Double Lucky Fang Chuan Chan Chu

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Double lucky fang chuan Chan Chu, a pair of finely sculpted, boxwood money toads with a satin black finish and … Read more Double lucky fang chuan Chan Chu, a pair of finely sculpted, boxwood money toads with a satin black finish and four, lucky, silver cash coins with square holes (fang chuan), all on a finely made, traditional, Chinese, hongmu stand. Circa mid century or earlier. Set includes two money toads, one stand, and four coins = seven pieces.

fang chuan: cash coin with a square hole. In imperial China cash coins were used for fortune telling, or I Ching divination. This would be done by first lighting incense to the effigy of a Chinese deity, and then casting three cash coins into a tortoise shell. The Chinese fortune telling process using cash coins involved the fortune teller counting the number of coins lying on their obverse or reverse sides, and how these coins scratched the shell, this process was repeated three or six times. After this a very intricate system based on the position of the coins with Bagua, and the five elements was used for divination.

Chan Chu: (Chinese: 金蟾; pinyin: jīn chán; lit. 'Golden Toad'), also called Chan Chuy (Chinese: 蟾蜍; pinyin: chánchú; lit. 'Toad') or "Zhaocai Chan Chu" (Chinese: 招财蟾蜍; pinyin: zhāocái chánchú; lit. 'wealth-beckoning toad'), is most commonly translated as "Money Toad" or "Money Frog". It represents a popular feng shui charm for prosperity. This mythical creature is said to appear during the full moon, near houses or businesses that will soon receive good news (most of the time, the nature of this good news is understood to be wealth-related). According to feng shui beliefs, Jin Chan helps attract and protect wealth, and guards against bad luck. Because it symbolizes the flow of money, feng shui lore insists that a Jin Chan statue should not be positioned facing the main door ("outward"). It also "should never be kept in the bathroom, bedroom, dining room or kitchen". The Jin Chan is a legendary animal of the Han people. The money toad is associated with the Daoist monk, Liu Haichan, as the xianren's animal companion, the Chinese constellations, representing the north and associated with endurance, strength, and longevity.

stand: 7.875" wide x 1.625" high x 5.5" deep

each money toad: 2" high x 3" wide x 3: deep

each cash coin: 1.375" diameter See less