Feng shui coins are Chinese cash coins: round copper-alloy coins with a square hole in the middle. They were China's money for more than two thousand years. Today, tied with red string, they are hung or worn as charms that feng shui links with wealth and protection.
Two thousand years of cash coins
Round coins first appeared in the Warring States period. After the Qin unified China in 221 BC, its round ban liang (半两) coin with a square hole became the standard, and the last cash coins were cast in 1912. They were bronze until the early 1500s and mostly brass after that. The hole let people carry them on a string of 1,000 coins in theory. Sources give different spans for this history, and Britannica writes of almost 2,500 years.
Round heaven, square earth
Tradition reads each coin as a small model of the world. The round edge stands for heaven and the square hole for earth, an idea summed up as tian yuan di fang (天圆地方). A 2021 study of Qin coins notes that the ban liang's shape matches this old picture of the cosmos. The coins are strung on red cord because red is the color of good fortune in Chinese culture, as our guide to the red string bracelet explains.
Five Emperors coins and coin swords
The best-known set is the Five Emperors coins, wu di qian (五帝钱), from the Qing reigns of Shunzhi, Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong and Jiaqing, 1644 to 1820. Feng shui tradition sees this as a strong and stable age. Tied with red string, the set is hung to counter overhead beams and exposed pillars.
The British Museum holds a 19th-century coin sword from China, 119 cash coins tied onto an iron rod. Coin swords were talismans used in south China against evil influences. Kangxi coins were thought even stronger, the museum notes, because he reigned a full sixty-year cycle and his reign name means good health and prosperity.
Charm coins that were never money
Charm coins, yansheng qian (厌胜钱), also called hua qian (花钱) or flower coins, began in the Western Han. They were not legal tender, though some changed hands for the value of their copper. Many carry wishes such as chang ming fu gui (长命富贵), long life, riches and honor. Taoist charms often call on the thunder god to drive away evil spirits.
Three coins and the I Ching
Coins are also used to consult the I Ching, the Book of Changes. Three coins are tossed together, heads counting 3 and tails 2, so each toss totals 6, 7, 8 or 9. Odd totals make a solid yang line and even totals a broken yin line, with 6 and 9 read as changing lines. Six tosses build a hexagram from the bottom up. The method is more than a thousand years younger than the yarrow-stalk method. Our article on yin and yang explains the lines behind it.
Feng Shui Coins at Buddha.store
Coin bracelets are among our red string bracelets. The coins on these pieces are new castings of the old designs.
