Posted 09/05/2011 10:41 pm
Charm #1
The obverse has two dragons with a pearl at the top between the two dragon heads.
The reverse has a dragon on the left, with the head at the bottom, and a phoenix on the right with the head at the top.
Charm #2
The inscription is yong an wu nan (永安"") which translates as "perpetual peace to five sons". This charm is based on the yong an wu zhu (永安"e") coin cast during the Yongan reign (529 AD) of Emperor Xiao Zhuang of the Northern Wei of the Northern Dynasties. The charm substitutes the word "son" for the "zhu". In ancient China, the ideal family was considered to have five sons and two daughters.
The reverse side displays the Four Divine Creatures.
Charm #3
The inscription reads Wukong (悟空) which is short for the name Sun Wukong (孙悟空). Sun Wukong is better known as the "Monkey King" and was one of the main characters in the Chinese epic novel "The Journey to the West".
The reverse side depicts the image of the "Monkey King".
Charm #4
This charm is frequently said to be Japanese.
The charm needs to be rotated 45 degrees counter-clockwise to be read correctly.
The inscription reads bao quan yong fu (宝泉永富) which translates as "treasures and coins forever wealthy".
The four little circles with square holes between the characters represent Chinese "cash" coins.
The inscription (top/bottom) on the reverse side reads fu zai yan qian (福在眼前) which means "good fortune is before your eyes". This is a visual pun which is explained here.
The other inscription (right/left) is ri ri sheng cai (- - "财) which means "make money daily".
As you probably know, none of these charms are "old" but are of modern production.
I am not familiar with any reference books in English which would help a collector of ancient Chinese charms. All my references are in Chinese but I do not consider any of them to be particularly good. Even the Chinese reference books do not explain the meaning of the inscriptions or symbols.
I realize that, unfortunately, some of the Chinese characters in this post will not display correctly.
Gary
The obverse has two dragons with a pearl at the top between the two dragon heads.
The reverse has a dragon on the left, with the head at the bottom, and a phoenix on the right with the head at the top.
Charm #2
The inscription is yong an wu nan (永安"") which translates as "perpetual peace to five sons". This charm is based on the yong an wu zhu (永安"e") coin cast during the Yongan reign (529 AD) of Emperor Xiao Zhuang of the Northern Wei of the Northern Dynasties. The charm substitutes the word "son" for the "zhu". In ancient China, the ideal family was considered to have five sons and two daughters.
The reverse side displays the Four Divine Creatures.
Charm #3
The inscription reads Wukong (悟空) which is short for the name Sun Wukong (孙悟空). Sun Wukong is better known as the "Monkey King" and was one of the main characters in the Chinese epic novel "The Journey to the West".
The reverse side depicts the image of the "Monkey King".
Charm #4
This charm is frequently said to be Japanese.
The charm needs to be rotated 45 degrees counter-clockwise to be read correctly.
The inscription reads bao quan yong fu (宝泉永富) which translates as "treasures and coins forever wealthy".
The four little circles with square holes between the characters represent Chinese "cash" coins.
The inscription (top/bottom) on the reverse side reads fu zai yan qian (福在眼前) which means "good fortune is before your eyes". This is a visual pun which is explained here.
The other inscription (right/left) is ri ri sheng cai (- - "财) which means "make money daily".
As you probably know, none of these charms are "old" but are of modern production.
I am not familiar with any reference books in English which would help a collector of ancient Chinese charms. All my references are in Chinese but I do not consider any of them to be particularly good. Even the Chinese reference books do not explain the meaning of the inscriptions or symbols.
I realize that, unfortunately, some of the Chinese characters in this post will not display correctly.
Gary
