Is there really a "money tree" in the world? It is said that it is one of the five national treasures of the Han Dynasty. Is it true?
There is really a "money tree" in the world! It is also a first-class cultural relic and is prohibited from going abroad! Dating back to the Han Dynasty of our country, in addition to horses riding flying swallows, plain yarn Zen clothes, angular jade rings and bronze calipers, the Han Dynasty also had "money trees".
These five cultural relics are all unique national treasures with exquisite craftsmanship and are known as the five national treasures of the Han Dynasty. Money trees were popular from the early Eastern Han Dynasty to the late Shu Han Dynasty, and their distribution area was centered in today's Sichuan.
In the Mianyang Museum in Sichuan, there is a complete copper money tree with a pottery base of the Eastern Han Dynasty, 198 centimeters high. The whole thing is made up of 29 kinds of parts such as base, trunk and crown, which are connected and hung together. The base is pottery red and the tree is cast in bronze.
The crown of the tree can be divided into 7 layers. The top layer is decorated with a phoenix bird as the tree tip; the lower 2 layers of branches and leaves are integrated into one, decorated with patterns such as the Queen Mother of the West, Hercules and Bi; the lower 4 layers are connected with 24 branches and leaves. , extending in all directions, decorated with dragon heads, vermilion birds and beasts, elephants and elephant slaves, vermilion birds and deer, and bunches of coins.
The diameter of the trunk is 1 cm, the longest leaf is about 15 cm, the shortest is 10 cm, the thickness of each leaf is about 2 mm, the height of the tree should be about 1 meter, with eight branches in three directions. The so-called three-way branch means that the trunk of the money tree is divided into 3 layers and 8 branches and leaves, which are symmetrically distributed.
(Money Tree)
The most interesting thing is the statue on the trunk, about 5 cm high and 2.5 cm wide, with a flying dragon on each side, about 6 cm long. . The figure is standing, wearing a robe, with the right hand hanging down in front of the waist. The overall shape is beautiful and generous.
Looking at the branches and leaves, every two pieces form a pair, just like banana leaves. There are round square hole coins cast on the leaves. Each coin is connected to each other, and there is a person bending down and stretching out his arms to pick up money. The outside of the leaves The surrounding area is like the rays of the sun, extending out many filaments of different lengths.
It is oval-shaped, with a ring the size of a table tennis ball at one end, and flying dragons cast on both sides. The dragon head holds coins, and the two dragons are connected with coins. The outside of the leaves is surrounded by short spines like a hedgehog. .
This money tree has a vivid and beautiful shape and is well preserved. It is the largest money tree unearthed in my country so far. It embodies the crystallization of the labor and wisdom of the ancient Shu ancestors and the glorious ancient civilization. It is a treasure passed down from generation to generation in my country. .
It is similar to the bronze sacred tree unearthed in Sanxingdui. The bronze sacred tree also has a winding dragon. The integrated image of the sacred tree and the sacred dragon makes the sacred tree show extraordinary charm and profound meaning. Symbolic meaning, it may be the prototype of a money tree.
(Part of the money tree
In 1990, the money tree was unearthed from Tomb No. 2 of Hejiashan, Mianyang City, Sichuan Province. In 2002, the "money tree" was designated as 64 first-class cultural relics by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. , one of the first batch of cultural relics banned from going abroad.
Everyone should be very curious about the origin of the money tree. According to the information, there are two theories.
The first theory. It is the treasure of the town of Sanxingdui in Guanghan, Sichuan - the bronze sacred tree of the Shang Dynasty. The bronze sacred tree is often cast with the image of a tree trunk and a dragon, which is very similar to the money tree in later generations. It evolved from the bronze sacred tree.
The second theory is that it originated from the multi-branched lamp, a popular artifact in the Warring States period.
The various sacred trees in the Han Dynasty, their trunks and shapes. The lamp above looks very much like the clothes drying rack we use now, and its shape is more in line with the shape of a money tree.
There is also a quite interesting story here.
There is a folk legend. A famous man named Bing Yuan once found that someone had dropped a bunch of money on the road. He couldn't find the person who lost the money, so he had to hang the money on a tree nearby, thinking that it would be easier for the person looking for the money to find it.
But the person asking for money didn’t come. When people came and went, they saw money hanging on the tree and thought it was a tree that would produce money, so they hung money on the tree one after another to see if it would produce money. , the more it hangs, the more it hangs. This is the origin of the money tree.
Most people say that the money tree is derived from the Sanxingdui bronze sacred tree.
(part of the money tree). p>So why did the ancients cast money trees?
Some say it was a sacrificial item from the tomb owner’s home during his lifetime, and some say it was a Taoist ritual instrument, but the most reliable theory is that it is a burial vessel. .
The ancients worshiped the sacred tree very much, believing that the sacred tree could guide the deceased to enter the fairy world and ascend to heaven. However, the worship of the sacred tree gradually evolved into the worship of money.
The money tree is a symbol of wealth. Rich people hope to continue to live a prosperous life with no worries about food and clothing in the underworld, and to bless their descendants with prosperity.
The money tree demonstrates the crystallization of the labor and wisdom of the ancient Shu people in my country, embodies the superb casting technology of the ancient Shu people, and lays a good foundation for us to understand the ancient Shu culture.
(The pictures in the article are from the Internet, if they are infringing, they will be deleted)