The Red Turban Rebellion

339, Lot: 550. Estimate $75. Sold for $130. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CHINA, temp. Yuán dynasty. Red Turban Rebellion. Xú Shòuhuī. AD 1358-1360. Æ Wén (24mm, 3.12 g). Cast AD 1359-1360. Tian Ding Tong Bao in kǎishū Hànzì (regular script) characters / Blank. Hartill 19.142. Near VF, olive green patina, some roughness. Rare.

From the J.P. Righetti Collection.

For nearly a century, China sat uneasily under the rule of the Mongol Yuán dynasty. Anti-Mongol sentiment grew strong among the native Han population, and many were drawn to the White Lotus society, a political-religious sect that was secretly plotting to overthrow the Yuan. After several foiled attempts, the White Lotus sect, under the leadership of Xú Shòuhuī, who claimed to be the reincarnation of Maitreya, succeeded in instigating a rebellion in the area south of the Yangze River. These rebels were known by their trademark red turbans. Xú Shòuhuī was eventually overthrown by Chén Yŏuliàng, who was himself later defeated by Zhū Yuánzhāng. Despite perennial infighting, Zhū Yuánzhāng successfully pushed the Yuán back to Mongolia by 1368, and founded the Míng dynasty shortly thereafter.