Taoist coin charm
Taoist coin charm
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Taoist coin charm

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Taoist coin charm

Taoist coin charms (simplified Chinese: 道教品压生钱; traditional Chinese: 道教品壓生錢; pinyin: dào jiào pǐn yā shēng qián), or Daoist coin charms are a family of categories of Chinese and Vietnamese numismatic charms that incorporate elements of the Taoist religion. Taoist coin charms come in various shapes, sizes, and formats and can contain inscriptions or wholly pictorial designs. While a large number of Taoist coin charms have their inscriptions written in traditional Chinese characters, a subset of Taoist coin charms have inscriptions written in Taoist "magic" writing. In these countries similar numismatic charms existed for Buddhist and Confucianism, and at times Taoist coin charms would also incorporate symbolism from these other religions.

In the case of these coins, "charm" in this context is a catchall term for coin-shaped items which were not official (or counterfeit) money. However, these numismatic objects were not necessarily considered "magical" or "lucky", as some of these Chinese numismatic charms can be used as "mnemonic coins".

Since ancient times, the Chinese had attributed magical powers and influence to Hanzi characters. They believed that certain characters could impact spirits, which were in turn believed to be responsible for good and ill fortune. The Huainanzi describes spirits as horror-stricken at being commanded by the magical powers of the Hanzi characters used for amulets and charms. Many early Han dynasty talismans were worn as pendants containing inscriptions requesting that people who were deified in the Taoist religion to lend them protection. Some Taoist charms contain inscriptions based on Taoist "magic writing" (Chinese: 符文, also known as Taoist magic script characters, Taoist magic figures, Taoist magic formulas, Taoist secret talismanic writing, and Talismanic characters) which is a secret writing style regarded as part of Fulu. Its techniques are passed from Taoist priests to their students and differ between Taoist sects, with a secrecy that led many people to believe that they would have more effect in controlling the will of the spirits.

As the majority of these charms asked Leigong (the Taoist God of Thunder) to kill the evil spirits or bogies, these numismatic charms are often called "Lei Ting" charms (雷霆錢) or "Lei Ting curse" charms. As imperial decrees had absolute authority, this reinforced the popular myth that Hanzi characters were somehow magical, and inspired Chinese talismans to take the forms of imperial decrees. Many Taoist talismans read as if by a high-rank official commanding the evil spirits and bogies with inscriptions such as "let it [the command] be executed as fast as Lü Ling", "quickly, quickly, this is an order", and "[pay] respect [to] this command". Taoist talismans can contain either square holes or round ones. Many Taoist amulets and charms contain images of Liu Haichan, Zhenwu, the Bagua, yin-yang symbols, constellations, Laozi, swords, bats, and immortals.

A Taoist charm from either the Jin or Yuan dynasty without any written text shows what is commonly believed to be either a "boy under a pine tree" (松下童子) or a "boy worshipping an immortal" (童子拜仙人), but an alternative hypothesis is that this charm depicts a meeting between Laozi and Zhang Daoling. This is based on the fact that the figure supposedly representing Zhang Daoling is carrying a cane which in Mandarin Chinese is a homophone for "Zhang". On the reverse side of the charm are the twelve Chinese zodiacs, each in a circle surrounded by what is referred to as "auspicious clouds" which number eight.

Coin-swords (alternatively spelt as coin swords), alternatively known as cash-swords, are a type of Chinese numismatic charms that are a form of feng shui talisman that were primarily used in southern China to ward off evil spirits and malicious influences, especially those inducing fever. These coin-swords are also often used in Taoist rituals. In Mandarin Chinese, coin-sword are called bì xié jiàn (避邪劍) which literally translates into English to "evil-warding sword".

Coin-swords usually consist of Qing dynasty era cash coins, specifically from the Kangxi and Qianlong eras, but may also be made from older cash coins.

Chinese coin-swords generally consist of either one or two iron rods as a foundation with real or replica Chinese cash coins fastened together with a string, a cord, or a wire which are usually coloured red. While the thread is usually red, it may sometimes also be yellow or gold as these are considered to be the colours of royalty.

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