12 Coins Which are Not Money: Cultural Functions and Symbolism
12 Coins Which are Not Money: Cultural Functions and Symbolism
复制标题
12种非货币的硬币：文化功能和象征意义
DOI：
10.1163/9789004288355_014
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发表时间：
2015
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Werner
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Burger;Werner
Until 1911 the dominant ideology in China was Confucianism, which dictated every aspect of life: how to behave, what gestures were proper, how to celebrate every station on the path through life—everything was prescribed in detail. Only a handful of objects were not covered by these constraints, eg illustrations on an ink stick; as well as charms and amulets. The name the Chinese use for these is yashengqian 壓勝錢 ‘coins to suppress and overcome evil’, or simply huaqian 花錢 ‘coins with pictures’, or jiyuqian 吉語錢 ‘coins with lucky expressions’.All traditional coin catalogues from the Song to the Qing period have a final chapter on coins which did not serve as money. The oldest well-wishing coins in my collection date from the Han period. One is an ordinary five-zhu 五銖 coin, but an inscription on the reverse side says: Junyi jili 君宜吉利 “May you be lucky and successful in your endeavours”(Fig. 12.1 and 12.2). Another one from the Han period is the same size, but has on one side the recurring wish Tianxia taiping 天下太平 “May there be peace under the sun”, and on the other side an illustration of a family, the father on the left working in the field, the mother churning butter, and two children playing (Fig. 12.3, 12.4). Those charms were privately made, as well as produced by the official mints, because both strove for the best of luck. One coin that was certainly made by the government mint dates from the time of the Five Dynasties (906–960), more exactly the Posterior Zhou (951–960). It shows a figure with a sword, and a dragon that is supposed to protect the young dynasty (Fig. 12.5). In the Song and Yuan periods the most popular amulets were of the so-called openwork types (Fig. 12.6). Dragons are quite numerous on these coins, but also people at leisure or at work (Fig. 12.7), or a whole protective temple, like on coins that show shrines of Mazu 媽祖 or Tianhou 天后, the Heavenly Mother and tutelary goddess of Fishermen (Fig. 12.8).