| Value | 1 wén |
|---|---|
| Mass | 3.45~3.65 g |
| Diameter | 25 mm |
| Composition | Bronze |
| Years of minting | 955–959 |
| Obverse | |
 | |
| Design | Zhouyuan Tongbao (周元通寳)[a] |
| Reverse | |
.png) | |
| Design | Various |
The Zhouyuan Tongbao (traditional Chinese: 周元通寳; simplified Chinese: 周元通宝; pinyin: zhōuyuán tōng bǎo) is a copper-alloy cash coin produced during the reign of Emperor Shizong of the Later Zhou dynasty, a historical Chinese state that existed in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.[1] The design of the Zhouyuan Tongbao cash coins closely resembles that of the Kaiyuan Tongbao (開元通寳) series produced during the earlier Tang dynasty period. The Zhouyuan Tongbao cash coins were produced from recycled Buddhist statues confiscated from Buddhist temples.[2] For this reason the Zhouyuan Tongbao is commonly referred to as "Arhat money" (traditional Chinese: 羅漢錢; simplified Chinese: 罗汉钱; pinyin: Luóhàn qián) or as the "money that destroyed Buddha" (traditional Chinese: 毀佛錢; simplified Chinese: 毁佛钱; pinyin: Huǐ fú qián).[2] Nicknames only reserved for a handful of Chinese cash coins, as confiscation of Buddhist statues for coin production only happened around 7 times in Chinese history.[3][4]
Superstitions surrounding these bronze cash coins claim that they have amuletic properties because they were cast from Buddhist statues, and are particularly said to be effective in midwifery, hence many later-made imitations and amulets based on them exist and they have remained a popular motif for Chinese and Vietnamese amulets.
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- ^ Wang Xipeng (汪锡鹏) - Zhouyuan Tongbao — The Eternal Monument of the Later Zhou Dynasty (周元通宝——后周永远的丰碑) - "China Urban Finance" 2010 Issue 5 (《中国城市金融》2010年 第5期). Publisher: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Shanghai Branch (中国工商银行上海市分行).
- ^ a b Ma T, Xing Q, Li M, et al. Discussion of the buddha-destroy coins in Chinese coin history. Orient Arch. 2018;15:78–91 (in Mandarin Chinese).
- ^ Dong Liangyi (董良义) - A brief introduction to the previous incidents of destroying Buddhas and casting coins in history (简述历史上的历次毁佛铸钱事件) - "Jiangsu Coins" Issue 3, 2016 (《江苏钱币》2016年 第3期).
- ^ Ma Tiancheng (马天成), Xing Qi (邢琪), Li Ming (李铭), and Guo Junfeng (郭俊峰) - On the Destroyed Buddha Money in the History of Chinese Currency (论中国货币史上的毁佛钱) - "Oriental Archeology" 2018 Issue 1 (《东方考古》2018年 第1期) - Tai'an Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology (泰安市文物考古研究所) - Jinan Institute of Archeology (济南市考古研究所). Quote: 『在中国古代,毁佛钱的种类虽然不多,但是在中国古代货币史上占有的重要地位却是不容忽视的。通过查阅资料,我们发现中国货币史上共有七种毁佛钱。』("In ancient China, although there were not many types of Buddha-destroyed money, its important position in the history of ancient Chinese currency cannot be ignored. By consulting the data, we found that there are seven kinds of Buddha-destroyed money in the history of Chinese currency.").