The Zhouyuan Tongbao () 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.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). 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.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). For this reason the Zhouyuan Tongbao is commonly referred to as "Arhat money" () or as the "money that destroyed Buddha" (). 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.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.").
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.
History
During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Guo Wei, a native of Yaoshan, Xingzhou, founded the Later Zhou state in Dongjing (東京, present-day Kaifeng, Henan Province) in 951.Xu Dayuan (徐达元) & Qi Siyuan (齐思源) - Zhouyuan Tongbao Collection and Research (周元通宝收藏与研究) - "Jiangsu Numismatics" 2011 No. 3 (《江苏钱币》2011年 第3期). Quote: "五代十国时期,邢州尧山人郭威于951年,在东京(今河南省开封市)建国,国号为周,史称后周,年号广顺,郭威称周太祖。954年,郭威养子柴荣继承皇位,史称周世宗,改年号显德,在位六年(954-959年)。后周时期,流通领域铜钱匮乏,民间交易非常困难。". In 954, Guo Wei's adopted son Chai Rong succeeded to the throne, in Chinese historiography he is referred to Emperor Zhou Shizong, and adopted reign era to Xiande (顯德). During this period, there was a shortage of bronze cash coins in circulation in Later Zhou making private transactions were very difficult.
The Zhouyuan Tongbao commenced production in the year Xiande 2 (顯德二年), February 955 AD (using the Gregorian calendar), during the reign of Emperor Shizong and was the first cash coin produced by the Later Zhou dynasty.Zhao Dexin (赵德馨) - Dictionary of Chinese Economic History (中国经济史辞典)．Wuhan (武汉)：Hubei Dictionary Publishing House (湖北辞书出版社)，1990. Page: 312. (in Mandarin Chinese). It is said that Emperor Shizong himself would supervise their casting at the many large furnaces at the back of the palace.
The Later Zhou dynasty was heavily in debt and in order to try to pay off the government's debts, Emperor Shizong started a campaign to procure enough copper for the production of cash coins.Old History of the Five Dynasties (舊五代史) - Book of Zhou (周書). As copper was scarce during the Later Zhou period, the government tried confiscate enough bronze to cash coins to be able to pay for government expenditures and a number of policies were enacted, initially Emperor Shizong prohibited households from holding bronze utensils and later the Later Zhou would confiscate the assets of Buddhist temples to produce bronze cash coins. Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Zhang Guoying (张国英) - Destroy the Buddha to make money, two coins flow by themselves (毁佛以铸钱 两币自流长) - "Financial Economics" 2000 No. 11 (《金融经济》2000年 第11期).
The imperial government of the Later Zhou dynasty re-melted Buddhist bronze statues from 3356 temples to produce bronze coins. This decision was not just opposed by the Buddhists but also by his advisors, including both civil and military mandarins.Peng Yuantong (彭远同) - Zhouyuan Tongbao flower coin with a dragon and fenghuang pattern on its reverse (周元通宝背龙凤纹花钱) - "Favourites" Issue 6, 2009 (《收藏》2009年 第6期) - Langzhong, Sichuan (四川阆中). - Quote: "“周元通宝”是五代时期铸行最多、质量最好的铜钱。据史料载：后周世宗柴荣显德二年（955年），下令精简天下寺院，毁铜怫铸钱，以便促进货物流通，经济发展。此举遭到佛教徒和文武大臣们的反对，于是周世宗搬出“舍身饲虎”的典故。". When reproached for this, the emperor claimed that Gautama Buddha himself would not mind this sacrifice.
Generally speaking, cash coins produced from the Warring States period until the reign of the Jiajing Emperor of the Ming dynasty were made of bronze, but because the Zhouyuan Tongbao cash coins were cast from melted Buddhist statues, which are typically brass, they contain higher levels of zinc that other coinages from this period. Though zinc was present in these coins, the quantity remains quite low overall with values of zinc up to 2–4%.
Because they were believed to have spiritual powers inherited from the Buddhist statues, these coins were subsequently much-copied throughout Chinese history, these copies are popularly known as "folk coins" (民俗錢) and are believed to have the same spiritual powers as the original coins.Hu Jinhua (胡金华) & Guo Xiaoming (郭晓明) - Trial Analysis of Zhouyuan Tongbao Folk Money Patterns (周元通宝民俗钱图案试析) - "Cultural Relics Spring and Autumn" 2008 No. 6 (《文物春秋》2008年 第6期) - Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics, Shijiazhuang, Hebei (河北省文物研究所, 河北石家庄).
Design
The design and calligraphy of the Zhouyuan Tongbao very closely resembles those of the Kaiyuan Tongbao series of cash coins produced during the Tang dynasty period. It is a typical bronze Xiaoping Qian (小平錢) in size and weight, and its inscription is written using clerical script. The second stroke of the "Yuan" (元) character is written "picked from the left" ("元"字第二筆左挑).
The reverse side of the Zhouyuan Tongbao cash coins sometimes have moon (crescent), star (dot), or star-moon (crescent and dot) patterns. The star (dot) patterns are either left, right, up or down, and the moon patterns are not always in the same place, they are either up or down, left or right, or near a corner. According to Chinese economic historian Zhao Dexin (赵德馨), the moon (crescent) on the back of every coin seems to represent one of the eight trigrams. Therefore, it is said that the moon (crescent) patterns found on Zhouyuan Tongbao cash coins are closely related to the five elements, yin and yang, new life, and the beginning of the day (further reading: "Han dynasty coinage § "Yin Yang" and the "Five Elements" as the basis for Star, Moon, Cloud, and Dragon symbols on ancient Chinese coins and charms").
Zhouyuan Tongbao cash coins generally have a diameter of about 24 mm to 25 mm, with the largest recorded one being 25.8 mm, and the smallest one being only 22.6 mm.Yi Feng (夷风) - The casting background of the Zhouyuan Tongbao (周元通宝的铸造背景) - "Anhui Numismatics" 2011 No. 2 (《安徽钱币》2011年 第2期). - Quote: "周元通宝,一般钱径在24mm至25mm左右,大型者达到25.8mm,小型者只有22.6mm;重量一般在3g至4g之间,最重者4.6g,轻者只有2.9g。" They typically weigh between 3 and 4 grams, with the heaviest recorded one being 4.6 grams, and the lightest one being only 2.9 grams.
List of variants of the Zhouyuan Tongbao
Type and description Catalogue numbers Image Reverse: Plain. Hartill #15.12, Schjøth #414 Reverse: Crescent located above. Hartill #15.13 Reverse: Crescent located at the upper right side. Hartill #15.14, FD #767&c, Schjøth #419&c Reverse: Crescent located right of the square central hole. Hartill #15.15 Reverse: Crescent located at the lower right side. Hartill #15.16 Reverse: Crescent located at the bottom. Hartill #15.17 Reverse: Crescent located at the lower left side. Hartill #15.18 Reverse: Crescent located left of the square central hole. Hartill #15.19 Reverse: Crescent located at the upper left side. Hartill #15.20 Reverse: Crescent below, dot left. Hartill #15.21, FD #768 Reverse: Crescent above, dot below. Hartill #15.22, Schjøth #427 Reverse: Dot above. Hartill #15.23, FD #764 Reverse: Dot below. Hartill #15.24 Reverse: Dot right. Hartill #15.25, Schjøth #426 Obverse: Dot below tong (通). Hartill #15.26 Inscription repeated upside down on the reverse side. Hartill #15.27, FD #769
Catalogue numbers
Hartill = Cast Chinese Coins by David Hartill. Trafford, United Kingdom: Trafford Publishing. September 22, 2005. . FD = Fisher's Ding (丁), George A. Fisher's copy of Ding Fubao's (丁福保) original work catalogue, 1980, 251 pages. Schjøth = "Chinese Currency, Currency of the Far East - A Comprehensive Text Chou Dynasty, 1122 B.C.–255 B.C. Through Ch'ing Dynasty 1644 A.D.–1911 A.D." by Fredrik Schjøth and Virgil Hancock, Oslow, Norway, 1929.
Zhouyuan Tongbao and superstitions
Traditional Chinese medicine
In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) the Zhouyuan Tongbao is believed to have preventative powers against malaria and both miscarriages and various childbirth complications, such as dystocia.婦人手握此錢（周元通寶），可治難產（清·《因樹屋書影》）(in Classical Chinese). Pregnant women are advised to carry a Zhouyuan Tongbao cash coin around for both a smoother pregnancy and childbirth.
Zhouyuan Tongbao charms
As the Zhouyuan Tongbao was created from Buddhist statues the inscription very quickly became a popular inscription used on Chinese numismatic charms (see "Chinese charms with coin inscriptions"). As ancient Chinese people believed that Zhouyuan Tongbao cash coins were "auspicious" because of there origins, this belief Was carried over to the coin charms and amulets produced during the following centuries which display the same inscription. The general idea behind the "charm powers" of the Zhouyuan Tongbao inscription is based on the fact that the original cash coins were created from Buddhist statues meaning that their religious significance was transferred to the cash coins.
Variant Zhouyuan Tongbao charms typically have the same obverse side as the original cash coin, but the reverse side of the coin charm shows a different design.Luo Si (罗思) - Cupro-nickel Zhouyuan Tongbao Dragon and Phoenix Coin (白铜周元通宝龙凤钱) - "Xi'an Finance" Issue 5, 2005 (《西安金融》2005年 第5期). These charms include reverse sides featuring "suns" and "moons" represented by dots and crescents, the dragon and fenghuang symbolising matrimonial harmony, a meditating Lohan, and other symbols.He Xiaojun (何小军) - Zhouyuan Tongbao flower coin with a dragon and fenghuang reverse. (周元通宝背龙凤花钱) - "Favourites" Issue 8, 2014 (《收藏》2014年 第8期) Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province (江西赣州). Besides metal, Zhouyuan Tongbao charms can also be made of other materials such as jade.Xue Delin (薛德林) - Jade Zhouyuan Tongbao (玉质“周元通宝”) - "Xinjiang Numismatics" 2010 No. 1 (《新疆钱币》2010年 第1期).