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Illustrations of Chinese horse coins depicting "Great Yellow" and "Green Ear".
A horse coin with the inscription "Ch'u Huang" (The Great Yellow Horse).

Horse coins (Traditional Chinese: 馬錢; Simplified Chinese: 马钱; Pinyin: mǎ qián) are a type of Chinese numismatic charm that originated in the Song dynasty presumably as gambling tokens although many literary figures wrote about these coins their usage has always been failed to be mentioned by them, most horse coins tend to be round coins 3 centimeters in diameter with a circular or square hole in the middle of the coin. The horses featured on horse coins are depicted in various positions such as lying on the ground sleep, turning their head while neighing, or galloping forward with their tails rising high. it is currently unknown how horse coins were actually used though it is speculated that Chinese horse coins were actually used as game board pieces or gambling counters. Horse coins are most often manufactured from copper or bronze, but in a few documented cases they may also be made from animal horns or ivory. The horse coins produced during the Song dynasty are considered to be those of the best quality and craftsmanship and tend be made from better metal than the horse coins produced after.[1][2] Some horse coins would feature the name of the famous horses they depicted. It is estimated that there are over three hundred variants of the horse coin.[3][4][5] Some horse coins contained only an image of a horse while others also included an image of the rider and others had inscriptions which identify the horse or rider. During the beginning of the year of the horse in 2002 Chinese researchers Jian Ning and Wang Liyan of the National Museum of Chinese History wrote articles on horse coins the "China Cultural Relics Newspaper", the researchers noted that they found it a pity that the holes in the coins covered the saddles of the horses as this could've revealed more about ancient horse culture. Horse coins from the Song dynasty are the horse coins that are produced at the highest quality while horse coins from subsequent dynasties tend to be inferior compared to them.[6]

Horse coins often depicted famous horses from Chinese history or famous horses from Chinese mythology, while commemorative horse coins would also feature riders, such as the horse coin that features “General Yue Yi of the State of Yan” commemorating the event that a Yan general attempted to conquer the city of Jimo.[7] Another horse coin depicts the Chinese mythological horse long ju (龍駒), this horse was first mentioned in the "Rites of Zhou".[1] The Rites of Zhou describes a "dragon colt" as a horse which is "more than 8 chi (尺) tall" when its measured from its front hoof to the shoulder. One chi, during the Zhou dynasty period, was about 16.5 centimeters in the metric system.[1]

It is rare for horse coins to also feature images of horses in armour but a few rare examples from the Song dynasty exist (and it is even rarer for these coins to also feature a saddle) as well as some from the Mongol Yuan dynasty that feature horses wearing typical Mongolian horse armour. As horse coins from the Yuan dynasty are extremely rare there hasn't been much research undertaken in determining their usage and origins.[8]

Horse coins carved into cash coins

On the island of Java it was sometimes done to take an existing circulating cash coin, for example a Kan'ei Tsūhō (寛永通寳) cash coin, and engrave the design of a horse coin into it.[9] The Javanese also did this with other designs.[9]

List of horse coins

List of types of horse coins depicting famous horses:[1]

List of variants of horse coins
Transliteration Traditional Chinese Simplified Chinese Literal English translation Obverse image Reverse image
Qin jiang san qi 秦將散騎 秦将散骑 "Followers of General Bai Qi"
Yan jiang yue yi 燕將樂毅 燕将乐毅 "General Yue Yi of the State of Yan"[a]
Piao niao 驃嫋 骠袅 "Fast and slender"
Wu zhui 烏騅 乌骓 "Black spotted horse"
Tang jiang qian li 唐將千里 唐将千里 "Tang General 1,000 li"
Zhen guan shi ji
Jue bo		 貞觀十驥
決波		 贞观十骥
决波		 "Ten thoroughbreds of Zhen Guan"[b]
"Bursting as a wave"
Qian li 千里 千里 "1,000 li"
Qian li zhi ma 千里之馬 千里之马 "1,000 li horse"
Long ju 龍駒 龙驹 "Dragon's Colt"
King Mu of Western Zhou's horses
("The eight outstanding steeds")[c]
Qu Huang 渠黃 渠黄 "Great Yellow"
Qu Huang zhi ma 渠黃之馬 渠黄之马 "The Great Yellow horse"
Lü Er 綠耳 绿耳 "Green ear"
Jue Di 絕地 绝地 "Beyond Earth"
Ben Xiao 奔宵 奔宵 "Rush by Night"
Fan Yu 翻羽 翻羽 "Windswept Plumes"  
"Finer than Flashing Light"
Chao Ying 超影 超影 "Faster than Shadow"
Xie Yi 挾翼 挟翼 "Wing Bearer"
Chao Guang 超光 超光 "Faster than Light"
Teng Wu 騰霧 腾雾 "Rising Mist"
"Bay Steed"
Dao Li 盜驪 盗骊 "Smoked Ebony" uncertain
Chi Ji 赤驥 赤骥 "Skewbald Chestnut" uncertain

Notes

  1. ^ The name is sometimes alternatively translated as "General Le Yi of the State of Yan".
  2. ^ Zhen Guan was the era name used by Emperor Taizong of the Tang dynasty.
  3. ^ King Mu of Zhou had once rode on a chariot with eight horses that were known as the "eight outstanding steeds". The names of these eight horses can be found on Chinese and other East Asian horse coins although there is some disagreement as to which set of eight names which were passed down through history is the correct version. The names of King Mu of Zhou's eight horses described their outstanding characteristics and included "Beyond Earth", "Rush by Night", "Windswept Plumes",  "Finer than Flashing Light", "Faster than Shadow", "Wing Bearer", "Faster than Light", and "Rising Mist".  Other historical Chinese texts list King Mu of Zhou's horses as "Bay Steed", "Smoked Ebony", "Skewbald Chestnut", "Great Yellow", and "Green Ear".

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Ancient Chinese Horse Coins - 馬錢". Gary Ashkenazy / גארי אשכנזי (Primaltrek – a journey through Chinese culture). 16 November 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  2. ^ Sportstune (Chinese charms) Chinese charms, section 20. 20. HORSE CHARMS. Retrieved: 02 May 2018.
  3. ^ 台灣Wiki (TaiwanWiki) > 百科分類 > 錢幣 > 收藏 > 古玩 > 古幣 > 馬錢。馬錢. Retrieved: 02 May 2018. (in Mandarin Chinese using Traditional Chinese characters)
  4. ^ 鐵血社區. Retrieved: 02 May 2018. (in Mandarin Chinese using Traditional Chinese characters)
  5. ^ 中國古玩網. Retrieved: 02 May 2018. (in Mandarin Chinese using Traditional Chinese characters)
  6. ^ "Legacy of Horse-drawn Money". China Daily (Travel in China). 25 March 2002. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  7. ^ ""Battle of Jimo" Horse Coin". Gary Ashkenazy / גארי אשכנזי (Primaltrek – a journey through Chinese culture). 18 May 2011. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  8. ^ "Horse in Armour Horse Coins". Gary Ashkenazy / גארי אשכנזי (Primaltrek – a journey through Chinese culture). 6 February 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  9. ^ a b "Charms". Dr. Luke Roberts at the Department of History - University of California at Santa Barbara. 24 October 2003. Retrieved 20 April 2020.

Further reading

  • Joe Cribb, "Horse Coins: Pieces for Da Ma, the Chinese Board-Game 'Driving the Horses'", in Irving Finkel (ed.) Ancient Board Games in Perspective: papers from the 1990 British Museum colloquium, with additional contributions, (London: British Museum Press, 2007), pp. 116–124. ISBN 978-0-7141-1153-7.
  • Andrew Lo, "An Introduction to Board Games in Late Imperial China", in Irving Finkel (ed.) Ancient Board Games in Perspective: papers from the 1990 British Museum colloquium, with additional contributions, (London: British Museum Press, 2007), pp. 125–132. ISBN 978-0-7141-1153-7.
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