Buddhist coin charm

A Hongwu Tongbao (洪武通寶) charm or amulet which is 119 millimeters in diameter that depicts an ox (or bull) on its reverse alluding to the simple life of Zhu Yuanzhang before he became the Hongwu Emperor.

Chinese numismatic charms with the inscription "Hongwu Tongbao" (洪武通寶) are common however those with graphic depictions of the life of Zhu Yuanzhang only began to appear after the Xinhai revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China in 1912, this was because casting or having in one's possession a "coin" which showed the life of a Chinese emperor during the imperial period would lead to them facing almost certain death. However, as the threat of punishment for circulating these charms disappeared in 1912 they became more commonplace. The reason why Hongwu Tongbao charms and amulets became very popular with the Chinese masses is because these amulets represented the hope that those who come from less than fortunate beginnings may grow up to become the Emperor, this was because Zhu Yuanzhang was born to an impoverished peasant family, his parents died while he was very young, became a beggar, later found employment as a shepherd boy, and eventually moved to live in a Buddhist monastery.[3] As he saw the injustices the Chinese people were suffering under the rule of the Yuan dynasty he joined the red turban rebellion and through his own ability managed to lead the rebellion and restore Chinese independence from foreign rule establishing the Ming dynasty with himself as its Emperor Taizu.[3] This story inspired many commoners to believe that they and their offspring could amount to become successful despite their own humble beginnings, for this reason Chinese charms and amulets that carried the inscription "Hongwu Tongbao" became very popular and many of these usually depict either a part of or the entire aforementioned story.[3]

Hongwu Tongbao charms depicting a young boy playing the flute.

Usually these Hongwu Tongbao charms and amulets are a lot bigger than actual Hongwu Tongbao cash coins for example being 69 millimeters in diameter. However many of these charms and amulets need to be big because they depict very complex scenes of symbolism on their reverse sides. For example, a large Hongwu Tongbao charm may feature a lamb and an ox on its left side symbolising how Zhu Yuanzhang was born into a very poor family of peasants, a Buddhist monk seated on a lotus throne above the square center hole symbolising how he lived in a Buddhist monastery in his youth, next to this Buddhist monk are other Buddhist symbols such as "auspicious clouds" (祥雲) and a bodhi tree, which was the tree under which Gautama Buddha claimed to have found spiritual enlightenment.[6] Another symbol included on this coin charm is a horse located right of the square center hole which symbolises the Mongols whose culture is strongly associated with the horse, the Mongol Yuan dynasty was overthrown by a rebellion of which Zhu Yuanzhang was a part. Another example of a Hongwu Tongbao charm with a size of 43 millimeters in diameter and weighs 29.2 grams depicts a less detailed scene where the reverse features a little boy playing a flute riding either an ox or a water buffalo,[7] in this case the young boy represents Zhu Yuanzhang (or Emperor Taizu) in his youth while the flute he is playing is a symbol associated with a care free life while it's also both a Buddhist and a Taoist symbol. In Taoism the flute is associated with the immortal Lan Caihe while in Buddhism it's used in meditation which alludes to Zhu Yuanzhang's life in a Buddhist monastery.[8][9][10] Meanwhile, not all larger Hongwu Tongbao charms feature more complex scenery as there is an example which only features an ox or water buffalo on the reverse alluding to the humble beginnings of the first Ming dynasty emperor.[11][12]

Ming dynasty cloisonné charms (Traditional Chinese: 明代景泰藍花錢; Simplified Chinese: 明代景泰蓝花钱; Pinyin: míng dài jǐng tài lán huā qián) are extremely scarce Chinese numismatic charms made from cloisonné rather than brass or bronze. A known cloisonné charm from the Ming dynasty has the inscription nā mó ē mí tuó fó (南無阿彌陀佛, "I put my trust in Amitābha Buddha"), with various coloured lotus blossoms between the Hanzi characters. Each colour represents something different while the white lotus symbolises the earth's womb from which everything is born and was the symbol of the Ming dynasty. Another known Ming dynasty era cloisonné charm has the inscription wàn lì nián zhì (萬歷年制, "Made during the [reign] of Wan Li") and the eight Buddhist treasure symbols impressed between the Hanzi characters. These treasure symbols are the umbrella, the conch shell, the flaming wheel, the endless knot, a pair of fish, the treasure vase,[lower-alpha 1] the lotus, and the Victory Banner.[13][14][15][16] Cloisonné charms produced after the Ming dynasty (particularly those from the Qing dynasty) often have flower patterns.[17]

There are Vietnamese amulets that contain the Buddhist prayer "Om mani padme hum" (ॐ मणिपद्मे हूँ), or Án ma ni bát mê hồng (唵嘛呢叭咪吽), written in Devanagari script.[20] This is chanting phrase used by Tibetan monks and has been adapted by other Buddhists in East Asia.[20] In Buddhist schools of meditation the single syllable "Om" (ॐ) in this prayer is used as a focal point to help quiet the mind.[20] These six syllables are said to purify the six realms.[20] Many of these amulets have their inscriptions written in Devanagari is because many of the oldest Buddhist texts were written in Sanskrit later and Pali and many Chinese Buddhist monks studied Sanskrit to better understand these texts.[20] Furthermore, Buddhist monks in Vietnam study Chinese languages to help understand these same texts.[20] Thus there is a fusion of knowledge of both the Sanskrit and the Chinese language which influenced these amulets to both contain a form of pseudo-Devanagari and Chinese script.[20]

Open-work charms depicting fenghuang are much less commonly seen than those that depict Chinese dragons. Fenghuang in Chinese mythology are symbols of "peace" and "joy", as fenghuang are seen as a symbol of yin they tend to have tail feathers in even numbers (as even numbers represent yin while odd numbers represent yang).[21][22][23] Open-work charms that display fenghuang also tend to be on the larger side (for example 58 millimeters in diameter) and also being both thick and heavy.[21] In Buddhism the fenghuang is considered to be a symbol of goodness because it eats no living thing, for this reason open-work charms depicting fenghuang were commonly worn by Buddhists.[24]

Open-work charms that feature the design of a lotus[25] according to Buddhist tradition symbolise a detachment from worldly cares due to the manner the flower which is perceived to be beautiful to emerge from the pond's muck.[21] Due to the fact that the lotus flower has two different names in Mandarin Chinese, namely "蓮花" (lián huā) and "荷花" (hé huā), the first character of the former can be used as a homophonic pun with the word "continuous" (連, lián) while the latter could be used to represent the word "harmony" (和, hé) creating a visual pun for "continuous harmony" (連和, lián hé).[21]

Variants of these lotus charms that depict a lotus pod filled with seeds could also be worn in the hopes that they will improve fertility as the Mandarin Chinese word for "lotus seed" (蓮籽, lián zǐ) could be used as a metaphor for the "continuous birth of children" (連子, lián zi).[21]