interest or merely sightseeing and whether the programme should be one that suits partners who may have minimal interest in numismatics. We also discussed a celebratory dinner either formal evening do or casual as part of the day out and trips on the river. We need to gauge member's interests. Therefore we will be discussing this topic at future meetings, so come prepared with your ideas.
Numismatic Interlude - by David
For those who have not already discovered it, Henley's 'River & Rowing Museum' has a 'Henley Gallery' with displays on local history. Scattered amongst these displays are various items of numismatic interest, including:
All in all, the museum is a very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours, plus there is a cafe on site. The Museum contact telephone number is 01491 415600
Future Events.
The evenings both 30 and 20 years ago, were devoted to the club coin fair. Few details are recorded, other than there were about 10 tables doing a brisk trade.
10 years ago the club's Skittle evening took place at the Red Lion in Theale.