This is a Chinese amulet coin used to “ward off negative influences and enhance personal abilities”. It is the most typical and powerful one, so many versions have been derived, and official casting bureaus across the country have been minting it. It can be widely used in various aspects such as removing negative energy, eliminating negative emotions, reversing the trough of fortune, and avoiding malicious harm. “Mountain Ghost” is literally translated as the ghosts and gods in the mountains. It comes from the mountain god in “Nine Songs” of “Chu Ci” and has been absorbed by Taoism as a protective god guarding the mountains and forests. “Mountain Ghost” is a separate and important category among Chinese amulet coins. The character “mountain” means big mountains; the three circles below are actually the “Thunder Pellets” in Taoist thunder magic, and they are also the “belief talismans” in Taoist talismans; below is an alternative character for “ghost”, which still means a ghost. The combination of “mountain”, “Thunder Pellets” and “ghost” is pronounced as “Wéi”, which means a mountain containing the power of thunder. It is the beginning of a talisman and also refers to the mountain god and thunder magic. Since it doesn’t require inscribing one’s own name, it is the most widely used, the largest in quantity and the most beloved coin among this type of amulet coins.
This kind of Mountain Ghost amulet coin often consists of the beginning of the talisman – “Mountain Ghost” and the end of the talisman. It borrows the covenant between Taoist priests and immortals, marks the names of the immortals it claims according to different runes, and then generates power. The most widely applied system is the “Zhengyi Covenant”, that is, the “Zhengyi Taoism”. It adopts the style of a round coin with a square hole, and this shape originated from the Qin Dynasty during the Warring States period and has been used in China for 2500 years.
On the front of this amulet coin, “Mountain Ghost” serves as the “beginning of the talisman”; the approximate meaning of the “incantation” in the middle is “Thunder; kill demons, subdue goblins; slay monsters, ward off bad luck; protect the clarity of my mind and belief; I command you to execute immediately in the name of Tai Shang Lao Jun”. It comes from the “Taishang Dongyuan Shenzhou Jing”, symbolizing the removal of filth and demons by the divine power of Tai Shang Lao Jun.
The back of this amulet coin is engraved with the Eight Trigrams. They represent the changes of yin and yang and natural forces with simple images. They respectively represent heaven, earth, wind, thunder, water, fire, mountain and rivers. The “Later Heaven Eight Trigrams” on this coin implies the natural laws that humans can master through their own efforts, and it also represents the Chinese belief that “man can conquer nature”.
For the “Mountain Ghost” type of amulet coins, the front has a complete “beginning of the talisman”, “incantation” and “end of the talisman” to remove negativity; the back has specific images to adjust one’s own magnetic field and strengthen personal beliefs. It condenses the cultivation wisdom of Taoism that “connects with the gods through talismans and controls qi with forms”, and it is even called a “miniature Taoist altar”.
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