洪武通宝背牛图花钱 极美品
CHINA: AE charm (18.54g), CD1924, CCH-—, 38mm, hong wu tong bao // "boy" riding ox with date below, EF. In this case, the "boy" on the charm is actually Ming Emperor Tai Zu, who ruled as Hong Wu, who had a very humble early life and for a time was a shepherd boy. You will notice that the boy is playing a flute which has the connotation of a care free life. The flute is an old Daoist (Taoist) symbol which is associated with the Daoist Immortal Lan Caihe. The flute is also an ancient Buddhist symbol used in meditation and is displayed on this charm to allude to the time when Emperor Tai Zu lived in a Buddhist monastery. 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. With cyclical date which could be 1864 or 1924 but the later seems more likely due do the manufacturing quality.
