Page 238 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A-Z 231

Top left: Coins as amulets. Bottom left: Three gold bars:
‘May you pass the three state examinations’. Right: Paper
money of the early Ming Dynasty

Paper money has been in use from time to time since the 13th century, and plays an
important part in the cult of the dead and in ancestor worship. Until recent years bundles
of 10,000 Chinese dollar bills – issued by the ‘Bank of the Underworld’ – were burned to
provide the spirits with whatever they need.
Coins were normally made from copper, though at a later date brass began to be used.
In ancient China bar-silver was used as a currency, and was known as ‘silver
shoes’. The shoe shape is used for the construction of ponds and flowerbeds in
ornamental gardens.
From very early times, coins have been used as amulets, as protective devices

against disease-bearing demons, etc. In practice they were worn, either singly or in
strings round the neck. The ‘money that drives off evil influences’ (ya-sui-qian) was
a New Year’s Gift. In the Middle Ages it was the custom to pelt a young couple with
money when they had sat down on their bed, and the bride tried to catch it in her apron.
This was not ordinary money, however, but special coins bearing such inscriptions as
‘Long life, riches and honour’, ‘Like Fish in Water’ (which alludes to marital bliss),
‘May you grow old in harmony’, ‘May you have five sons and one daughter.’ Nowadays,
the bride tries to blow the water out of a half-filled bowl so that she can pick up the coin
lying on the bottom.
One of the most popular Chinese operas is called ‘Shaking the Money Tree’.
The money-tree, from which coins fall, is a frequent motif in pictures. This opera is
usually performed by very young actors. It tells the story of a celestial lady’s-maid who is
bent on getting her share of worldly pleasures. So she goes down to earth where her
behaviour is so appalling that the supreme god has to send down a couple of demiurges
who take her prisoner and bring her back to heaven.