page_title: Marriage coin charm
section_title: Dragon and Fenghuang charms
hierarchical_section_title: Marriage coin charm / Types and themes / Dragon and Fenghuang charms
caption_attribution_description: English: 53 mm Obv. Cheng Te T'ung Pao Coinage of True Virtue Rev. Left - phoenix, right - dragon Meaning: A dragon and a phoenix are the emblems of imperial power [S] Ref.: [M] 1.83.18 Section 1.83: "Charms with coin inscriptions: Cheng Te T'ung Pao" Cheng Te T'ung Pao Dynasty: Ming (1368-1644 a.d.) Emperor: Wu Tsung (1505-1521 a.d.) Years title: Cheng Te (1505-1521 a.d.) "The legend of this coin is a favorite to use as an amulete and many of these coins will be found with ornamental rims and reverses decorated with dragons and other designs." [CR] In [M] book we can find 41 items with that coin legend. [S] "The dragon occupies a prominent place in Chinese mythology; he sends rain and floods, and is the ruler of the clouds. The phoenix is an emblem of matrimonial alliances, etc."
context_page_description: Marriage coin charms are a category of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese numismatic charms that depict marriage, harmonious, and/or sexual imagery. These coin charms often imitate the design of Chinese cash coins, but can exist in many different shapes and sizes.
context_section_description: A number of marriage numismatic charms depict the image of a dragon and a fenghuang on their reverse sides, usually the obverse sides of these amulets often contain a cash coin inscription, fantasy cash coin inscription, or a more auspicious inscription related to either marriage or having plenty. 
  Zhengde Tongbao (正德通寶) fantasy cash coin charms commonly feature the image of a dragon and a fenghuang on their reverses, when a Chinese dragon and fenghuang are shown together they often symbolise the union of a man and a woman meaning that these Zhengde Tongbao charms were used as Chinese marriage charms. Although Gary Ashkenazy claims that the dragon and fenghuang symbolises matrimony, it is argued by Edgar J. Mandel in his book Metal Charms and Amulets of China that the dragon and fenghuang actually represent the power of the imperial Chinese government where the dragon represents the Emperor and the fenghuang the Empress. A popular saying in imperial China was "If a household has a Zhengde coin, there will be material wealth and honour for ten thousand years" (家有正德錢富貴萬萬年, jiā yǒu zhèng dé qián fù guì wàn wàn nián). 
  Some dragon and fenghuang charms display the obverse inscription Zhouyuan Tongbao (周元通寶), which is an inscription used by Later Zhou. Although most of the numismatic charms that display this inscription are produced during a later period, charms with this inscription are very popular throughout Chinese history. In 956, Chai Rong, also known as Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou, had ordered that the bronze Buddha statues in the Buddhist temples, as well as all the bronze items which were owned by the people of the Later Zhou Empire, had to be turned in to the imperial government. These bronze items were confiscated in order to manufacture Later Zhou cash coins. Because Buddhist statues were used to produce these cash coins it is believed by some people that Zhouyuan Tongbao cash coins were especially auspicious, which is why they later became a very popular design for later made Chinese numismatic charms.
caption: A Zhengde Tongbao (正德通寶) fantasy cash coin charm featuring the image of a dragon and a fenghuang on its reverse.
exif: {"Image Rating": "4", "Image Tag 0x4749": "75", "Image ExifOffset": "2122", "Image Padding": "[]", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}