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181-559: During the imperial period in Chinese history a relatively small number of Chinese cash coins were minted with what are termed "flower holes", "chestnut holes" or "rosette holes", these holes were octagonal but resembled the shape of flowers. The exact origin and purpose of these variant holes is currently unknown but several hypotheses have been proposed by Chinese scholars. While Huachuanqian are believed to have disappeared in China following

362-473: A dragon and a fisherman . Other than simply having the inscription "Wu Zhu" some Wu Zhu charms are also based on other variants of the Wu Zhu cash coins with four character inscriptions that incorporate the legend "Wu Zhu". Wu Zhu cash coins are sometimes Integrated into other types of charms and amulets, as there is a variant Daruma doll which features Bodhidharma , the founder of Zen Buddhism , holding

543-433: A " coin tree " (錢樹) where they had to be broken off, all excess copper-alloy had to be manually chiseled or filed off from the central holes. This is because the cash coins were still connected to each other by the channel-like "branches" that permitted the molten metal to be flown throughout the coin mould. The rod used during this post-removal chiseling process was square so that once the cash coins, with their square holes in

724-561: A "flower hole" (花穿), a "rosette hole", or a "chestnut hole". Besides the Mandarin term Huachuanqian (花穿錢) they are also known as Linghuachuanqian (菱花穿錢). While some believe that these "flower hole" cash coins were accidentally created due to the incompetence of mint workers who produced faulty cash coins, others believe that these "flower holes" weren't mere accidental creations and had some sort of significance, meaning that they were intentionally created. Huachuanqian are characterised by

905-595: A Korean cash coin with an eight-sided "flower hole" ("rosette hole") includes a Sangpyeong Tongbo  [ ko ] (常平通寶) cash coin cast at the "Government Office of Pukhan Mountain Fortress", with the mint mark kyŏng (經). While Huachuanqian were very scarce in Chine until the Song dynasty period, cash coins with "flower holes" were gradually becoming rarer in subsequent dynasties and probably stopped being produced around

1086-476: A Liang ( tael ) was 24 Zhu, however over time the weight of Ban Liang cash coins gradually decreased so the Wu Zhu cash coins were introduced as a new standard unit (after the earlier San Zhu , or "3 Zhu" cash coins) under the reign of Emperor Emperor Wu . The introduction of the Wu Zhu also fixed the standard exchange between bronze coins and gold as 10,000 bronze Wu Zhu cash coins would be worth 1 Jin of gold. The first Wu Zhu cash coins had unfiled edges but

1267-544: A coin is dictated by the minting techniques used to produce it and the Wu Zhu's of the Sui dynasty were produced with an entirely new casting technology. Among the varieties of the Sui dynasty era Wu Zhu is one which is particularly well-made composed of what the Chinese call "white copper" (白銅, bái tóng ) and are therefore known as "Bai Qian Wu Zhu" (白錢五銖, bái qián wǔ zhū ) cash coins and are believed to have been manufactured in

1448-634: A decade. After Emperor Xiaowu was forced to flee from Luoyang in the year 534 the country split into the Western Wei dynasty and the Eastern Wei dynasty, and despite the fact that neither country existed for a long period of time they both continued issuing Yongan Wuzhu cash coins to the point that both large quantities and a large number of varieties exist, as well as the fact that Yongan Wuzhu cash coins are still extremely common today. During this era various nicknames for cash coins were given by

1629-518: A hoard. Chinese numismatic charms based on Wu Zhu cash coins tend to feature the same "auspicious symbolism" as contemporary Wu Zhu cash coins had themselves including crescents representing the moon, circles representing the sun, and dots representing the stars, in fact to an untrained eye Wu Zhu charms can be interchangeable with regular Wu Zhu coins. Other than these features it's also not uncommon for Wu Zhu charms to feature wholly original iconography from various aspects of Chinese culture such as

1810-410: A long time, these moulds continued to be used over and over again by subsequent dynasties. However, as other techniques such as mother coins started to be used some mints started adding these "auspicious" symbols which became the inspiration for later Chinese charms and amulets. Although the usage of some these symbols were already used on the earlier Ban Liang cash coins, they became more common on

1991-562: A man called Gu Xuan of the Liang dynasty that was one of the first to write about Chinese numismatics. Gu Xuan wrote about the circulating cash coins of the period, but did not mention any Qi dynasty cash coins. Peng takes this as evidence that the Qi dynasty did not mint any of its own cash coins. The cash coins of this period were of a high artistic standard, especially those produced by the Chen and

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2172-599: A minor crop. Fruit such as peaches , cherries and oranges , as well as chickens and various vegetables, were also domesticated in Neolithic China. Bronze artifacts have been found at the Majiayao culture site (between 3100 and 2700 BC). The Bronze Age is also represented at the Lower Xiajiadian culture (2200–1600 BC) site in northeast China. Sanxingdui located in what is now Sichuan

2353-473: A number of currency reforms which met with varying degrees of success. The first reform, in AD 7, retained the Wu Zhu coin, but reintroduced two versions of the knife money, during a later reform the Wu Zhu cash coins were completely abolished and Wang Mang placed the death penalty on anyone who dared to circulate any Wu Zhu cash coins, but as the new currency system introduced by Wang Mang was chaotic and confusing to

2534-454: A prominent problem. Zhi Bai Wu Zhu's are usually divided into "thin" and "thick" types depending on the thickness of the cash coin. It is also believed that the Kingdom of Shu Han under the reign of Liu Bei cast a variant of the Wu Zhu cash coin which had a rim around the square hole that is 21.7 millimetres in diameter and has a weight of around 2.3 grams and due to this associated is known as

2715-566: A state ideology promoted by the emperor and his chancellor Li Si that was introduced at an earlier time by Shang Yang . In legal matters this philosophy emphasised mutual responsibility in disputes and severe punishments for crime, while economic practices included the general encouragement of agriculture and repression of trade. Reforms occurred in weights and measures, writing styles ( seal script ) and metal currency ( Ban Liang ), all of which were standardized. Traditionally, Qin Shi Huang

2896-503: A successful campaign against the northern Xiongnu peoples (210s BC), reportedly with 300,000 troops. Under Qin Shi Huang's orders, Meng supervised the combining of numerous ancient walls into what came to be known as the Great Wall of China and oversaw the building of a 500 miles (800 km) straight highway between northern and southern China. The emperor also oversaw the construction of his monumental mausoleum , which includes

3077-410: A value of 5 cash coins, these coins are known as "Chi Ze Wu Zhu" (赤仄五銖, chì zè wǔ zhū ) or "Zhong Guan Chi Ze" (鍾官赤仄, zhōng guān chì zè ) because of their "red" or "purple" edges as they were filed which resulted in the colour of the copper being visible, another feature of these cash coins is that the "Wu" (五) character tends to be composed of some rather straight lines. Starting from the year 113 BC,

3258-521: A weight of 0.2 to 0.4 grams. The third type of these cash coins are also completely without rim but are square in shape and have a square centre hole, they tend to be very thin with diameters between 8 and 11 millimetres and weigh between 0.2 and 0.5 grams. The final variant are irregularly shaped, diminutive in size, thin, and are cast of poor workmanship. Some are merely five millimetres in diameter and weigh as little as 0.2 grams. The Buddhist monk Xuanzang describes that there are "small bronze coins" in

3439-552: A wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Yellow River valley, which along with the Yangtze basin constitutes the geographic core of the Chinese cultural sphere . China maintains a rich diversity of ethnic and linguistic people groups. The traditional lens for viewing Chinese history

3620-410: Is a mixture of both Chinese seal script and clerical script , which comprises the classic Wei stelae style (魏碑体). The Taihe Wuzhu cash coins only circulated in the areas around Luoyang and never became the national currency for the entire Northern Wei dynasty as a whole leading to them becoming relatively scarce. The Northern Wei dynasty started issuing regular Wu Zhu (五銖) cash coins in 510 but it

3801-585: Is believed to be one of a very few loci of independent invention of writing, and the earliest surviving records display an already-mature written language. The culture remembered by the earliest extant literature is that of the Zhou dynasty ( c.  1046  – 256 BC), China's Axial Age , during which the Mandate of Heaven was introduced, and foundations laid for philosophies such as Confucianism , Taoism , Legalism , and Wuxing . China

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3982-468: Is believed to be the site of a major ancient city, of a previously unknown Bronze Age culture (between 2000 and 1200 BC). The site was first discovered in 1929 and then re-discovered in 1986. Chinese archaeologists have identified the Sanxingdui culture to be part of the state of Shu , linking the artifacts found at the site to its early legendary kings. Ferrous metallurgy begins to appear in

4163-525: Is conventionally defined by the presence of agriculture, it follows that the Neolithic began at different times in the various regions of what is now China. Agriculture in China developed gradually, with initial domestication of a few grains and animals gradually expanding with the addition of many others over subsequent millennia. The earliest evidence of cultivated rice, found by the Yangtze River,

4344-648: Is currently unknown what special characteristics these Wu Zhu cash coins had to differentiate them from other Wu Zhu's. Emperor Xiaozhuang ordered the creation of the Yongan Wuzhu in the year 529 which was during the Yongan period (528–530), despite the fact that the authoritative power government of the Northern Wei dynasty was in trouble as the rebellion of the Six Frontier Towns waged on for

4525-500: Is exactly unknown when they were produced, it is speculated by some Chinese numismatists and Gary Ashkenazy that they were only produced for five days in the year 557 immediately after the production of the "Four Pillar Wu Zhu cash coins" to circulate at a value of 10 normal Wu Zhu's and had three "stars" to differentiate them from the earlier "Two Pillar Wu Zhu cash coins" which had the same exaggerated nominal value. "Three Pillar Wu Zhu cash coins" have one "star" above and one "star" below

4706-571: Is known as the Warring States period. Though the Zhou king nominally remained as such until 256   BC, he was largely a figurehead that held little real power. Numerous developments were made during this period in the areas of culture and mathematics—including the Zuo Zhuan within the Spring and Autumn Annals (a literary work summarizing the preceding Spring and Autumn period), and

4887-577: Is likely that the government would've had to cast a large number of cash coins in order to need the demand coming from the market. The Great Dictionary of Chinese Numismatics claims that Wu Zhu cash coins were being cast in the city of Chengdu in the Shu region of the Western Jin dynasty (which lies in modern-day Sichuan ). After a family struggle within the Sima family caused a devastating civil war, China

5068-515: Is named after the famous Spring and Autumn Annals . The sharply reduced political authority of the royal house left a power vacuum at the center of the Zhou culture sphere. The Zhou kings had delegated local political authority to hundreds of settlement states , some of them only as large as a walled town and surrounding land. These states began to fight against one another and vie for hegemony . The more powerful states tended to conquer and incorporate

5249-879: Is one purported version of the Taihe Wuzhu which has the Chinese character "Tai" (太) written in a calligraphic style akin to that of the "Tai" on the Taihuo Liuzhu (太貨六銖, tài huò liù zhū ) cash coin issued by the Chen dynasty . However, as the only evidence relating to the existence of this cash coin comes from rubbings in old coin catalogues it is speculated that or actually isn't real. Taihe Wuzhu coins tend to be fairly crudely made and vary in size and weight. Larger specimens are typically about 2.5 centimeters in diameter and weigh about 3 grams. Smaller Taihe Wuzhu specimens are typically about 2 centimeters in diameter and weigh 2.3 grams. The calligraphy found on its inscription

5430-587: Is regarded as ordering a mass burning of books and the live burial of scholars under the guise of Legalism, though contemporary scholars express considerable doubt on the historicity of this event . Despite its importance, Legalism was probably supplemented in non-political matters by Confucianism for social and moral beliefs and the five-element Wuxing ( 五行 ) theories for cosmological thought. The Qin administration kept exhaustive records on their population, collecting information on their sex, age, social status and residence. Commoners, who made up over 90% of

5611-678: Is termed the Eastern Han dynasty . With the capable administrations of Emperors Ming and Zhang , former glories of the dynasty were reclaimed, with brilliant military and cultural achievements. The Xiongnu Empire was decisively defeated . The diplomat and general Ban Chao further expanded the conquests across the Pamirs to the shores of the Caspian Sea , thus reopening the Silk Road , and bringing trade, foreign cultures, along with

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5792-486: Is that they have a rim around the square center hole of the reverse side of them, these rims were added to prevent people from scraping metal off the coins which would reduce their value. Another notable feature of these early Wu Zhu's is that they tend to have edges which are unfiled, making these cash coins to generally have rough circumferences, they are notably also heavier than later cast Wu Zhu's. In 115 BC Emperor Wu decreed that all Wu Zhu cash coins should be cast with

5973-409: Is the dynastic cycle : imperial dynasties rise and fall, and are ascribed certain achievements. Throughout pervades the narrative that Chinese civilization can be traced as an unbroken thread many thousands of years into the past , making it one of the cradles of civilization . At various times, states representative of a dominant Chinese culture have directly controlled areas stretching as far west as

6154-640: Is the southwestern Yuanmou Man ( 元谋人 ; in Yunnan ), dated to c. 1.7 Ma, which lived in a mixed bushland -forest environment alongside chalicotheres , deer , the elephant Stegodon , rhinos , cattle, pigs, and the giant short-faced hyena . The better-known Peking Man ( 北京猿人 ; near Beijing) of 700,000–400,000 BP , was discovered in the Zhoukoudian cave alongside scrapers , choppers , and, dated slightly later, points, burins , and awls. Other Homo erectus fossils have been found widely throughout

6335-546: Is unknown how these Tianjia era Wu Zhu's looked like. It is speculated that these Tianjia era Wu Zhu's would have been relatively big and had a rim around the square center hole on the obverse side of the coin being overall similar to the Taihuo Liuzhu (太貨六銖, tài huò liù zhū ) cash coins. Wu Zhu cash coins that fit this description historically have been believed to have been produced during the Tianjian era (502–519) in

6516-515: The Bamboo Annals and Sima Qian 's Shiji ( c.  91 BC ). The Xia is generally considered mythical by Western scholars, but in China it is usually associated with the early Bronze Age site at Erlitou (1900–1500 BC) in Henan that was excavated in 1959. Since no writing was excavated at Erlitou or any other contemporaneous site, there is not enough evidence to prove whether

6697-609: The Chinese characters and any other symbols that were present on the obverse side of the cash coin. Gary Ashkenazy notes that as all symbols and inscriptions found on cash coins with "flower holes" tend to be as crisp and distinct as their ordinary square holed counterparts, debunking this traditional hypothesis as being "obviously inadequate". Numismatic researcher Zhang Hongming also notes these issues with this common hypothesis, further noting that cash coins which were cast with errors are known as "wrong money" (錯範錢, 错范钱) and don't typically resemble Huachuanqian. Furthermore, all 8 sides of

6878-618: The Han dynasty in 118 BC when they replaced the earlier San Zhu (三銖; "Three Zhu") cash coins, which had replaced the Ban Liang (半兩) cash coins a year prior, until they themselves were replaced by the Kaiyuan Tongbao (開元通寳) cash coins of the Tang dynasty in 621 AD. The name Wu Zhu literally means "five zhu" which is a measuring unit officially weighing about 4 grams however in reality

7059-858: The Jiangnan region. The Chinese character "Wu" (五) on these coins is slightly more curved where the lines cross. Wu Zhu cash coins from the Sui dynasty are known to be produced in both larger and smaller sizes, the smaller and lighter Wu Zhu's were produced later as the country was facing higher expenditures and debased the coinage, the last Wu Zhu cash coins of the Sui dynasty circulated alongside improvised currency such as scraps of iron, paper, and leather. Almost 900 different types and over 1800 varieties of Wu Zhu cash coins and Wu Zhu derivatives are known to exist. List of variants of Wu Zhu cash coins: "Elm seeds countless press in sheets, Lord Shen's green cash line town streets." Apparently this means that Lord Shen's cash were small and light. The Kingdom of Kucha

7240-556: The Late Shang period ( c.  1250–1050 BC ). The findings at Anyang include the earliest written record of the Chinese so far discovered: inscriptions of divination records in ancient Chinese writing on the bones or shells of animals—the oracle bones , dating from c.  1250  – c.  1046 BC . A series of at least twenty-nine kings reigned over the Shang dynasty. Throughout their reigns, according to

7421-572: The Liang dynasty under the reign of Emperor Wu . As Wu Zhu cash coins also fitting this description have been dug up in Guanzhong , Shaanxi it has been proposed that they might've been produced by the Northern Zhou dynasty. Under the reign of Emperor Xuan in 579 the Taihuo Liuzhu (太貨六銖, tài huò liù zhū ) cash coins were cast which originally had a nominal value of 10 Wu Zhu's but due to

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7602-531: The Mandate of Heaven called for the end of the Han dynasty and the rise of his own, and he founded the short-lived Xin dynasty. Wang Mang started an extensive program of land and other economic reforms, including the outlawing of slavery and land nationalization and redistribution. These programs, however, were never supported by the landholding families, because they favored the peasants. The instability of power brought about chaos, uprisings, and loss of territories. This

7783-582: The Mongol Empire conquered all of China, establishing the Yuan dynasty in 1271. Contact with Europe began to increase during this time. Achievements under the subsequent Ming dynasty (1368–1644) include global exploration , fine porcelain , and many extant public works projects, such as those restoring the Grand Canal and Great Wall . Three of the four Classic Chinese Novels were written during

7964-450: The Shiji , the capital city was moved six times. The final and most important move was to Yin during the reign of Wu Ding c.  1250 BC . The term Yin dynasty has been synonymous with the Shang dynasty in history, although it has lately been used to refer specifically to the latter half of the Shang dynasty. Although written records found at Anyang confirm the existence of

8145-473: The Sui dynasty , which soon gave way to the long-lived Tang dynasty (608–907), regarded as another Chinese golden age. The Tang dynasty saw flourishing developments in science, technology, poetry, economics, and geographical influence. China's only officially recognized empress, Wu Zetian , reigned during the dynasty's first century. Buddhism was adopted by Tang emperors. "Tang people" is the other common demonym for

8326-1196: The Tian Shan , the Tarim Basin , and the Himalayas , as far north as the Sayan Mountains , and as far south as the delta of the Red River . The Neolithic period saw increasingly complex polities begin to emerge along the Yellow and Yangtze rivers. The Erlitou culture in the central plains of China is sometimes identified with the Xia dynasty (3rd millennium BC) of traditional Chinese historiography . The earliest surviving written Chinese dates to roughly 1250 BC, consisting of divinations inscribed on oracle bones . Chinese bronze inscriptions , ritual texts dedicated to ancestors, form another large corpus of early Chinese writing. The earliest strata of received literature in Chinese include poetry , divination , and records of official speeches . China

8507-541: The Tuoba clan that adopted the administrative system of the Han Chinese and even established their capital city at Luoyang , a city which had been the capital city of various preceding Chinese dynasties and mandated that his people adopt both Chinese fashion and language . During this period Emperor Xiaowen ordered the issuance of the Taihe Wuzhu (太和五銖, tài hé wǔ zhū ) as part of this Sinicisation process. There

8688-652: The Turks , Mongols , and Tibetans . Many had, to some extent, been " sinicized " long before their ascent to power. In fact, some of them, notably the Qiang and the Xiongnu, had already been allowed to live in the frontier regions within the Great Wall since late Han times. During this period, warfare ravaged the north and prompted large-scale Han Chinese migration south to the Yangtze River Basin and Delta. In

8869-539: The Western Han dynasty and the subsequent seven hundred years of its usage not all variants can be directly attributed to every ruler , however "auspicious" symbols such as stars (dots), suns (circles), moons (crescents), numbers, rod numerals , Hanzi characters, lines, and others started to be used after the Eastern Han dynasty, the reason for the earlier uniformity was the usage of bronze moulds which last for

9050-445: The arrival of Buddhism . With extensive connections with the west, the first of several Roman embassies to China were recorded in Chinese sources, coming from the sea route in AD 166, and a second one in AD 284. The Eastern Han dynasty was one of the most prolific eras of science and technology in ancient China, notably the historic invention of papermaking by Cai Lun , and the numerous scientific and mathematical contributions by

9231-490: The end of the Ming dynasty , which ended in 1644. Meanwhile, this Sangpyeong Tongbo cash coin with a "flower hole" was produced in 1830, several centuries after the last recorded Huachuanqian were seen in China. List of recorded cash coins with "flower holes": [REDACTED] Media related to Cash coins with flower hole at Wikimedia Commons Imperial China The history of China spans several millennia across

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9412-412: The monetary history of China , making cash coins easily recognised as being distinctively "Chinese" for over 2000 years. However, a relatively small number of cash coins that circulated in Chinese history notably had a differently shaped central hole with a recognisably artistic flair, namely hexagonal and octagonal central holes. The Chinese typically refer to these eight-sided holed cash coins as having

9593-531: The transition from Ming to Qing , they continued to appear among Korean cash coins until the Koreans abolished their cash coins . Western numismatic sources often refer to these cash coins as having "star" holes. Among coin collectors Huachuanqian sell for a premium compared to their square holed counterparts with the same inscription. If the shape of these holes were only hexagonal then they were referred to as "turtle shell hole coins" (龜甲穿錢). While initially

9774-405: The "Kaihuang Wu Zhu cash coins" (開皇五銖, kāi huáng wǔ zhū ) because of their year of introduction, later Emperor Wen allowed the principalities of the Sui dynasty to cast their own Wu Zhu's. Additional mints were set up in various prefectures, typically with five furnaces each. Cash was frequently checked for quality by the officials. However, after 605, private coining again caused a deterioration of

9955-454: The "Shu Wu Zhu" (蜀五銖, shǔ wǔ zhū ) cash coins, but due to later archeological findings this isn't taken with absolute certainty. In the Kingdom of Cao Wei which was established by Cao Cao in 220 it is believed that only Wu Zhu coins were cast, moulds have been found dating to this period and it is confirmed that Wu Zhu cash coins were cast from the first year of the Taihe period (227) until

10136-465: The "Wu" (五) character to the right side of the square center hole. The Northern Qi dynasty was a country founded by Emperor Wenxuan that existed from the year 550 until 577, from the year 553 the Changping Wuzhu (常平五銖, chángpíng wǔ zhū ) cash coins were cast. China was reunified under the Sui dynasty (581–618). Under this short-lived dynasty, many reforms were initiated that led to

10317-414: The "flower hole" and all 6 sides of the "turtle shell hole" are typically contained within the border of the cash coin's inner rim, which surrounds the hole in the middle of the coin. This means that Huachuanqian cannot have been created as the result of either a mould or sand tray shift, because then the inner rim's inside which surrounds the actual hole would likely also feature more sides if this hypothesis

10498-558: The "stack casting" method was first used, some believe that it originated during the Warring States period while others than it started sometime during the Western Han dynasty period by commoners. Ancient Chinese texts reporting on the appearance and circulation of cash coins with "flower (rosette) holes" traditionally concluded that their creation was the result of the 2 halves of the coin mould accidentally being shifted during

10679-404: The "stars" on the left and right sides of the square center hole. Today "Four Pillar Wu Zhu cash coins" are extremely rare with those that have the "stars" above and below the square center hole being the rarest. Another variant of Liang dynasty era Wu Zhu's known as the "Three Pillar Wu Zhu cash coins" (三柱五銖錢, sān zhù wǔ zhū qián ) were produced, however as no historical records mention them it

10860-497: The Chinese Wu Zhu's which are usually characterised by the fact that they're diminutive in size, very thin, and tend to have both weak and irregular inscriptions while four of these types tend to have no inscriptions at all. One type of Kucha Wu Zhu cash coin is the "Han Gui bilingual Wu Zhu coin" (漢龜二體五銖錢, hàn guī èr tǐ wǔ zhū qián ) which are characterised by the fact that the obverse side resembles Chinese Wu Zhu coins while

11041-768: The Chinese throne, Huachuanqian would continue to be produced, though now in drastically reduced quantities, during the subsequent dynasties. During the Ming dynasty period "flower holes" were still (rarely) recorded in Hongwu Tongbao (洪武通寶) and Yongle Tongbao (永樂通寶) cash coins, with the Chongzhen Tongbao (崇禎通寶) series being the last recorded known cash coins to have "flower holes". Centuries after their production many coin collectors regarded Huachuanqian as "rubbish" (垃圾品) coins and often mockingly referred to as "wild chrysanthemum " (野菊花) money. It wasn't until

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11222-616: The Guijiachuan have been subject to numismatic study and are often grouped together with the Huachuanqian when discussing their origins, circulation, and possible hidden meanings. While Japanese , Korean , and Vietnamese cash coins are based on Chinese cash coins both in design and in production, the quality of the cash coins produced in Japan , Korea , and Vietnam varies greatly. The manufacturing techniques of these cash coins

11403-521: The Han River valley. Qin imitated the administrative reforms of the other states, thereby becoming a powerhouse. Its final expansion began during the reign of Ying Zheng , ultimately unifying the other six regional powers, and enabling him to proclaim himself as China's first emperor —known to history as Qin Shi Huang . Ying Zheng's establishment of the Qin dynasty ( 秦朝 ) in 221 BC effectively formalised

11584-455: The Han dynasty's long period of stability and prosperity consolidated the foundation of China as a unified state under a central imperial bureaucracy, which was to last intermittently for most of the next two millennia. During the Han dynasty, territory of China was extended to most of the China proper and to areas far west. Confucianism was officially elevated to orthodox status and was to shape

11765-676: The Han ethnic group. After the Tang fractured, the Song dynasty (960–1279) saw the maximal extent of imperial Chinese cosmopolitan development. Mechanical printing was introduced, and many of the earliest surviving witnesses of certain texts are wood-block prints from this era. Song scientific advancement led the world, and the imperial examination system gave ideological structure to the political bureaucracy. Confucianism and Taoism were fully knit together in Neo-Confucianism . Eventually,

11946-461: The Han imperial order finally collapsed after four centuries, China entered an equally lengthy period of disunity, during which Buddhism began to have a significant impact on Chinese culture, while Calligraphy , art, historiography, and storytelling flourished. Wealthy families in some cases became more powerful than the central government. The Yangtze River valley was incorporated into the dominant cultural sphere. A period of unity began in 581 with

12127-402: The Han. Despite the division of the country, Buddhism spread throughout the land. In southern China, fierce debates about whether Buddhism should be allowed were held frequently by the royal court and nobles. By the end of the era, Buddhists and Taoists had become much more tolerant of each other. Wu Zhu Wu Zhu ( Chinese : 五銖 ) is a type of Chinese cash coin produced from

12308-439: The Huai River valley, and southward into the Yangtze River valley. In 771 BC, King You and his forces were defeated in the Battle of Mount Li by rebel states and Quanrong barbarians. The rebel aristocrats established a new ruler, King Ping , in Luoyang , beginning the second major phase of the Zhou dynasty: the Eastern Zhou period, which is divided into the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. The former period

12489-473: The Jin prince Sima Rui , based in modern-day Nanjing , became emperor and continued the dynasty, now known as the Eastern Jin, which held southern China for another century. Prior to this move, historians refer to the Jin dynasty as the Western Jin. Northern China fragmented into a series of independent states known as the Sixteen Kingdoms , most of which were founded by Xiongnu , Xianbei , Jie , Di and Qiang rulers. These non-Han peoples were ancestors of

12670-512: The Ming. The Qing dynasty that succeeded the Ming was ruled by ethnic Manchu people. The Qianlong emperor ( r.   1735–1796) commissioned a complete encyclopaedia of imperial libraries, totaling nearly a billion words. Imperial China reached its greatest territorial extent of during the Qing, but China came into increasing conflict with European powers, culminating in the Opium Wars and subsequent unequal treaties . The 1911 Xinhai Revolution , led by Sun Yat-sen and others, created

12851-698: The Northern Song period. In the periods subsequent to the Tang dynasty Huachuanqian would continue to be manufactured on fairly large numbers. A significant amount of Huachuanqian could be found throughout the Song dynasty period. Meanwhile the coinage produced by the Khitan -led Liao dynasty was largely based on the Northern Song dynasty coinage and likewise also feature a number of cash coins with "flower holes". Song dynasty cash coins with "flower (rosette) holes" can be found in all calligraphic styles of writing including seal script , clerical script , regular script , running script , and grass script . However, Huachuanqian would become less commonly seen during

13032-569: The Republic retreating to Taiwan. Both governments still claim sole legitimacy of the entire mainland area. The PRC has slowly accumulated the majority of diplomatic recognition, and Taiwan's status remains disputed to this day. From 1966 to 1976, the Cultural Revolution in mainland China helped consolidate Mao's power towards the end of his life. After his death, the government began economic reforms under Deng Xiaoping , and became

13213-425: The Shang and Zhou. Both archaeological evidence like oracle bones and bronzes, as well as transmitted texts attest the historical existence of the Shang dynasty ( c.  1600  – c.  1046 BC ). Findings from the earlier Shang period come from excavations at Erligang (modern Zhengzhou ). Findings have been found at Yinxu (near modern Anyang , Henan), the site of the final Shang capital during

13394-470: The Shang dynasty, Western scholars are often hesitant to associate settlements that are contemporaneous with the Anyang settlement with the Shang dynasty. For example, archaeological findings at Sanxingdui suggest a technologically advanced civilization culturally unlike Anyang. The evidence is inconclusive in proving how far the Shang realm extended from Anyang. The leading hypothesis is that Anyang, ruled by

13575-585: The Spring and Autumn period, and its influence on administration would prove resilient—its terminology can still be seen in the contemporaneous sheng and xian ("provinces" and "counties") of contemporary China. The state of Qin became dominant in the waning decades of the Warring States period, conquering the Shu capital of Jinsha on the Chengdu Plain; and then eventually driving Chu from its place in

13756-504: The Tang dynasty the "stack casting" with clay moulds was slowly phased out in favour of the " sand casting method" (翻砂法), this new methodology of coin casting used mother coins (母錢) allowing for a consistent design to be used when mass-producing cash coins. Using this method, it isn't possible for a mould to shift as there was no longer a hard mould that could shift as was the case in the earlier casting method, meaning that "flower holes" could under no circumstances have been created during

13937-530: The Three Kingdoms dramatizes events of this period. The warlord Cao Cao reunified the north in 208, and in 220 his son accepted the abdication of Emperor Xian of Han , thus initiating the Wei dynasty. Soon, Wei's rivals Shu and Wu proclaimed their independence. This period was characterized by a gradual decentralization of the state that had existed during the Qin and Han dynasties, and an increase in

14118-588: The Wei River valley of modern western Shaanxi Province, where they were appointed Western Protectors by the Shang . A coalition led by the ruler of the Zhou, King Wu , defeated the Shang at the Battle of Muye . They took over most of the central and lower Yellow River valley and enfeoffed their relatives and allies in semi-independent states across the region. Several of these states eventually became more powerful than

14299-492: The Wu Zhu cash coins. After the fall of the Xin dynasty the production of Wu Zhu cash coins was resumed. After the restoration of the Han dynasty the production of Wu Zhu cash coins was first resumed under Emperor Guangwu who reigned from the year 25 until 56 AD. Under the reign of the warlord Dong Zhuo (董卓) the capital of the Han dynasty was moved from Luoyang to the city of Chang'an (modern day Xi'an ) where he ordered that

14480-476: The Wu Zhu currency of the Western Han dynasty, owing, it is said, to his prejudice to the "Jin" (Chinese: 金 ; pinyin: jīn ; literally: "gold") radical ( 釒 ) in the character zhu (Chinese: 銖 ; pinyin: zhū ) of this inscription, which was also a component part of the character Liu (劉), the family name of the rulers of the House of Han, whose descendant Wang Mang had just dethroned. He introduced

14661-545: The Wu Zhu. It unclear why exactly these symbols started being added in large quantities during the Eastern Han dynasty and later but the first Chinese charms and amulets started emulating their design. Some of these early Wu Zhu coins also had the precursors to the "flower" or "rosette" holes found on later cash coins as such coins were discussed in an article in the 1987 (7th issue) of the Chinese periodical "Shaanxi Finance" (陝西金融, shǎn xī jīn róng ) which shows rubbings of several Wu Zhu cash coins with unusual center holes found in

14842-517: The Xia dynasty ever existed. Some archaeologists claim that the Erlitou site was the capital of the Xia. In any case, the site of Erlitou had a level of political organization that would not be incompatible with the legends of Xia recorded in later texts. More importantly, the Erlitou site has the earliest evidence for an elite who conducted rituals using cast bronze vessels, which would later be adopted by

15023-580: The Yangtze delta. The cultures of the middle and late Neolithic in the central Yellow River valley are known, respectively, as the Yangshao culture (5000 BC to 3000 BC) and the Longshan culture (3000 BC to 2000 BC). Pigs and dogs were the earliest-domesticated animals in the region, and after about 3000 BC domesticated cattle and sheep arrived from Western Asia. Wheat also arrived at this time but remained

15204-546: The Zhou dynasties. All cash coins of this period typically have a narrow rim. However, during this period private minting was way more common in the Southern dynasties than in the Northern dynasties, which is the reason that Wu Zhu cash coins and other coins of the Southern dynasties were more uneven than those of the Northern dynasties. All the coins of the period had the same kind of seal script calligraphy . Under

15385-466: The Zhou kings. The kings of Zhou invoked the concept of the Mandate of Heaven to legitimize their rule, a concept that was influential for almost every succeeding dynasty. Like Shangdi, Heaven ( tian ) ruled over all the other gods, and it decided who would rule China. It was believed that a ruler lost the Mandate of Heaven when natural disasters occurred in great number, and when, more realistically,

15566-461: The ambitious Emperor Wu brought the empire to its zenith. To consolidate his power, he disenfranchised the majority of imperial relatives, appointing military governors to control their former lands. As a further step, he extended patronage to Confucianism, which emphasizes stability and order in a well-structured society. Imperial Universities were established to support its study. At the urging of his Legalist advisors, however, he also strengthened

15747-655: The archaeological site of Xihoudu , Shanxi Province. The circumstances surrounding the evolution of Homo erectus to contemporary H. sapiens is debated; the three main theories include the dominant "Out of Africa" theory (OOA), the regional continuity model and the admixture variant of the OOA hypothesis. Regardless, the earliest modern humans have been dated to China at 120,000–80,000 BP based on fossilized teeth discovered in Fuyan Cave of Dao County , Hunan. The larger animals which lived alongside these humans include

15928-468: The book Practical knowledge of Chinese coins (中國錢幣實用知識圖說) published in 1989. However, this hypothesis has been heavily scrutinised by numismatists afterwards. For example, numismatic researcher Gary Ashkenazy of the PrimalTrek website notes that this traditional explanation is problematic as a mould shift wouldn't just shift the orientation of the central hole, but it would shift everything including

16109-605: The bundle of 21 bamboo slips from the Tsinghua collection, dated to 305   BC—being the world's earliest known example of a two-digit, base-10 multiplication table. The Tsinghua collection indicates that sophisticated commercial arithmetic was already established during this period. As neighboring territories of the seven states were annexed (including areas of modern Sichuan and Liaoning ), they were now to be governed under an administrative system of commanderies and prefectures . This system had been in use elsewhere since

16290-461: The cash coin's inner rim, which surrounds the hole in the middle. The exact origins of the first appearance of Huachuanqian is difficult to determine as there are no written records that document them. However, archeological evidence has determined that the earliest known cash coins with "flower" holes had the inscription Ban Liang (半兩) and could have been cast either during the Qin dynasty period or by

16471-449: The casting process and were most likely created by hand after they were already cast. As the "flower holes" present in the Huachuanqian could not have been caused by an error at any time in the manufacturing process, it is reasoned that they were likely created sometime after the cash coins were already extracted from the coin moulds. Following the removal of the cash coins from their moulds, the coins would appear as if they were "leaves" of

16652-614: The central government regained the exclusive authority to manufacture coinage, from this point Wu Zhu cash coins started being produced by the Three Offices of Shang Lin (上林三官, shàng lín sān guān ). These Wu Zhu coins had a nominal value of one coin as opposed to the Chi Ze Wu Zhu's which had an unrealistic nominal value of five. The majority of the Shang Lin San Guan Wu Zhu's contain a raised line above

16833-516: The central hole area during coin casting process. However, as the quality of Tang and Song dynasty coinages was quite high it's unlikely that the supervisors would have allowed for a large number of these variant coins to be produced, pass quality control or be allowed to enter circulation. While it is not known why Huachuanqian were produced as no historical records explain their appearance, a number of hypotheses exist to explain their possible meaning. While their creation may at times have been an error,

17014-401: The city of Chengdu , immediately after the city was taken Liu Bei had discovered that the treasury was completely empty which meant that he didn't have the funds for his military expenses, this was paired with a severe shortage of copper, this severe lack of copper was so bad that it is said that in order to manufacture cash coins even the hooks which were used to hang bed curtains were melted as

17195-493: The city of Jiangling , the Jiangling Mint issued Wu Zhu cash coins which had two "stars" (a term used to refer to dots on cash coins) on the obverse of the Wu Zhu, one "star" was situated above the square center hole and one below and for this reason are commonly known as "Two Pillar Wu Zhu cash coins" (兩柱五銖錢, liǎng zhù wǔ zhū qián ). These Wu Zhu's were nominally ten normal Wu Zhu's and are relatively rare today. From

17376-465: The city of Kucha while he visited there in the year 630 which is mentioned in his work "Great Tang Records on the Western Regions" during the Tang dynasty . These cash coins are likely to have been the "Han Gui bilingual Wu Zhu coin". Wu Zhu cash coins played a central role in the emergence of Chinese numismatic charms , as the Wu Zhu cash coins were cast in enormous quantities during both

17557-544: The coin cut out of the inner portion is usually referred to as "chiseled rim Wu Zhu" (鑿邊五銖, záo biān wǔ zhū ) cash coins or as "cut rim Wu Zhu" (剪輪五銖, jiǎn lún wǔ zhū ) cash coins. Private casting of cash coins also became a common practice during the Northern and Southern dynasties period which resulted in there being many extremely small, thin, and very fragile bronze cash coins that were cast by these private mints. These cash coins are known as "goose eye" (鵝眼, é yǎn ) or "chicken eye" (雞目, jī mù ) coins. Peng Xinwei mentions

17738-482: The coin mould the top and bottom halves of the coin mould would rotate or shift changing the way that the central square hole would end up creating the hexagonal or octagonal hole typically of these coins. A number of Chinese and Taiwanese numismatists and numismatic publications over the years have proposed this hypothesis, including the Concise Dictionary of Ancient Coins (簡明古錢辭典) published in 1988 and

17919-441: The coinage. Today these Wu Zhu cash coins are still very common and must have likely been manufactured in immense numbers. The fabric of the Wu Zhu's of the Sui dynasty is unlike that of any earlier Chinese cash coins but resemble that of the vast majority of later produced Chinese coins. The rims of these Wu Zhu's tend to be broad and flat, while earlier Chinese cash coins usually have thin and rather rounded rims. The basic fabric of

18100-542: The conquest of the Chen dynasty the coins now known as "Sui Wu Zhu cash coins" (隋五銖錢, suí wǔ zhū qián ) were the only circulating currency in all of China. The reason why Emperor Wen introduced a new Wu Zhu was because the fiduciary cash coins of the Northern Zhou and Chen dynasties placed the economy in a bad state and the Sui Wu Zhu's were set to the original weight of 2 grams. The first Wu Zhu's are known as

18281-609: The corners of the square center hole all the way to the reverse rim of these Yongan Wuzhu coins. There were other cash coins in this era which also had descriptive nicknames assigned to them such as "Yongzhou Green-Red" (雍州青赤, yōng zhōu qīng chì ), "Liangzhou Born Thick" (梁州生厚, liáng zhōu shēng hòu ), "Tight Cash" (緊錢, jǐn qián ), and "Red Halter" (赤牽, chì qiān ). These cash coins were mentioned in historical records and may have also been references to specific varieties of Yongan Wuzhu cash coins which currently aren't clearly identified yet. The Western Wei dynasty existed briefly from

18462-540: The early 5th century China entered a period known as the Northern and Southern dynasties, in which parallel regimes ruled the northern and southern halves of the country. In the south, the Eastern Jin gave way to the Liu Song , Southern Qi , Liang and finally Chen . Each of these Southern dynasties were led by Han Chinese ruling families and used Jiankang (modern Nanjing) as the capital. They held off attacks from

18643-442: The early Tang dynasty period, the appearance of Huachuanqian was already commonly seen in general circulation. Over time they would become more common as during the middle to later years of the Tang dynasty period, the Huachuanqian would circulate all over the various territories of the empire. Chinese scholar Ding Fubao noted that the appearance of Huachuanqian was most closely associated with Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins and those of

18824-432: The empire slipped into gradual stagnation and decline. Economically, the state treasury was strained by excessive campaigns and projects, while land acquisitions by elite families gradually drained the tax base. Various consort clans exerted increasing control over strings of incompetent emperors and eventually the dynasty was briefly interrupted by the usurpation of Wang Mang . In AD 9 the usurper Wang Mang claimed that

19005-406: The empire was a centralized bureaucratic monarchy, a governing scheme which dominated the future of Imperial China. In an effort to improve the Zhou's perceived failures, this system consisted of more than 36 commanderies ( 郡 ; jun ), made up of counties ( 县 ; xian ) and progressively smaller divisions, each with a local leader. Many aspects of society were informed by Legalism ,

19186-486: The employee of the manufacturing mint was doing the final details of the cash coins. As manually filing and chiseling cash coins was both an additional expense as well as time-consuming it is likely that the creation of "flower holes" and "turtle shell holes" was ordered by the manufacturer. While the possibility exists that a small number of Huachuanqian were indeed the accidental creation of casting errors by mint workers using chisels to clear excess metal that had flown into

19367-518: The extinct Ailuropoda baconi panda, the Crocuta ultima hyena, the Stegodon , and the giant tapir . Evidence of Middle Palaeolithic Levallois technology has been found in the lithic assemblage of Guanyindong Cave site in southwest China, dated to approximately 170,000–80,000 years ago. The Neolithic Age in China is considered to have begun about 10,000 years ago. Because the Neolithic

19548-432: The fact that the Wu Zhu cash coins produced by Dong Zhuo only weighed around a single gram, previously a cycle plagued Chinese governments trying to set of a fiat coinage system where first the government issued new (fiduciary) cash coins, then the government would set values, usually the people don't accept these set values, and then finally the currency doesn't trade which causes inflation to set in and counterfeiting becomes

19729-407: The fact that they have very distinct 8-sided central holes on both their obverse and reverse sides, though the number of sides can vary. Furthermore, vast majority of known "flower (rosette) holed" cash coins tend to have very clear inscriptions. Besides "flower holes", there are also "turtle shell holes" which have 6 sides instead of 8. All sides of the hole are usually contained within the border of

19910-472: The fact that this fact accepted by the populace its nominal value was decreased to be equal to the Wu Zhu. Taihuo Liuzhu cash coins considered to be the "crown jewel" of Southern dynasty coinage due to the quality of its calligraphy . As the seal script version of the Hanzi character for "six" (六, liù ) looked similar to a human being standing akimbo which inspired the contemporary saying that this symbolised

20091-410: The fairly large quantities of Huachuanqian that found their way into general circulation during the Tang and Song dynasty periods in particular, two Chinese dynasties which were generally renowned for their practice of producing cash coins with both high standards and high quality, would indicate that the common presence of Huachuanqian was likely an intentional embellishment. It is therefore believed that

20272-475: The fall of the Eastern Han dynasty for another 500 years. Minting was definitively ended in 618 with the establishment of the Tang dynasty . Wu Zhu cash coins were cast from 118 BC to 618 AD having a span of 736 years, which is the longest for any coin in human history . "Wu" means "five" (5) and zhu was an ancient Chinese unit of weight equal to 100 grains of millet . A "five zhu" cash coin would weigh about 4 grams. Originally Ban Liang cash weighed 12 Zhu as

20453-428: The famous polymath Zhang Heng . By the 2nd century, the empire declined amidst land acquisitions, invasions, and feuding between consort clans and eunuchs . The Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out in AD 184, ushering in an era of warlords . In the ensuing turmoil, three states emerged, trying to gain predominance and reunify the land, giving this historical period its name. The classic historical novel Romance of

20634-401: The field of Chinese numismatics neglected the study of Huachuanqian, after an article published in the journal Chinese Numismatics in 1994 brought this phenomenon to mainstream attention, wider interest in these cash coins was generated and they have since been seen as their own separate category of cash coins. From the Warring States period of the Zhou dynasty until the early 20th century

20815-632: The fiscal structure of the dynasty with government monopolies . Major military campaigns were launched to weaken the nomadic Xiongnu Empire , limiting their influence north of the Great Wall. Along with the diplomatic efforts led by Zhang Qian , the sphere of influence of the Han Empire extended to the states in the Tarim Basin , opened up the Silk Road that connected China to the west, stimulating bilateral trade and cultural exchange. To

20996-457: The general people standing in this position before the Emperor and exclaiming that the nominal value of the Taihuo Liuzhu was too high. An extremely rare version of this cash coin exists that only has the inscription Liu Zhu (六銖, liù zhū ), this coin is in fact so rare that only a single specimen of it has ever been reported to exist. The Northern Wei dynasty was a Xianbei ruled state under

21177-429: The government desperately needed the metal. To cover the state's expenses Liu Bei ordered the creation of Zhi Bai Wu Zhu (直百五銖, zhí bǎi wǔ zhū ) cash coins which had a nominal value or one hundred regular cash coins. Unlike the earlier coinage of the Xin dynasty which disastrously failed due to the extreme disparage between the nominal and intrinsic values the coins of the Kingdom of Shu Han weren't as badly received due to

21358-516: The history of the Sui, that Wu Zhus already circulated in the first year of the Sui, and that additional new cash coins were minted at the same time. Emperor Wen decreed that Wu Zhu cash coins be produced in the first year of the Kaihuang period (581 in the Gregorian calendar ), alongside the introduction of this new Wu Zhu cash coin the older currencies were gradually being deprecated and with

21539-425: The inscription Wu Zhu (五銖) are thought to be exceptionally rare and cash coins with "flower holes" aren't commonly seen throughout the first half of the first millennium. While the Huachuanqian is most closely associated with the establishment of the Tang dynasty where they became less rare, these earlier examples date 7 centuries before this occurred, meaning that they are much older than traditionally thought. By

21720-418: The large Qin dynasty era bronze statues which date to the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang be melted down to make small cash coins, large quantity of these Wu Zhu coins were so small that they were commonly referred to as "goose eye coins" (鵝眼錢, é yǎn qián ) or "chicken eye coins" (雞目錢, jī mù qián ) by the people. As these cash coins were so diminutive in size only left half of the wu (五) Chinese character and

21901-594: The late 6th century in the Yangtze valley. A bronze hatchet with a blade of meteoric iron excavated near the city of Gaocheng in Shijiazhuang (now Hebei ) has been dated to the 14th century BC. An Iron Age culture of the Tibetan Plateau has tentatively been associated with the Zhang Zhung culture described in early Tibetan writings. Chinese historians in later periods were accustomed to

22082-495: The lower right part of the obverse side of the coin. When the "Heavenly Pillar" cash coin is held upright it would point towards the sky or "heaven" (天). The "star" in this particular case can also be referred to as a "pillar" (株) because it is cylindrically shaped and appears to rise up from the surface (肉) of the Yongan Wuzhu cash coin. Another variant of the Yongan Wuzhu is also known as the "four corner" (si chu 四出) cash coin because it has 4 diagonal lines thar extend outwards from

22263-424: The middle, were stacked onto the rod the coins could no longer rotate. The coin mint workers could then use a file to remove any metal excess sprue (stubs) leftover around the rims that were made during the casting process, making sure that in the result the outer rims of the cash coins were round. It is suspected that the "flower holes" and "turtle shell holes" were produced during chiseling process, presumably while

22444-469: The millennia that they were issues by various dynastic states, the square hole in the centre of cash coins had experienced numerous, but minor changes over their long history. These changes resulted in the square hole in the centre being slightly bigger, smaller, elongated, misshaped, or at times they were filled with some excess metal from the production process. Despite these changes, the design and shape of cash coins have remained consistent throughout most of

22625-761: The modern Republic of China . From 1927 to 1949, a costly civil war roiled between the Republican government under Chiang Kai-shek and the Communist-aligned Chinese Red Army , interrupted by the industrialized Empire of Japan invading the divided country until its defeat in the Second World War. After the Communist victory, Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, with

22806-428: The moon on the interior rim of the coin as well as other symbols which were considered to be auspicious being some of the earliest examples of cash coins used as Chinese amulets and charms . In the 123 years after 118 BCE, when Wu Zhu cash coins were initially introduced, over 28 billion coins were cast for circulation. After Wang Mang had overthrown the Han dynasty with his own Xin dynasty he wished to displace

22987-916: The north and preserved many aspects of Chinese civilization, while northern barbarian regimes began to sinify . In the north the last of the Sixteen Kingdoms was extinguished in 439 by the Northern Wei , a kingdom founded by the Xianbei , a nomadic people who unified northern China. The Northern Wei eventually split into the Eastern and Western Wei , which then became the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou . These regimes were dominated by Xianbei or Han Chinese who had married into Xianbei families. During this period most Xianbei people adopted Han surnames, eventually leading to complete assimilation into

23168-501: The notion of one dynasty succeeding another, but the political situation in early China was much more complicated. Hence, as some scholars of China suggest, the Xia and the Shang can refer to political entities that existed concurrently, just as the early Zhou existed at the same time as the Shang. This bears similarities to how China, both contemporaneously and later, has been divided into states that were not one region, legally or culturally. The earliest period once considered historical

23349-503: The numismatic researcher Zhang Hongming (张宏明) reported on them in an article entitled "The history and origins of Flower Hole Coins" (花穿钱的时代与成因问题) in Chinese Numismatics (中国钱币) published in 1994 that collector interest in Huachuanqian grew causing the Chinese coin collecting community to value Huachuanqian more causing it to grow into its own specialised sub-field of Chinese numismatics. The 4th issue of Chinese Numismatics

23530-463: The obverse square hole, while they have one "star" just to the left and touching the rim that surrounds the square center hole on the reverse side of the coin. These cash coins are extremely rare today due to their extremely short production period. Note that despite their high nominal values, "Two Pillar", "Three Pillar", and "Four Pillar" Wu Zhu cash coins usually weighed less than 2 or 3 grams, this disparity between their nominal and intrinsic values

23711-460: The people they kept secretly circulating. The Iron Wu Zhu's of Chengjia , which resemble the Western Han dynasty Wu Zhu coin, is attributed to Gongsun Shu , who rebelled in Sichuan in AD 25, and issued iron coins, two being equal to one Jian Wu Wu Zhu (Chinese: 建武五銖 ; pinyin: jiàn wǔ wǔ zhū ). Head of the zhu component rounded. Typical of Eastern Han Wu Zhu's. In AD 30, a ditty

23892-456: The people which include the "Auspicious cash coins" (吉錢, jí qián ) as well as the "Heavenly Pillar" (天株) cash coins, it is unknown what these cash coins were but it's speculated by Gary Ashkenazy that they were variants of the Yongan Wuzhu cash coins, according to Gary Ashkenazy the "Auspicious cash coins" were very likely to have been Yongan Wuzhu's that had the Hanzi character for " earth " (土) on

24073-408: The population, "suffered harsh treatment" according to the historian Patricia Buckley Ebrey , as they were often conscripted into forced labor for the empire's construction projects. This included a massive system of imperial highways in 220 BC, which ranged around 4,250 miles (6,840 km) altogether. Other major construction projects were assigned to the general Meng Tian , who concurrently led

24254-799: The power of great families. In 266, the Jin dynasty overthrew the Wei and later unified the country in 280, but this union was short-lived. The Jin dynasty reunited China proper for the first time since the end of the Han dynasty , ending the Three Kingdoms era. However, the Jin dynasty was severely weakened by the War of the Eight Princes and lost control of northern China after non-Han Chinese settlers rebelled and captured Luoyang and Chang'an . In 317,

24435-434: The presence of "flower holes" and "turtle shell holes" may have had an important significance. The hypotheses explaining their possible significance include: Cash coins with "turtle shell holes" (traditional Chinese: 龜甲穿錢 ; simplified Chinese: 龟甲穿钱 ; pinyin: Guījiǎ chuān qián ) are similar to Huachuanqian, but rather than having eight-sided holes, these "turtle shell holes" are six-sided. Like Huachuanqian,

24616-414: The production process of the ancient Chinese casting method. The casting process in these early moulds worked in a way that two mould-sections were placed together, then the core of the mould was placed into the top area, then the bronze smiths would pour molten metal into an opening that was formed by a cavity that was located in its centre. This explanation claims that during the pouring of molten metal into

24797-577: The region as a true empire for the first time in Chinese history, rather than a state, and its pivotal status probably led to "Qin" ( 秦 ) later evolving into the Western term " China ". To emphasise his sole rule, Zheng proclaimed himself Shi Huangdi ( 始 皇 帝 ; "First Emperor"); the Huangdi title, derived from Chinese mythology , became the standard for subsequent rulers. Based in Xianyang ,

24978-580: The region, including the northwestern Lantian Man in Shaanxi , as well minor specimens in northeastern Liaoning and southern Guangdong . The dates of most Paleolithic sites were long debated but have been more reliably established based on modern magnetostratigraphy : Majuangou at 1.66–1.55 Ma, Lanpo at 1.6 Ma, Xiaochangliang at 1.36 Ma, Xiantai at 1.36 Ma, Banshan at 1.32 Ma, Feiliang at 1.2 Ma and Donggutuo at 1.1 Ma. Evidence of fire use by Homo erectus occurred between 1–1.8 million years BP at

25159-414: The reign of Emperor Wu of the Liang dynasty there were two types of Wu Zhu cash coins which were being manufactured, some had an outside while others did not have an outside rim with the Wu Zhu cash coins without an outside rim are referred to as "Female coins" (女錢, nǚ qián ). From the year 523 onwards the government of the Liang dynasty decided to cast iron Wu Zhu cash coins due to the fact that iron

25340-455: The reign of Zhang Gui . After the Eastern Jin dynasty fell the Northern and Southern dynasties period commenced in the year 420. In the Southern dynasties it was customary for people to remove the middle part of Wu Zhu cash coins to create two separate coins, the portion cut out of the outer ring of the Wu Zhu is usually referred to as a "thread ring Wu Zhu" (綖環五銖, xiàn huán wǔ zhū ) while

25521-556: The reign of the Southern Song dynasty period Emperor Xiaozong . The reason for this decline in the quantity of Huachuanqian can possibly be attributed to 2 major reforms to the designs of the currency that appeared during his reign. Namely, until the year 1180 the Song dynasty produced "matched cash coins" (對錢, duì qián ) which were cash coins with identical inscriptions written in different styles of Chinese calligraphy , after these coins were superseded by cash coins that included

25702-420: The remnants of the metal sprue (or stub) from the casting process are located at the rim's five o'clock position of "goose eye" or "chicken eye Wu Zhu coins". The Three Kingdoms period was an era in Chinese history that lasted from 220 until 280 and was characterised by a period of disunity following the collapse of the Eastern Han dynasty. The Kingdom of Shu Han was founded after Liu Bei seized control of

25883-444: The reverse side of the coin above the square center hole. The nickname would then be derived from the fact that the square center hole resembles the Hanzi character " 口 " and as the "土" would be above it they together would look like " 吉 " meaning "auspicious". According to Gary Ashkenazy the "Heavenly Pillar" cash coin may have also been a variety of the Yongan Wuzhu which has a "dot" (dots represent "stars" (星) on Chinese cash coins) in

26064-504: The reverse sides feature a local Kucha script above and below the square center hole. As the language of the Kingdom of Kucha isn't well preserved in the modern era many hypotheses have been suggested about its meaning including that it is simply a translation of "Wu Zhu" or feature the name of the Kingdom of Kucha in the Kuśiññe language . Cash coins without any inscription cast in this region are generally believed to have been produced between

26245-412: The right half of the zhu (銖) Chinese character fit on these coins. It is also pivotal to clarify that these cash coins are not what is referred to as "chiselled rim coins" (鑿邊錢, záo biān qián ) where regular size Wu Zhu cash coins had their insides cut out so as to form two separate cash coins. "goose eye Wu Zhu coins" or "chicken eye Wu Zhu coins" were actually cast in this diminutive manner as evidence by

26426-405: The same Shang in the official history, coexisted and traded with numerous other culturally diverse settlements in the area that is now referred to as China proper . The Zhou dynasty (1046 BC to about 256 BC) is the longest-lasting dynasty in Chinese history, though its power declined steadily over the almost eight centuries of its existence. In the late 2nd millennium BC, the Zhou dynasty arose in

26607-605: The same year published a group of letters from readers, authors, and editors, after reading the response papers and letters, Zhang Hongming was deeply inspired to respond and expand his research into this field. These articles filled a big gap in the study of Chinese Huachuanqian. The traditional explanation as to why a small number of cash coins have "flower holes" is due to the fact that early cash coins were produced using clay, stone, or bronze coin moulds . Cash coins were typically cast , contrasted to Western Eurasian coins which were typically hammered . Historians still debate when

26788-546: The second series issued under the reign of Emperor Wu had them filed. In 118 BC the central government of the Han dynasty ordered both the Commanderies (郡, jùn ) and the Principalities (國, guó ) to cast Wu Zhu coins, these Wu Zhu coins are referred to as "Jun Guo Wu Zhu" (郡國五銖, jùn guó wǔ zhū ) coins which at most have a diameter 33.3 millimetres and a weight of 5.8 grams. A notable feature of Jun Guo Wu Zhu coins

26969-484: The second year of Xianxi period (265). Under Sima Yan China was reunited for a short period of time under the rule of the Western Jin dynasty ruled from Luoyang . The Chinese economy improved under Jin rule and although no historical records mention the production of coinage under the Jin as the quantity of old Wu Zhu cash coins from the Han dynasty that were still in circulation would not have been sufficient it

27150-461: The site of Jiahu, which is dated around 7000 BC, Damaidi around 6000 BC, Dadiwan from 5800 BC to 5400 BC, and Banpo dating from the 5th millennium BC. With agriculture came increased population, the ability to store and redistribute crops, and the potential to support specialist craftsmen and administrators, which may have existed at late Neolithic sites like Taosi and the Liangzhu culture in

27331-688: The south, various small kingdoms far beyond the Yangtze River Valley were formally incorporated into the empire. Emperor Wu also dispatched a series of military campaigns against the Baiyue tribes. The Han annexed Minyue in 135 BC and 111 BC, Nanyue in 111 BC , and Dian in 109 BC . Migration and military expeditions led to the cultural assimilation of the south. It also brought the Han into contact with kingdoms in Southeast Asia, introducing diplomacy and trade. After Emperor Wu

27512-413: The sovereign had apparently lost his concern for the people. In response, the royal house would be overthrown, and a new house would rule, having been granted the Mandate of Heaven. The Zhou established two capitals Zongzhou (near modern Xi'an ) and Chengzhou ( Luoyang ), with the king's court moving between them regularly. The Zhou alliance gradually expanded eastward into Shandong, southeastward into

27693-466: The square center hole on the obverse side of the coin. Under the reign of Emperor Xuan which lasted from 73 BC until 49 BC the Wu characters were less in size and notably was written with slightly crooked strokes that don't extend to the horizontal lines of the top and bottom ends. A number of these Western Han dynasty Wu Zhu cash coins also displayed dots which represent "stars" and crescents which represent

27874-403: The standard cash coin was round with a square central hole. The round shape of the coin symbolised the supposed round shape of the sky, while the centre hole in this analogy is said to represent the planet earth (天圓地方). The body of these early round coins was called their "flesh" (肉) and the central hole was known as "the good" (好). Cash coins were generally cast as opposed to being hammered. Over

28055-452: The subsequent Chinese civilization. Art, culture and science all advanced to unprecedented heights. With the profound and lasting impacts of this period of Chinese history, the dynasty name "Han" had been taken as the name of the Chinese people, now the dominant ethnic group in modern China, and had been commonly used to refer to Chinese language and written characters . After the initial laissez-faire policies of Emperors Wen and Jing ,

28236-445: The subsequent Warring States period. Such influential intellectual movements as Confucianism , Taoism , Legalism and Mohism were founded, partly in response to the changing political world. The first two philosophical thoughts would have an enormous influence on Chinese culture. After further political consolidations, seven prominent states remained during the 5th century   BC. The years in which these states battled each other

28417-469: The subsequent success of the Tang dynasty . The only coin associated with the Sui is a Wu Zhu coin. The Sui dynasty only cast one type of coin, a Wu Zhu with wide rim that has been found in excavations that clearly indicated that it belonged to the Sui period. Chinese numismatic researcher Peng Xinwei believed that the Sui dynasty period Wu Zhu was adopted from the Western Wei, because it is said in

28598-466: The succeeding Han dynasty . While these early contenders are quite well documented, other early examples of Huachuanqian include a number of types of Xin dynasty coinages , including Hou Quan (貨泉) cash coins and a variety of the Huo Bu (貨布) coin, a type of coinage produced during the reign of Emperor Wang Mang which resembled ancient Zhou dynasty period shovel- or spade shaped-money . Huachuanqian with

28779-433: The surviving states to develop better administrations to mobilize more soldiers and resources. Within states there was constant jockeying between elite families. For example, the three most powerful families in the Jin state—Zhao, Wei and Han—eventually overthrew the ruling family and partitioned the state between them . The Hundred Schools of Thought of classical Chinese philosophy began blossoming during this period and

28960-635: The weaker ones, so the number of states declined over time. By the 6th century BC most small states had disappeared by being annexed and just a few large and powerful principalities remained. Some southern states, such as Chu and Wu, claimed independence from the Zhou, who undertook wars against some of them (Wu and Yue). Many new cities were established in this period and society gradually became more urbanized and commercialized. Many famous individuals such as Laozi , Confucius and Sun Tzu lived during this chaotic period. Conflict in this period occurred both between and within states. Warfare between states forced

29141-499: The weights and sizes of Wu Zhu cash coins varied over the years. During the Han dynasty a very large quantity of Wu Zhu coins were cast but their production continued under subsequent dynasties until the Sui . The production of Wu Zhu cash coins was briefly suspended by Wang Mang during the Xin dynasty but after the reestablishment of the Han dynasty, the production of Wu Zhu cash coins resumed, and continued to be manufactured long after

29322-506: The well known Terracotta Army . After Qin Shi Huang's death the Qin government drastically deteriorated and eventually capitulated in 207 BC after the Qin capital was captured and sacked by rebels, which would ultimately lead to the establishment of the Han Empire. The Han dynasty was founded by Liu Bang , who emerged victorious in the Chu–Han Contention that followed the fall of the Qin dynasty. A golden age in Chinese history,

29503-521: The widespread private production that plagued these iron issues. After them the Taiqing Fengle (太清豐樂, "Tai Qing Prosperous and Happy") cash coin was cast under the reign of Emperor Wu , these cash coins were actually believed to be Chinese numismatic charms until recently and were named after the Taiqing period (547–549). In 552 under the reign of Emperor Yuan the capital city was moved to

29684-453: The world's fastest-growing major economy . China had been the most populous nation in the world for decades since its unification, until it was surpassed by India in 2023. The archaic human species of Homo erectus arrived in Eurasia sometime between 1.3 and 1.8 million years ago (Ma) and numerous remains of its subspecies have been found in what is now China. The oldest of these

29865-420: The year 1180, which was also the same year that the government of the Song dynasty abolished the issuance of "matched cash coins". Due to this it is hypothesised that "flower holes" were added to Chinese cash coins to signify a year or period of the year or possibly a location where a cash coin was produced ( see below ). While the appearance of Huachuanqian saw an abrupt decline after Emperor Xiaozong ascended to

30046-459: The year 535 until 556, historical records mention that an Wu Zhu cash coin was cast during the Datong period (535–551) which had a calligraphic style akin to that of the earlier Yongan Wuzhu cash coins as well as those of the Sui Wu Zhu's. A defining characteristic of these "Datong Wu Zhu cash coins" (大統五銖錢, dà tǒng wǔ zhū qián ) is the fact that they have a broad outer rim with an inner rim only by

30227-475: The year 557 under the reign of Emperor Jing had Wu Zhu cash coins produced that had one "star" above the square hole and one "star" below on both sides of these Wu Zhu's which is why they are known as "Four Pillar Wu Zhu cash coins" (四柱五銖錢, sì zhù wǔ zhū qián ) and had a nominal value of 20 normal Wu Zhu cash coins, but merely 10 days after their introduction they were trading at par with regular Wu Zhu's. Another variant of these "Four Pillar Wu Zhu cash coins" had

30408-479: The year of production on their reverse sides the practice of casting cash coins with "flower holes" also seems to have drastically decreased. This practice started during the 7th year of the production of the Chunxi Yuanbao (淳熙元寶), which was produced from 1174 until the year 1189. This practice started with the traditional Chinese character "七" (7) appearing on the reverse sides of Chunxi Yuanbao cash coins in

30589-486: The years 265 and 589, the first variant of these cash coins are round in shape and have a rim around the square centre hole on one side while the other side is rimless, they tend to thin on the outside while they're thick on the inside and weigh between 0.4 grams 1.7 grams, and have a diameter of 9 to 18 millimetres. The second type can be described as similar to the aforementioned type but have no inner rim, these cash coins generally from 8 to 13 millimetres in diameter and have

30770-518: Was first united under a single imperial state by Qin Shi Huang in 221 BC. Orthography , weights, measures, and law were all standardized. Shortly thereafter, China entered its classical era with the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD), marking a critical period. A term for the Chinese language is still "Han language", and the dominant Chinese ethnic group is known as Han Chinese . The Chinese empire reached some of its farthest geographical extents during this period. Confucianism

30951-481: Was a Buddhist state located in present-day Kucha County , Xinjiang , it was first recorded during the Han dynasty and was later annexed by the Tang , during its time it was a prominent player on the silk road . From around the third or fourth century the Kingdom of Kucha began the manufacture of Wu Zhu cash coins inspired by the diminutive and devalued Wu Zhu's of the post-Han dynasty era in Chinese history . There are five known types of Kucha cash coins based on

31132-462: Was a contributing factor to the decline of the economy of the Liang dynasty. The Chen dynasty produced Wu Zhu cash coins which had a nominal value of 10 "Goose Eye Wu Zhu's" and/or "Chicken Eye Wu Zhu's" and were known as "Tianjia Wu Zhu cash coins" (天嘉五銖錢, tiān jiā wǔ zhū qián ) because they were produced during the Tianjia period of Emperor Wen , however as not a single specimen exists today it

31313-601: Was also identical to those employed by Chinese cash coins. Yet, only very, very few cash coins from countries in the Sinosphere outside of China seem to display "flower holes". The general absence of "flower holes" in Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese cash coins strengthens the hypothesis that Huachuanqian were intentionally created instead of being a result of poor casting quality, as "flower holes" would then be as common or more common in these other cash coins. An example of

31494-652: Was both relatively easy and not expensive to acquire in what is today Sichuan . The iron cash coins issued by the Liang dynasty are quite distinctive from other iron cash coins as they have 4 lines that radiate outwards from each corner of the square center hole which is why they're referred to as "four corner coins" (四出錢, sì chū qián ). As it became quite common for the people to cast iron cash coins privately based on these government issues it wasn't long before their quantities increased so drastically that it required cartloads of these iron Wu Zhu cash coins to pay for anything, even to this day these Wu Zhu's are quite common due to

31675-660: Was carbon-dated to 8,000 years ago. Early evidence for millet agriculture in the Yellow River valley was radiocarbon-dated to about 7000 BC. The Jiahu site is one of the best preserved early agricultural villages (7000 to 5800 BC). At Damaidi in Ningxia, 3,172 cliff carvings dating to 6000–5000 BC have been discovered, "featuring 8,453 individual characters such as the sun, moon, stars, gods and scenes of hunting or grazing", according to researcher Li Xiangshi. Written symbols, sometimes called proto-writing , were found at

31856-465: Was compounded by mass flooding of the Yellow River ; silt buildup caused it to split into two channels and displaced large numbers of farmers. Wang Mang was eventually killed in Weiyang Palace by an enraged peasant mob in AD 23. Emperor Guangwu reinstated the Han dynasty with the support of landholding and merchant families at Luoyang , east of the former capital Xi'an. Thus, this new era

32037-423: Was correct. Finally, the issue with this hypothesis is the fact that 4 "additional" sides form a standard-sized square would merely be rotated about 45 degrees from the primary square central hole rather than create the effect we see in Huachuanqian. Cash coins with "flower holes" became more common with the introduction of the Kaiyuan Tongbao (開元通寶) during the reign of Emperor Gaozu of the Tang dynasty . During

32218-489: Was officially sanctioned and its core texts were edited into their received forms. Wealthy landholding families independent of the ancient aristocracy began to wield significant power. Han technology can be considered on par with that of the contemporaneous Roman Empire : mass production of paper aided the proliferation of written documents, and the written language of this period was employed for millennia afterwards. China became known internationally for its sericulture . When

32399-564: Was so weakened that the " five barbarian tribes " from the north started conquering territories in China and established their own states starting the sixteen kingdoms period . The Kingdom of Former Liang started casting Wu Zhu cash coins which have traditionally been attributed to the Kingdom of Shu known as "Shu Wu Zhu" cash coins, some of these Wu Zhu's have been discovered in the Hexi corridor (in current day Gansu province) which lead archaeologists to believe that they may have been cast under

32580-522: Was sung by the youths of Sichuan: "The yellow bull! the white belly! Let Wu Zhu cash coins return". This ridiculed the tokens of Wang Mang and the iron coins of Gongsun Shu, which were withdrawn by the Eastern Han Emperor Guangwu in the 16th year of Jian Wu (AD 40). The Emperor was advised that the foundation of the wealth of a country depends on a good political economy, which was found in the good old Wu Zhu coinage, and so reissued

32761-399: Was the legendary era of the sage-emperors Yao , Shun , and Yu . Traditionally, the abdication system was prominent in this period, with Yao yielding his throne to Shun, who abdicated to Yu, who founded the Xia dynasty. The Xia dynasty ( c.  2070  – c.  1600 BC ) is the earliest of the three dynasties described in much later traditional historiography, which includes

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