Is the ancient shell fortune-telling tool gold _ Is the ancient shell money?

What shells can be used as money in ancient times?

In ancient China, in the primitive society about four or five thousand years ago, due to low productivity and extremely poor materials, a tribe or a family did not have much surplus products in exchange for other urgently needed items, and the occasional exchange activities between tribes or families were only barter. At that time, there was no money at all and there was no need for money.

With the development of productive forces and social progress, social material wealth is relatively rich, and people's demand for material life is constantly expanding. The way of barter can no longer meet the needs of social life, so people use shells as the medium of exchange. In the late Neolithic period, shells were the most precious materials in primitive society without knowing what metal was. Shells are shellfish that grow in tropical and subtropical shallow seas. They are small and exquisite and brightly colored. Sturdy and durable, it became a favorite ornament of the original residents. Because of its characteristics of moderate size, portability and easy counting, with the development of social economy and the formation of commodity society, shellfish became a natural object as a medium of exchange, and natural shellfish gradually acted as a universal equivalent of commodity exchange.

The unit of measurement is "Peng"

The earliest shell of goods-natural shells

The original meaning of the ancient word "Peng" refers to a string or two connected "shells", which gradually evolved into a unit of measurement. How many shellfish is "a friend" for? There has never been a consensus, and opinions vary from two to twenty. Generally, two strings of five shellfish or two strings of ten shellfish are considered as "one friend".

In the late Shang Dynasty, with the development of commodity economy and the continuous expansion of trade scope, the supply of seashells in northern China was in short supply. At this time, people came up with other materials to prevent shell-shaped money, such as pottery, stones, bones, jade, copper, gold and so on. The invention of imitation copper shell is the beginning of metal coins in China.

Shibei

There are also many kinds of natural shells, such as "cargo shell" (also known as tooth shell), "jujube shell", "Arvin shell" (also known as big shell and tiger shell) and "mink snail", among which "cargo shell" is more common and has a longer shell surface.

The long tooth slot is called "shell tooth" or "shell lip", the front of the shell is relatively flat, and the side of the shell is slightly protruding. In order to be easy to carry, people cut many small holes in the back of the shell, which was called "small hole cargo shell" in the early stage, and then the perforation gradually expanded, which was called "big hole cargo shell".

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the back of the "cargo shell" was almost smooth, which was called "grinding back cargo shell".

"Imitation copper shell" generally imitates the shape of cargo shell, and its early form is similar to natural shell. After the Spring and Autumn Period, bronze imitation shells with characters were cast in the southern Chu area. Some of its shapes are like ants crawling their noses and some are like grimaces, so it is commonly called "ant nose money" or "grimace money". There are 10 kinds of faces, but the shapes are relatively consistent. Ant nose money was cast in the early Warring States period (5th century BC), and face money was cast in the middle and late Warring States period in 4th-3rd century BC. It was one of the more advanced forms of money at that time. In addition to the bronze shells of Chu, there were gold shells, silver shells and gold-plated copper shells in the North during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and "imitation copper shells" appeared. And with its relatively unified volume, weight and value, and the incomparable advantages of "cargo shell" and "imitation shell", it can enter the circulation field.

Ant nose money (face money)

Copper shell is the copper shell coin of Chu State, which is called ant nose money or grimace money.

This name is not the original name of Chu Beibi.

This is a well-established name.

The earliest record of this kind of imitation copper shell as ant nose money is Quan Zhi written by Hongzun in Song Dynasty. He said, "The money is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom.

The back is flat, the face is convex, and there are words such as engraving and calligraphy, also called ant nose money. "There is no detailed description of what words are engraved on the shell, but the words" turbulence "and" curse "are probably cast.

"Turbulent" shell, the money body is pointed and round, the face is convex and the back is flat. The inscription "turbulent" shaped shell is like an ant crawling on its nose, so it is called ant nose money, and the word "curse" is the same as ant nose money.

The word "curse" seems to be a grimace, so it is called "grimace money" by later generations.

Later, all copper shells with words were called ant nose money.

The so-called "ant's nose" was originally meant to be light and small. Jin's "Bao Pu Zi Lun Xian" said: "Donate a priceless hook (the name of the sword) to lack the ant nose", which means that the priceless sword was abandoned because of a small flaw, so it can be seen that the ant nose money is small money.

The inscriptions in northern Chu include "random glyph, mantra, security, monarch, faith, gold and prosperity" and so on. Some people interpret the word "chaos" as "holy pestle" (decline rate), while others think it is a combination of "five Zhu" and "six Zhu".

The word "curse" is often interpreted as "shell", "cry" and "shell", so it is necessary to further study and demonstrate the meaning of Qian Wen.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, ant nose money has been unearthed in Henan and Jiangsu.

Face money is found in Hubei, Hunan, Henan, Jiangsu, Anhui and other places. 1963, 5000 pieces of grimace money were unearthed in Xiaogan Wild Boar Lake, Hubei Province, with the word "curse" on the face, with an average weight of about 4.37 grams.

Judging from the location, tombs and number of excavations.

Ant nose money was cast in the early Warring States period (5th century BC), and flour money was cast in the middle and late Warring States period in 4th-3rd century BC.

Chu's territory was not large at first, but gradually expanded, and the circulation scope of ant nose money and face money also expanded, gradually forming an independent monetary system in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

As a historical currency, "Coin" not only made great contributions to the ancient economy of China, but also had a far-reaching impact on the culture and customs of China.

From the current Chinese characters in China, we can see that most things or behaviors related to coins have one side, such as goods, tribute, trade, Jia, bribery, wealth, greed, poverty, expenses, compensation, redemption and so on.

In the rural areas around Jiangsu and Zhejiang, parents hang up Pei Bei for their children, hoping that their children will grow up healthily, exorcise evil spirits and make a fortune. Some parents simply call their children "babies". Although "North Coin" has multiple meanings of economic history and culture, it is favored by coin collectors and has become a major category of today's collection.