CHINA: AE charm (84.32g), CCH-476, 68mm, hong wu tong bao // auspicious animals with cloud, earth and water elements, VF. The Ming Emperor Tai Zu, who ruled as Hong Wu, was born into a desperately poor peasant tenant farmer family in Zhongli Village in the Huai River plain, which is in present-day Fengyang, Anhui Province. This type of charm became popular with the Chinese people because it represented the hope that a person could become successful despite being born into a peasant family. This example was likely cast in the Min Guo (Republic) era in Northeast China.
