“日利八千万”鲤鱼形铜带钩 / Rili Baqianwan Belt Hook

Overview

“日利八千万”鲤鱼形铜带钩 / Rili Baqianwan Belt Hook is the episode’s artifact anchor for interpreting visible wealth aspiration in the Western Han commercial world. The host says it was excavated from Liyuan Tomb 19 at Zhongshui, Weining, Guizhou, and that the inscription on the back reads “日利八千万.”

Current Profile

The belt hook matters in the wiki less as an isolated object than as a compact evidence bundle: a personal accessory, a status-display item, and a written wish for massive profit. The episode explains belt hooks as belt fasteners and weapon-hanging accessories associated with visible rank, taste, and wealth, then treats this example’s inscription as a blunt declaration of “get rich” desire.

Its evidentiary value is interpretive. The source uses the object to connect archaeology, five-zhu coin imagination, merchant status, and Sima Qian’s Huozhi Liezhuan wealth ethic. It does not independently prove the owner’s occupation, actual income, or the normal scale of Han merchant profit.

Key Characteristics

• The object is presented as a fish-shaped bronze belt hook from a Guizhou tomb.
• Its “日利八千万” inscription makes wealth aspiration visible on a personal status object.
• Belt-hook function and ornament place the inscription inside elite or affluent display culture.
• The episode uses the object as a bridge from material culture into Han commercial wealth aspiration.
• The artifact’s owner, exact social identity, and actual financial capacity remain unresolved in the source.

Evidence

• Artifact identification: Hanji 410-2 says a fish-shaped bronze belt hook was found in Liyuan Tomb 19 at Zhongshui, Weining, Guizhou.
• Inscription and display: Hanji 410-2 emphasizes that “日利八千万” appears on the back of a belt hook, an item the host explains through function, ornament, and status.
• Interpretive bridge: Hanji 410-2 moves from the inscription to five-zhu coin purchasing power and then to Huozhi Liezhuan wealth ethics.

Qualifications

The episode treats the inscription as cultural evidence for desire and display, not as a literal business account. It does not settle whether the tomb occupant was a merchant, official, warrior, local elite, or another status holder.

What Changed

• Created the artifact page from Hanji 410-2 as the material-culture anchor for wealth aspiration.

Relationships

• 汉代商业财富愿望 - supplies the source’s broader cultural reading of the inscription.
• 五铢钱购买力框架 - translates the “八千万” phrase into a purchasing-power thought experiment.
• 《货殖列传》财富伦理 - gives the episode’s intellectual interpretation after the artifact setup.
• 西汉 - dynastic setting for the episode’s economic and cultural framing.