page_title: Chinese numismatic charm
section_title: The Book of Changes and Bagua charms (Eight Trigram charms)
hierarchical_section_title: Chinese numismatic charm / Types of Chinese charms / By theme / The Book of Changes and Bagua charms (Eight Trigram charms)
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Chinese amulet met daarop de 8 trigrammen van de Yijing, laat 19e of vroeg 20e eeuw
context_page_description: Yansheng Coins, commonly known as Chinese numismatic charms, refer to a collection of special decorative coins that are mainly used for rituals such as fortune telling, Chinese superstitions, and Feng shui. They originated during the Western Han dynasty as a variant of the contemporary Ban Liang and Wu Zhu cash coins. Over the centuries they evolved into their own commodity, with many different shapes and sizes. Their use was revitalized during the Republic of China era. Normally, these coins are privately funded and cast by a rich family for their own ceremonies, although a few types of coins have been cast by various governments or religious orders over the centuries. Chinese numismatic charms typically contain hidden symbolism and visual puns. Unlike cash coins which usually only contain two or four Hanzi characters on one side, Chinese numismatic charms often contain more characters and sometimes pictures on the same side.
  Although Chinese numismatic charms are not a legal form of currency, they used to circulate on the Chinese market alongside regular government-issued coinages.
context_section_description: Chinese charms depicting illustrations and subjects from the I Ching (a.k.a. The Book of Changes) are used to wish for the cosmic principles associated with divination in ancient China, such as simplicity, variability, and persistence. Bagua charms may also depict the Bagua (the Eight Trigrams of Taoist cosmology). Bagua charms commonly feature depictions of trigrams, the Yin Yang symbol, Neolithic jade cong's (琮), the Ruyi sceptre, bats, and cash coins.
  Book of Changes and Bagua charms are alternatively known as Yinyang charms (Traditional Chinese: 陰陽錢) because of the fact that the taijitu is often found with the eight trigrams. This is also a popular theme for Vietnamese numismatic charms and many Vietnamese versions contain the same designs and inscriptions.
caption: A Chinese amulet with the 8 trigrams.
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