What kind of copper coin is this?
Gossip money belongs to the category of "spending money" that hates winning money. Since the Han Dynasty, both official and private furnaces in our country have used drums to cast money, and there are many categories. The face of "Bagua Qian" has Bagua graphics and the eight characters of the hexagrams Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen and Dui; the text on the back mostly contains the twelve earthly branches (Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, etc.) and the corresponding zodiac signs. Pictures (rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, etc.). In ancient times, people believed that this money could ward off evil spirits and provide security. There were many types of coins cast in the past dynasties, with different sizes and shapes, both fine and rough.
"Bagua Qian" was used as "spend money" when it was issued and was not used for circulation. It was used for appreciation, commemoration, etc., and was not a "regular currency". In fact, it is the money of the heavenly stems and the earthly branches. It occupies a large proportion in the Yansheng Qian family. It was cast from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and the same kind was imitated for generations. It is said that "one copper trigram is worth fifty coins" among the people. It is said that because of the small amount of castings, most of them are hidden in pagodas and underground palaces. The older they are, the rarer they are for the first edition.
Bagua originated from the Book of Changes, and was much earlier than Bagua Qian. The "Three Sages of the Book of Changes" refer to the first sage Fuxi, the second sage Zhou Wenwang Jichang, and the third sage Confucius. These are the founders of the Book of Changes. The ancestor of the scriptures shows that it has a long history. Bagua originally means hanging, and hanging eight symbols that symbolize nature. The symbols are composed of three parallel horizontal lines, which are combined into eight groups by using the central break of the horizontal lines and constant changes.
Bagua money is mainly used to protect the house, keep safe, dispel diseases and evil spirits, and perform witchcraft and divination. It is said that Bagua money flourished during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty and was used to place it on beams when building palaces to ward off evil spirits and pray for good fortune. From Daoguang to the fall of the Qing Dynasty, in order to avoid military chaos and suppress evil spirits, people also placed Bagua coins when building their houses. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, it was mainly used for witchcraft and divination.