The Liao Dynasty (辽朝 916-1125) was ruled by a nomadic people known as the Qidan (Khitan 契丹) and occupied an area of the northern prairies of China that included Manchuria, a portion of Mongolia, as well as parts of Hebei and Shanxi provinces. Charms from the Liao Dynasty are fairly rare and, because the Qidan [...]
August 2011
A giant boulder with a prehistoric carving of either the mythical Chinese “Feather Man” or an “alien from outer space” was recently discovered by archaeologists near a village in Guangdong Province. An article entitled “Guangdong’s Luoding Village Discovers Rare Rock Art” describes the rock drawing as a person wearing a helmet with a feather attached [...]
According to a report in the Yangzi Evening News, archaeologists recently unearthed five ancient Chinese chess (xiangqi 象棋) pieces from a tomb located at Tiger Hill in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. The tomb dates from the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Archaeologist Mr. Zhang Tiejun (张铁军) emphasized that, among the burial objects, only five Chinese chess pieces were [...]
With only two specimens known to exist, the Yunnan Spring Dollar is considered among the very rarest of Chinese coins. One coin sold for $1,035,000 at a Hong Kong auction in August 2010. The only other known specimen is scheduled to be auctioned in September 2011. As you might expect, there is a great deal [...]
A recent Chinese newspaper article published pictures of a very rare Chinese silver coin which is believed to have been minted to commemorate the birthday of one of imperial China’s last rulers. The coin is owned by a Mr. He who lives in Anqing City in Anhui Province. The Empress Dowager Cixi (慈禧太后 1835-1908) was [...]
One of the major characteristics of Chinese charms is the rebus or “visual pun” where a picture is used to represent a word. While it can sometimes be challenging, it is always interesting to figure out what, at first glance, the haphazard collection of animals and objects displayed on a Chinese charm are supposed to [...]