Kangxi Tongbao
Copper-alloy (brass) | |
Years of minting | 1661–1722 |
---|---|
Obverse | |
Design | Kangxi Tongbao (康熙通寶) |
Reverse | |
Design | See below. |
Kangxi Tongbao (traditional Chinese: 康熙通寶; simplified Chinese: 康熙通宝; pinyin: kāng xī tōng bǎo) refers to an inscription used on Chinese cash coins produced during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty. Under the Kangxi Emperor the weights and standards of the brass cash coins changed several times and the bimetallic system of Qing dynasty coinage was established. Today Kangxi Tongbao cash coins are commonly used as charms and amulets where different forms of superstition have developed arounds its mint marks and calligraphy.
A notable characteristic is that the outer rim on Kangxi Tongbao cash coins on both sides of the coin tend to be quite wide, in contrast to that of the square center hole (方穿, fāng chuān). Apart from the two mints in the capital city of Beijing operated by the central government, many provincial mints operated intermittently.
Background
After the
History
In the year Kangxi 1 (or the
A mint was established in Tainan, Taiwan in the year 1689 but it didn't produce much cash coins and was closed down in 1692, for this reason Taiwanese Kangxi Tongbao coins tend to be very rare today. Kangxi Tongbao cash coins produced in the province of Yunnan are notably quite reddish in colour, there were at least seven different mints in existence in Yunnan Province during the Kangxi period. After the governor of the Yunnan and Guizhou found out that there were so much brass cash coins produced by the Yunnan Mints. The high supply of the brass cash coins had caused the price of the cash coins relative to silver to reduce. The government needed to pay 30% of cash coins instead of silver as military salary. This proved to be very inconvenient for the soldiers. This later caused disturbances to arise in the military. After the governor of these provinces put down the trouble, he urged the government to cease the production of cash coins in the province of Yunnan and to pay the soldiers exclusively in silver. All the Yunnan Mints were then closed down in the year Kangxi 28 (1689).[8] Between the years 1674 and 1681 during the Revolt of the Three Feudatories the province of Yunnan was in the hands of the rebel Wu Sangui and later his grandson Wu Shifan who cast his own cash coins with their own inscriptions there, these cash coins didn't use the same mint marks as the Kangxi Tongbao.[9]
In 1684 the ratio of copper to zinc in the alloys in the Kangxi Tongbao cash coins was reduced from 70% to 60% all while the standard weight was lowered to 1 qián again and were known as Zhongqian (重錢), while the central government's mints in Beijing started producing cash coins with a weight of 0.7 qián known as Xiaoqian (小錢) or Qingqian (輕錢). The Kangxi Tongbao was officially fixed against silver with a ratio of 1000 Zhongqian per tael of silver in an attempt to establish a bimetallic system.[10] The Xiaoqian were only worth 0.7 tael of silver per string of 1000 coins (which would equate to 14.3 Xiaoqian per fen of silver), however by the middle of the eighteenth century the Xiaoqian disappeared from circulation.[11]
By 1702 all provincial mints were closed again due to the aforementioned circumstances.[12]
Mint marks
Under the Kangxi Emperor cash coins with the inscription Kangxi Tongbao were produced with both a
Ministry of Revenue and Ministry of Public Works
Mint mark | Möllendorff | Responsible ministry | Image |
---|---|---|---|
Manchu: ᠪᠣᠣ ᠴᡳᠣᠸᠠᠨ |
Boo Ciowan | Ministry of Revenue (hùbù, 戶部), Beijing | |
Manchu: ᠪᠣᠣ ᠶᡠᠸᠠᠨ |
Boo Yuwan | Ministry of Public Works (gōngbù, 工部), Beijing |
Provincial mints
Mint mark ( Traditional Chinese ) |
Mint mark ( Simplified Chinese ) |
Issuing office | Image |
---|---|---|---|
同 | 同 | Datong garrison, Shanxi |
|
福 | 福 | Fuzhou, Fujian |
|
臨 | 临 | Linqing garrison, Shandong |
|
東 | 东 | Jinan, Shandong |
|
江 | 江 | Nanchang, Jiangxi |
|
宣 | 宣 | Xuanhua garrison, Zhili |
|
原 | 原 | Taiyuan, Shanxi |
|
蘇 | 苏 | Suzhou, Jiangsu |
|
薊 | 蓟 | Jizhou garrison,Zhili |
|
昌 | 昌 | Wuchang, Hubei |
|
甯 | 宁 | Jiangning ,Jiangsu |
|
河 | 河 | Kaifeng, Henan |
|
南 | 南 | Changsha, Hunan |
|
廣 | 广 | Guangzhou, Guangdong |
|
浙 | 浙 | Hangzhou, Zhejiang |
|
臺 | 台 | Taiwan-Fu, Taiwan | |
桂 | 桂 | Guilin, Guangxi |
|
陝 | 陕 | Xi'an, Shaanxi |
|
雲 | 云 | Yunnan Province |
|
漳 | 漳 | Zhangzhou, Fujian |
|
鞏 | 巩 | Gansu |
|
西 | 西 | Shanxi provincial mint | |
寧 | 宁 | Ningbo, Zhejiang |
Commemorative issues
In 1713 a special Kangxi Tongbao (康熙通寶) cash coin was issued to commemorate the sixtieth birthday of the
Kangxi Tongbao charms and poem coins
Chinese poem coins (
Traditional Chinese |
Pinyin |
---|---|
同福臨東江 | tóng fú lín dōng jiāng |
宣原蘇薊昌 | xuān yuán sū jì chāng |
南寧河廣浙 | nán níng hé guǎng zhè |
台桂陝雲漳 | tái guì shǎn yún zhāng |
It was arranged by a Chinese private coin collector using the different mint marks to form a type of a Chinese poetry during the Qianlong period and it has now become the favourite target of collection for many coin collectors in Mainland China and Taiwan.[24]
According to an old Chinese superstition the strung "charm" of twenty coins also known as "set coins" (套子錢) only worked if all coins were genuine and this could be tested by placing them on a chicken-coop and if the cocks did not crow during the early morning. As carrying twenty coins together was seen as less than convenient new charms were being produced that had the ten of the twenty mint marks on each side of the coin, unlike the actual cash coins that they're based on these charms tend to have round holes in the middle and are also round in shape. Sometimes they were painted red as the colour red is viewed to be auspicious in Chinese culture. Sometimes these coins had obverse inscriptions wishing for good fortunes and the twenty mint marks on their reverse, these inscriptions include:
Traditional Chinese |
Translation |
---|---|
金玉滿堂 | "may gold and jade fill your halls." |
大位高升 | "may you be promoted to a high position." |
五子登科 | "may your five sons achieve great success in the imperial examinations." |
福祿壽喜 | "good fortune, emolument (official salary), longevity, and happiness." |
吉祥如意 | "may your good fortune be according to your wishes." |
Kāng Xī Tōng Bǎo cash coins produced at the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Public Works in the capital city of Beijing are excluded from these poems.[25][26]
Because of the popularity of the Kangxi poem coins many later versions of the poem coins were made where the Kangxi era mint marks are used but other inscriptions such as the Yongzheng Tongbao, Daoguang Tongbao, Guangxu Tongbao, Etc. are used on the obverse.[27]
Coin-swords made from Qing dynasty cash coins with the inscription Kangxi Tongbao are considered to be the most effective, this is because the reign of the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty lasted an entire 60-year cycle of the Chinese calendar and thus according to feng shui cash coins with this inscription represent "longevity".[28][29][30]
See also
References
Citations
- ^ C.L. Krause and C. Mishler, Standard Catalog of Word Coins (Krause Publications), 1979 with corrections made by Vladimir A. Belyaev (www.charm.ru) on 12 December 1997.
- ^ Dai Zhiqiang 戴志強 (ed. 2008), Zhongguo qianbi shoucang jianshang quanji 中國錢幣收藏鑒賞全集 (Changchun: Jilin chuban jituan). (in Mandarin Chinese)
- ^ China Ancient Coins Collection Blog (中國古錢集藏網誌). To share my collection and what I have know related to the Chinese Ancient Coins to global coins collectors. Qing Dynasty Coinage (清朝錢幣). By Learner (檢視我的完整簡介) 於於 下午1:24. Published: 2009年5月3日 星期日. Retrieved: 2 July 2017.
- ^ Ma Long (馬隆) (2004), "Qingdai lichao zhubiju yu zhubi jianbiao 清代歷朝鑄幣局與鑄幣簡表", in Ma Feihai (馬飛海), Wang Yuxuan (王裕巽), Zou Zhiliang (鄒誌諒) (ed.), Zhongguo lidai huobi daxi 中國歷代貨幣大系, Vol. 6, Qingdai bi (清代幣) (Shanghai: Shanghai shiji chuban jituan/Shanghai jiaoyu chubanshe), pp. 766–775. (in Chinese)
- ^ a b "Chinese coins – 中國錢幣 § Qing (Ch'ing) Dynasty (1644-1911)". Gary Ashkenazy / גארי אשכנזי (Primaltrek – a journey through Chinese culture). 16 November 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- ^ Y.K. Leung (2018). "K'ang Hsi T'ung Pao ( 1661 ~ 1722 A.D. ) - Part C." Tripod.com. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- ^ Mote, F. W. 1999. Imperial China: 900-1800. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
- ^ Y.K. Leung (2018). "K'ang Hsi T'ung Pao ( 1661 ~ 1722 A.D. ) - Part D." Tripod.com. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- ^ Hartill 2005, p. 290.
- ^ Y.K. Leung (2018). "K'ang Hsi T'ung Pao ( 1661 ~ 1722 A.D. ) - Part B." Tripod.com. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- ^ Ulrich Theobald (13 April 2016). "Qing Period Money". Chinaknowledge.de. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- ^ Hartill 2005, p. 285.
- ^ Y.K. Leung (2018). "K'ang Hsi T'ung Pao ( 1661 ~ 1722 A.D. ) - Part E." Tripod.com. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- ^ "A SACRED CHINESE COIN." American Journal of Numismatics (1897-1924) 37, no. 1 (1902): 20. Accessed May 3, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43583128.
- ^ Gary Ashkenazy / גארי אשכנזי (16 November 2016). "Chinese Coins with Charm Features". Primaltrek – a journey through Chinese culture. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
- ^ Hartill 2005, p. 286.
- ^ Chinese Coinage Web Site (Charm.ru) - K'ang Hsi Coin Charm by Vladimir Belyaev, Y.K. Leung, and John O. Dell. Retrieved: 22 September 2018.
- ^ Global News Archeologist discovers Chinese coin from 1600s in Yukon wilderness By Max Leighton for the Whitehorse Star. Published: 09 December 2011. Retrieved: 12 May 2018.
- ^ Petit, Karl - Essai sur la Numismatique Chinoise, 1974 (in French)
- ^ FORVM ANCIENT COINS (To the glory that was Greece - And the grandeur that was Rome) Home > Members' Coin Collection Galleries > Stkp > CHINA QING DYNASTY: Kangxi (1662-1722). Retrieved: 12 May 2018.
- ^ Casino Mining 300-Year-Old Chinese Coin Found in North of Canada By Joan Delaney On October 30, 2011 @ 9:36 pm In North America | No Comments. Retrieved: 12 May 2018.
- ^ Cresswell, O.D. - Chinese Cash.
- ^ Jorgensen, Holger - Old Coins of China: A Guide to Their Identirfication Beginner catalog of 394 types with reduced hand drawings.
- ^ Y.K. Leung (2018). "K'ang Hsi T'ung Pao ( 1661 ~ 1722 A.D. ) - Part A." Tripod.com. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- ^ "Chinese Poem Coins - 二十錢局名 - Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty". Gary Ashkenazy / גארי אשכנזי (Primaltrek – a journey through Chinese culture). 16 November 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- ^ Sportstune.com Kang Hsi Poem by John Ferguson. Retrieved: 12 May 2018.
- ^ Hartill 2005, p. 291.
- ^ Unlisted (2020). "coin-sword". The British Museum. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- ^ "Swords and Amulets". Gary Ashkenazy / גארי אשכנזי (Primaltrek – a journey through Chinese culture). 16 November 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- ^ Justus Doolittle (edited and revised by Paxton Hood), “Social Life of the Chinese. A Daguerrotype of Daily Life in China” (London: Sampson Low, Son, and Marston, 1868). Pages 563 to 565.
Sources
- Hartill, David (2005). Cast Chinese Coins: A Historical Catalogue. Trafford. ISBN 978-1-4120-5466-9.
- T'ang Yu K'un.《制錢通考》(A comprehensive study of chinese coins) .(in Chinese)
- Wei Chien Yu.《中國近代貨幣史》(Currency history of Modern China) . 群聯出版社,1955. (in Chinese)
- Ting Fu Pao.《古錢大辭典》(A dictionary of ancient Chinese coins). 中華書局. (in Chinese)
- Werner Burger. Ch'ing Cash until 1735, Mei Ya Publications, Inc., 1976.
- ISBN 7-208-00196-0/K·47. (in Chinese)
- 張作耀. 《中國歷史便覽》(China History Bianlan),人民出版社,1992, ISBN 7-01-000308-4/K·53. (in Chinese)
- Hartill, David, Qing cash, Royal Numismatic Society Special Publication 37, London, 2003.
External links
- Media related to Kangxi Tongbao at Wikimedia Commons