Why is a money tree called a money tree

"Money tree, treasure pot, sunset gold night loaded with silver." This ballad has been passed down from ancient times to the present day, which shows the world's love for the money tree. Qing Dynasty Hu Dachuan poem: "The earth has a spring all the wine, long forest trees do not shake the money." See the depth of the world's obsession with the money tree. With the passage of time and the development of history, people's love for money tree is unabated. But most people only know the name of the money tree, know that it is a symbol of wealth, is the identity card of the ancient official family, but have no chance to see the face, not to mention the aesthetic value of its art and as a typical representative of the Chinese monetary culture of the value of historical relics. Even if you want to have it, you can't find it. In fact, many people in the field of cultural relics and archaeology may not really know the value of the money tree. In the knowledge of the money tree, Western art collectors to "only in this mountain" we have a sobering lesson.

The money tree, also known as the money tree, is a mythological treasure tree, which evolved from the Shang Dynasty "sacred tree", and in the ancient economically developed areas, development and dissemination. As a unique cultural phenomenon in ancient China, the Money Tree retains the primitive religious concepts of tree worship of the ancestors during the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, but also gives the secular concept of praying for wealth and good fortune. Legend has it that there is a tree that produces wealth and money, which can be regenerated by shaking it down, and this tree refers to the Money Tree. The money tree is also a tree of longevity, who has it, who will eliminate disasters and disasters, rich and powerful, long life, constant source of wealth, and prosperous offspring. From ancient times to the present, how many people want to have it but can't get it.

It is well known that many peoples of the ancient world have circulated myths and legends about trees. This has been classically discussed by the distinguished British anthropologist James George Fraser in his anthropological masterpiece, The Golden Bough. The fact that Fraser's brilliant work on witchcraft and religion was titled The Golden Bough shows that tree worship is widespread among all peoples of the world. Ancient Chinese myths are rich in legends about trees, which were either used as tools for human and divine interaction between heaven and earth, acting as heavenly ladders, or as sources of life-giving vitality. These sacred trees grew at the center of the world.

The names of the cosmic trees in ancient Chinese myths and legends are many and varied: Sacred Wood, Jianmu, Fusang, Ruomu, Zhumu, Baimu, Suit Changmu, Lingshou Tree, Ganhua Tree, Zhumu Tree, Wenyu Tree, and Immortal Tree ...... Among them, Fusang, Ruomu, and Jianmu are the representatives due to their most imaginative nature. In ancient Chinese mythology, "column 300 miles, its leaves such as mustard," the Fusang is considered to be the East of the sacred wood, and the corresponding "end of the ten days, the shape of a lotus flower, the light shines down" Ruomu for the West of the sacred wood, as the so-called "Fusang in the sea, Ruomu in the Kunlun".

Ancient Chinese mythology, in addition to the cosmic tree, there are many trees that can provide the source of life and immortality of the tree, mythologically known as the tree of life. Among them, the Western sacred tree, Wakagi, is both the tree of heaven and the tree of life. The poet Qu Yuan wrote in "The Nine Songs - Lord of the Clouds" that "Hua Caiyi is Ruoying", and Ruoying is also the Ying of Ruomu.

The cosmic tree and the tree of life of the various species of sacred wood is not exactly the same, but much the same, they come from the same heritage, contains a basically the same symbolism. Including the money tree, including the southwest of the many sacred trees have their own deep cultural soil. 1986, samsungdui in guanghan, sichuan province, unearthed the world's shock of the big copper tree for the eastern han popular money tree origin found clues, but also for China's early religious symbolism of the development of the tree modeling art, the flow of the change and the cultural connection between them to find a credible physical basis. Analyzing the shape and image of this sacred tree, experts and scholars unanimously agreed that this tree is the cosmic tree and the tree of life in ancient Chinese myths and legends, and that it is the earliest form of the cosmic tree and the tree of life in China that has been discovered so far.

The Money Shaking Tree can be said to be a peculiar form of the Cosmic Tree and the Tree of Life in the southwestern region of the Han Dynasty, which evolved from the early Cosmic Tree and the Tree of Life and gave the Cosmic Tree and the Tree of Life a brand-new significance from the form to the content.

The typical representative artifacts of Chinese monetary culture

The Money Tree with the functions of the Cosmic Tree and the Tree of Life is the typical representative artifacts of Chinese monetary culture. Only by placing the money tree in the height of Chinese monetary culture to recognize, in order to reflect the historical value and historical significance of this world's rare cultural relics more comprehensively.

The money tree is not only the ancient Shu and Bachu folk beliefs of physical evidence, but also the product of Chinese monetary culture and typical representative of cultural relics, from one side fully reflects the ancient Chinese unique monetary culture and concept. The Chinese nation not only has a long cultural history, but also a long monetary history, and, Chinese cultural thought early with the combination of monetary economy, money economy and the earliest relationship with the cultural life, so that thousands of years ago, the formation of the unique characteristics and charm of the Chinese monetary culture phenomenon, which is typically represented by the Eastern Han Dynasty in the southwest of the money tree is widely circulated.

There seems to be no clear explanation in the ancient literature for the appearance of the coin pattern on the bronze money tree. However, regarding the close relationship between sacred trees and money, we find clues in the sacred tree modeling of Sanxingdui in Guanghan and those unearthed in other regions. A large number of shell coins (mainly sea shells) were unearthed in the pits of the Sanxingdui site. Three copper shells with rings were also found around its sacred tree, and experts and scholars believe that this is likely to be a pendant that fell from the sacred tree. Regardless of the different views of the academic community, the samsung heap sacred tree when the age of early in the Eastern Han Dynasty before, this point is beyond doubt. Therefore, the emergence of the Eastern Han Dynasty money tree is not accidental, it is the southwest region of a certain ancient cultural concepts of inheritance and continuation of the Eastern Han folk culture of this ancient concept of cognition, development and performance, this concept is the possession of wealth, at the same time, wealth and means to prolong life and improve the quality of life assurance.

Excavated artifacts confirmed that the Southwest unearthed on the money tree hooked to the ancient coins are mostly five baht unearthed in the Han and Jin dynasties have been minted and unearthed, after the Tang and Song dynasties are fewer, the Qing Dynasty money tree is even more difficult to see. But in December 1992, in the annual Chengdu Junior Coin Lovers Association organized by the results of the coin exhibition, on display in the Qing Dynasty Tongzhi years of auspicious items - money tree, is unique, attracting attention. The money tree inlaid with Tongzhi Tongbao, as well as the pressure to win the auspicious money, on the "long life, wealth and prosperity", "full of fortune", has a high collector's value.

Living in the monetary economy under the conditions of the residents, its ideology, lifestyle, customs and habits will certainly be affected by the monetary economy, and this effect is bound to be subjected to the constraints of the national cultural traditions, thus forming a special monetary cultural phenomena, such as love of money, praying for money, money ornaments, money rituals, money, money interesting, money, etc., which is a normal reflection of the development of a national numismatic culture is the inevitable development of history. The product.

As the folk people love good luck, the money tree until the Republic of China still exists, but has evolved into a kind of indoor hanging decorations woven with ancient money. But it still expresses people's pursuit of good luck, good fortune, peace, constant wealth, glory, wealth, immortality and the good wishes of the people.

Currency culture generally includes the following: First, by praying for the good wishes of wealth and the formation of myths and legends. Such as Queen Mother of the West, God of Wealth and other deities that can bring money to people; secondly, the hope of getting the artifacts and treasures that can bring wealth, such as the money tree, treasure pots and other artifacts that can bring money to people; thirdly, the hope of bringing wealth to the rituals and customs; fourthly, the ornaments that symbolize good luck and wealth, and so on. The normal monetary culture of a nation is sublime, which reflects the good wishes and special way of thinking of a nation.

The Fairyland on the Money Tree

The Money Tree is the most wonderful and outstanding expression of the art of modeling sacred trees in Chinese myths and legends, which is the continuation and development of the early bronze sacred trees in the Southwest region in the Later Han Dynasty, which not only contains the most basic nature and functions of the Cosmic Tree and the Tree of Life, but at the same time, it also integrates the idea of the gods and fairies that are popular in the folklore. The appearance of the highly personified frontal idol on the money tree, the Queen Mother of the West, and her heavenly deities, indicates that the money tree appeared as an object of religious worship. The shapes and images of the money tree show a desirable, peaceful and serene heavenly realm of the immortals, and contain the concepts of immortality, ascension to heaven, warding off evil spirits and avoiding calamities, procreation, possession of wealth, and even the return of the soul to its place of abode.

The money tree of the Eastern Han Dynasty is composed of two parts: the tree seat and the tree body. And from the excavated money tree tree seat, most of the mountain-shaped seat, molded with the gods and goddesses and beasts, mythology called this mountain is the universe of the mountain, which is located in the center of the earth, high in the clouds, through the sky to the absolute, is the pivot of the human and the gods to come and go. This kind of mountain is known as the immortal mountain in China, which is the base for the activities of all the gods and immortals. In the mind of the Han Dynasty, to enter the heavenly realm of the immortals, one had to use the power of the immortals to arrive through high mountains and sacred trees.

The legends of ancient Chinese immortal mountains formed two major systems by the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties, namely Kunlun in the west and Penglai in the east. The Classic of Mountains and Seas - West Mountain Scripture, said: "Four hundred miles southwest, said Kunlun hill, is real but the emperor under the capital." From this point of view, Kunlun is the western Chinese legend of the gods of the mountain, the universe of the mountain. As the saying goes, the east sea Penglai, west pole Kunlun. The myth of Kunlun has become a widespread folk religious belief in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and became the mainstream of China's early beliefs. As a religious object popular among the folk during the Eastern Han Dynasty, the money tree would naturally seep into the concept of the Kunlun myth.

The prominent image of the Queen Mother of the West on the Eastern Han Dynasty money tree already signaled her absolute status as the main deity. The legend of Xiwangmu is quite old. Initially, she was portrayed as very scary, and by the time of the Western Han Dynasty, Xiwangmu had become a queen of beauty who could grant people a long life. By the Eastern Han Dynasty, the legend of Xiwangmu was widely circulated in folklore and had fully developed into a benevolent goddess with a personality that was thoroughly integrated with the myth of Kunlun, where she ultimately became the master of Kunlun.

According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, the Kunlun Mountain, whose light is bearish, whose breath is soulful, where divine birds and beasts gather, and where the hundreds of gods are located, is the capital of the Heavenly Emperor in the lower world. The Queen Mother of the West, who is in charge of the medicine of immortality, lives in the mountain. Mountain longevity tree (also known as the tree of longevity) tree height of 5 feet, ten thousand years of evergreen, the fruit, people eat the ageless, the tree body is not trimmed, both to help Zhi, but also longevity. The Kunlun Mountains are full of ganoderma lucidum and fairy grass, and everywhere the warblers sing and swallows dance. The Kunlun Mountain is a ladder leading to the immortal world, full of the realm of immortals. Emperor Qin Shi Huang sought immortality in the sea, and Emperor Han Wu Di sought immortality in the mountains. Before Buddhism was introduced to China, the Han Dynasty was a time when admiration and the pursuit of immortality were all the rage in society, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty wished to be immortalized. Affected by this cultural trend, the official family and the rich and powerful, all the beautiful scenery of the Kunlun Mountains for their worship of the idol, shaping a stable and beautiful, exquisite, exquisite craftsmanship, unique shape of the bronze money tree, placed in the hall, morning and evening kowtow, praying for the realization of their own good wishes.