Kangxi Tongbao () refers to an inscription used on Chinese cash coins produced during the reign of the

Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 165420 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, personal name Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign of 61 ...

of the

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...

-led

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

. Under the Kangxi Emperor the weights and standards of the

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

cash coins changed several times and the bimetallic system of

Qing dynasty coinage Qing dynasty coinage was based on a Bimetallism, bimetallic standard of copper and silver coinage. The Manchu-led Qing dynasty was proclaimed in 1636 and ruled over China proper from 1644 until its overthrow in 1912 as a result of the Xinhai Re ...

was established. Today Kangxi Tongbao cash coins are commonly used as charms and amulets where different forms of superstition have developed arounds its

mint mark A mint mark is a letter, symbol or an inscription on a coin indicating the mint where the coin was produced. It is distinct from a mintmaster mark, the mark of the mintmaster. History Mint marks were first developed to locate a problem. If a co ...

s and

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

. 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 Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

operated by the central government, many provincial mints operated intermittently.

Background

After the

Manchus The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) an ...

occupied

in 1644, the government of the Qing dynasty began the production of the Shunzhi Tongbao (順治通寶) cash coins modeled after the Huichang Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins (會昌開元通寶錢) of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

and the Dazhong Tongbao (大中通寶) and Hongwu Tongbao (洪武通寶) of the early

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

. Like these cash coins the Shunzhi Tongbao used

s in the form of a single

Chinese character Chinese characters are logographs used to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars, they represent the only on ...

on the reverse side of the coin to indicate their origin. Other types of Shunzhi Tongbao were also cast creating a total of 5 different types. Under the

only two of these types were retained, one type had a Manchu characters on the left side of the reverse and a Chinese character on the right side of the reverse to indicate the mint of production and was used for provincial mints. The other type had the name of the mint in

on the right side with the character "" (Boo) on the left which were used for cash coins produced at the Ministry of Revenue and Ministry of Public Works.

History

In the year Kangxi 1 (or the Gregorian year 1662), all provincial mints in the Qing dynasty were closed down with the exception of the Jiangning Mint. Meanwhile in Kangxi 5 (1667) all provincial mints would re-open again but three years later a large number of them would close down due to the high price of

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

in China at the time. In the year Kangxi 7 (1668), the

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

Mint in

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

started casting Kangxi Tongbao cash coins with a weight of 1.4 Mace (1 mace = 3.73 gram) which was heavier than those in many other provinces. Those responsible for the transportation of copper rarely made the mints in time, and while copper prices were rising daily the Ministry of Revenue still maintained a fixed rate of exchange between copper and silver causing many provincial mints to quickly lose money, while on paper they were still profitable. A mint was established in

Tainan Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in southern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and commonly called the "Taiwan Prefecture, ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

in the year 1689, but it did not 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 Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

are notably quite

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

dish 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 ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_map = Guizhou in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_alt = Map showing the location of Guizhou Province , map_caption = Map s ...

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). Between the years 1674 and 1681 during the

Revolt of the Three Feudatories The Revolt of the Three Feudatories, () also known as the Rebellion of Wu Sangui, was a rebellion lasting from 1673 to 1681 in the early Qing dynasty of China, during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661–1722). The revolt was led by Wu San ...

the province of Yunnan was in the hands of the rebel

Wu Sangui Wu Sangui (; 8 June 1612 – 2 October 1678), courtesy name Changbai () or Changbo (), was a Chinese military leader who played a key role in the fall of the Ming dynasty and the founding of the Qing dynasty. In Chinese folklore, Wu Sangui is r ...

and later his grandson

Wu Shifan Wu Shifan (); 1663–1681, was the grandson of Wu Sangui and his successor as emperor of the Zhou dynasty during the Revolt of the Three Feudatories. He was declared the ''taisun'' (太孫, lit. 'Imperial Eldest Grandson'). He was eventually surro ...

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. In 1684, the ratio of copper to

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

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 Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

with a ratio of 1000 Zhongqian per

tael Tael ( ),"Tael" entry
at the

bimetallic system. The Xiaoqian were only worth 0.7 tael of silver per string of 1000 coins (which would equate to 14.3 Xiaoqian per

fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetland along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires ...

of silver), however by the middle of the eighteenth century the Xiaoqian disappeared from circulation. By 1702 all provincial mints were closed again due to the aforementioned circumstances.

Mint marks

Under the Kangxi Emperor cash coins with the inscription Kangxi Tongbao were produced with both a

and a Manchu character on the reverse side of the coin at provincial mints, while the Ministries of Revenue and Public Works in the city of

Zhili Zhili, alternately romanized as Chihli, was a northern administrative region of China since the 14th century that lasted through the Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty until 1911, when the region was dissolved, converted to a province, and renamed ...

exclusively used Manchu characters.

Ministry of Revenue and Ministry of Public Works

Provincial mints

Commemorative issues

In 1713, a special Kangxi Tongbao (康熙通寶) cash coin was issued to commemorate the sixtieth birthday of the

, these bronze coins were produced with a special yellowish colour, and these cash coins believed to have "the powers of a charm" immediately when it entered circulation, this commemorative coin contains a slightly different version of the Hanzi symbol "", at the bottom of the cash, as this character would most commonly have a vertical line at the left part of it but did not have it, and the part of this symbol which was usually inscribed as "" has the middle part written as a "" instead. Notably, the upper left area of the symbol "" only contains a single dot as opposed of the usual two dots used during this era. Several myths were attributed to this coin over the following 300 years since it has been cast such as the myth that the coin was cast from molten down "golden" (brass) statues of the 18 disciples of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

which earned this coin the nicknames "the Lohan coin" and "Arhat money" because the Kangxi Emperor was intimately involved with

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

missionaries and developed a contempt for

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. These commemorative ''kāng xī tōng bǎo'' cash coins were given to children as ''yā suì qián'' (壓歲錢) during

Chinese new year Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival (see also #Names, § Names), is a festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is one of the most important holi ...

, some women wore them akin to how an

engagement ring An engagement ring, also known as a betrothal ring, is a ring indicating that the person wearing it is engaged to be married, especially in Western cultures. A ring is presented as an engagement gift by a partner to their prospective spouse ...

is worn today, and in rural

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

young men wore this special ''kāng xī tōng bǎo'' cash coin between their teeth like men from cities had golden teeth. Despite the myths surrounding this coin it was made from a copper-alloy and did not contain any gold but it was not uncommon for people to enhance the coin with

gold leaf upA gold nugget of 5 mm (0.2 in) in diameter (bottom) can be expanded through hammering into a gold foil of about 0.5 m2 (5.4 sq ft). The Japan.html" ;"title="Toi gold mine museum, Japan">Toi gold mine museum, Japan. Gold leaf is gold that has ...

. According to David Hartill this myth was first reported around the year 1851 in China and attributes this to similar stories which were circulating about the "Bun" '' Kan'ei Tsūhō'' cash coins from

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

at the time.

Kangxi Tongbao charms and poem coins

Chinese numismatic charms - Scott Semans 100

Chinese poem coins (

Traditional Chinese A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...

: 詩錢;

Simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one that is simpler (usually shorter), according to a well-founded ordering. Examples include: ...

: 诗钱;

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: ''shī qián'', alternatively 二十錢局名) were Chinese cash coins cast under the

, a Manchu Emperor known for his Chinese poetry skills and wrote the work "Illustrations of Plowing and Weaving" (耕織圖) in 1696. Under the Kangxi Emperor 23 mints operated at various times with many closing and reopening, the coins produced under the Kangxi Emperor all had the obverse inscription ''Kāng Xī Tōng Bǎo'' (康熙通寶). As the name Kangxi was composed of the characters meaning "health" () and "prosperous" () the ''Kāng Xī Tōng Bǎo'' cash coins were already viewed as having auspicious properties by the Chinese people. As the ''Kāng Xī Tōng Bǎo'' cash coins were produced at various mints some people placed these coins together to form poems, even though many of these poems did not have any meaning they were composed in adherence to the rules of

Classical Chinese poetry Classical Chinese poetry is traditional Chinese poetry written in Classical Chinese and typified by certain traditional forms, or modes; traditional genres; and connections with particular historical periods, such as the poetry of the Tang dy ...

. These coins were always placed together to form the following poems: It was arranged by a Chinese private

coin collector Coin collecting is the collecting of coins or other forms of minted legal tender. Coins of interest to collectors include beautiful, rare, and historically significant pieces. Collectors may be interested, for example, in complete sets of a ...

using the different mint marks to form a type of a Chinese poetry during the

Qianlong The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, personal name Hongli, was the fifth emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. He reigned ...

period and it has now become the favourite target of collection for many coin collectors in

Mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

and

. 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: ''Kāng Xī Tōng Bǎo'' cash coins produced at the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Public Works in the capital city of

are excluded from these poems. 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. 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

of the

lasted an entire 60-year cycle of the

Chinese calendar The traditional Chinese calendar, dating back to the Han dynasty, is a lunisolar calendar that blends solar, lunar, and other cycles for social and agricultural purposes. While modern China primarily uses the Gregorian calendar for officia ...

and thus according to feng shui cash coins with this inscription represent "

longevity Longevity may refer to especially long-lived members of a population, whereas ''life expectancy'' is defined Statistics, statistically as the average number of years remaining at a given age. For example, a population's life expectancy at birth ...

".Justus Doolittle (edited and revised by Paxton Hood), �
Social Life of the Chinese. A Daguerrotype of Daily Life in China
�� (

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

: Sampson Low, Son, and Marston, 1868). Pages 563 to 565.

References

Citations

Sources

* * T'ang Yu K'un.《制錢通考》(''A comprehensive study of chinese coins'') . * Wei Chien Yu.《中國近代貨幣史》(''Currency history of Modern China'') . 群聯出版社，1955. * Ting Fu Pao.《古錢大辭典》(''A dictionary of ancient Chinese coins''). 中華書局. * Werner Burger. ''Ch'ing Cash until 1735'', Mei Ya Publications, Inc., 1976. * Pang Hsin Wei. 《中國貨幣史》(''The Currency History of China''). 上海人民出版社, 1988. /K·47. * 張作耀. 《中國歷史便覽》(''China History Bianlan'')，人民出版社，1992, /K·53. * Hartill, David, ''Qing cash'', Royal Numismatic Society Special Publication 37,

, 2003.

External links

* {{Chinese currency and coinage Coins of ancient China Kangxi Emperor Chinese numismatics Cash coins by inscription