tour 2 of 18
A kind of magic
Coin-sword
Coin-swords were a form of
talisman
used in southern China to ward off evil influences, especially
those causing fever. They were made by tying together
'cash' (the pidgin term for Chinese coins with a
square hole in the middle) on to an iron rod.
The coins in this sword
are almost all from the reign of the Qianlong emperor (1736-95).
However, it is thought that coin-swords made with coins of his
grandfather, the Kangxi emperor (1662-23), were even more effective
in driving away evil influences. This is because the Kangxi emperor
reigned for a full sixty-year cycle of the Chinese calendar, and
his name means good health and prosperity.
Today, the easiest place
to see a coin-sword in use is in Chinese kung fu movies, where, if
a person is writhing on his sickbed, tormented by fever, there is
often a coin-sword hanging on the wall above the
bed.