This book offers an in-depth description and analysis of Chinese coin-like charms, which date back to the second century CE and which continued to be used until mid 20th century. This work is unique in that it provides an archaeological and analytical interpretation of the content of these metallic objects: inscriptive, pictorial or both. As the component chapters show, these coin-like objects represent a wealth of Chinese traditional folk beliefs, including but not limited to family values, social obligations and religious desires. The book presents a collection of contributed chapters, gathering a diverse range of perspectives and expertise from some of the world’s leading scholars in the fields of archaeology, religious studies, art history, language and museology.
The background of the cover image is a page from Guang jin shi yun fu 廣金石韻府, a rhyming dictionary first published in the ninth year of the Kangxi Reign (1652 CE). The metal charm dates back tothe Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE), depicting two deities traditionally believed to possess the majic power of suppressing evil spirits. The stich-bound book in the foreground is a collection of seal impressions from the beginning of the 20th century. Its wooden press board is inscribed da ji xiang 大吉祥 by Fang Zhi-bin 方質彬 in the year of bing yin (1926 CE).
Alex Chengyu Fang is Associate Professor in linguistics at the Department of Linguistics and Translation, City University of Hong Kong. He is also Adjunct Professor at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. A national expert at the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) representing China on Technical Committee 37, he is an appointed expert member of the China National Technical Committee on Terminology for Standardisation. From 2016, he serves as Member of the Academic Committee of the Key Laboratory of Agricultural Biomedical Information of Hubei Province. He received his BA degree in English Language and Literature from the Guangzhou Institute of Foreign Languages and his PhD degree in computational linguistics from University College London, where he was Deputy Director of Survey of English Usage 1995–1996. He started studying Chinese coins and charms in 1995 while in London and travelled extensively in Europe, the United States, and Asia in search of charms and related literature. Specialising in coin charms from the Tang and the Song dynasties, he is co-founder and standing Vice President of the China Association of Numismatic Charms. In 2008, he sponsored the first public exhibition of Chinese charms and organised the first international symposium devoted to Chinese charms, both events taking place in Hong Kong. He was E.S.G. Robinson Fellow in 2012 and studied the Chinese charms held at the Department of Coins and Medals of the British Museum. He was invited to present his studies on Chinese charms at the Oriental Numismatic Society and the Royal Numismatic Society. He is author of nine books including Chinese Charms: Art, Religion and Folk Belief, published by the Commercial Press in Beijing in 2008.
François Thierry was born in 1950 in Paris and, after secondary school in humanities, studied history and arts in university. He focused his research on the political history of the Late Ottoman Empire. Then he travelled extensively in the Middle East, Caucasus and Soviet Central Asia in the late 1960s and in the 1970s. After he passed the Agrégation in 1977, he became a teacher in Arts. At that time, he started to study Chinese language and history in Paris-7 University. In 1984, he was recruited by the Paris Mint Museum as research fellow for publishing the Far Eastern Coins collection and the famous Treasure of the Emperors of Vietnam kept in that institution. In 1986, he entered the Coins Department of the French National Library as research fellow for the publication of a catalogue of Vietnamese coins. In 1989 he was appointed as Curator of Oriental coins. Since mid 1980s, he started to establish close ties with Chinese colleagues and especially with the China Numismatic Society. François Thierry published many catalogues, studies and papers on Chinese, Vietnamese and pre-Islamic Turkish coins and currency. Past Chief Curator in the Coins Department of the French National Library, he is member of French Numismatic Society, the Royal Numismatic Society and the Hong Kong Numismatic Society. In 2006, he was awarded Medal of the Royal Numismatic Society for his scientific research.
