User:Donald Trung/Vietnamese numismatic charms

This page serves as the editing history for the article Vietnamese numismatic charm and exists for historical documentation.

Original draft


Vietnamese numismatic charms, also known as Vietnamese amulets, Vietnamese talismans, or simply Vietnamese charms, refer to a family of cash coin-like and other numismatic inspired types of charms that like the Japanese and Korean variants are derived from Chinese numismatic charms (also referred to as Yansheng coins or huāqián), but have evolved around the customs of the Vietnamese culture although most of these charms resemble Vietnamese cash coins and the amulet coins of China. These "coins" were used at temples, as tokens within the imperial palace, and as everyday charms with supposed magical power. Some of these charms contained the inscriptions of real circulating cash coins but with added imagery.

Like with Chinese numismatic Buddhist charms there are Vietnamese numismatic Buddhist charms that contain Sanskrit inscriptions, however some of these Buddhist amulets from Vietnam contain only Sanskrit syllables associated with certain sounds but without meaning, these meaningless inscriptions were presumably borrowed from Chinese monks who used them as religious iconography.

During the 60th birthday of Revival Lê dynasty Emperor Lê Hiển Tông in 1774 a special Vạn Thọ Thông Bảo (萬夀通寶) amulet was cast, these charms were often used to commemorate the birthday of an emperor as had happened in the Qing dynasty with the 60th birthdays of Chinse emperors. The reason these charms are cast on this particular event is because 60 years symbolises a complete cycle of the 10 heavenly stems and the 12 earthly branches.

Under the Nguyễn dynasty Emperor Minh Mạng large (often 48 millimeters in diameter) presentation coins with the inscription Minh Mạng Thông Bảo (明命通寶) were made that featured inscriptions from the Huainanzi on their reverse, it is believed that this work was chosen because it states that a monarch or ruler should embrace both Confucianism and Taoism and attain sagehood. Because the term Minh Mạng (Hán tự: 明命) can also be translated as "bright life" or "intelligent decree" the inscription Minh Mạng Thông Bảo is commonly used on Vietnamese numismatic charms.

During the Vietnam war era a large number of Vietnamese numismatic charms with cash coin inscriptions were produced in large numbers as souvenirs for foreigners interested in antiques large South Vietnamsee cities like Saigon, Da Nang, and Huế. These charms usually sold for $1 or $2 and bore inscriptions of authentic Vietnamese cash coins like Quang Trung Thông Bảo (光中通寶), Gia Long Thông Bảo (嘉隆通寶), and Minh Mạng Thông Bảo (明命通寶), but many also contained fantasy inscriptions like Quang Trung Trọng Bảo (光中重寶), Hàm Nghi Trọng Bảo (咸宜重寶), and Khải Định Trọng Bảo (啓定重寶), the latter of which being based on the Khải Định Thông Bảo (啓定通寶).

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 * 1) REDIRECT Vietnamese numismatic charm


 * 1) Vietnamese numismatic charms
 * 2) Vietnamese charm
 * 3) Vietnamese charms
 * 4) Vietnamese amulet
 * 5) Vietnamese amulets
 * 6) Vietnamese talisman
 * 7) Vietnamese talismans
 * 8) Vietnamese Numismatic Charm
 * 9) Vietnamese Numismatic Charms
 * 10) Vietnamese coin charm
 * 11) Vietnamese coin charms

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 * July 2018.