China & Taiwan · c. 3500 BCE – today

Bagua mirrors, coin swords & temple charms

Meaning

The bagua mirror is an octagon of the Eight Trigrams around a mirror that reflects bad energy (sha qi) away. Coin swords are made of old coins tied with red thread, carrying the power of many emperors' reigns, and peachwood swords repel ghosts, since the peach tree is linked with immortality.

Intent

Hung over doors and windows facing a threat, such as a straight road or a sharp corner, or kept by the bed, they protect the house and its people in feng shui and folk religion.

Significance

They show Chinese cosmology (the trigrams of the Yijing) put to everyday domestic use. Bagua mirrors are still seen over doors across East and Southeast Asia and in Chinatowns worldwide.

History

Mirrors have been protective in China since the Han dynasty. The bagua mirror and coin sword are Qing and modern forms, and peachwood as an exorcism material is recorded from the Zhou dynasty.

Making yours

Coin swords take 60–120 cash coins strung on an iron rod and bound with red thread. Mirrors are wood octagons 10–20 cm around a convex mirror.

China & Taiwan: the tradition

China has one of the oldest continuous amulet traditions, from Neolithic jade (Hongshan and Liangzhu, c. 3500–2300 BCE) to Han dynasty exorcism batons (gangmao) and cicada tongue-amulets for the dead. Daoism developed fu talismans, writing in a celestial script that commands spirits and is issued like official documents. From the Han period coin-shaped charms (yasheng qian, 'suppressing coins') carried auspicious words and spells. Much Chinese protective imagery works through puns: bat (fu) sounds like fortune, fish (yu) like abundance, gourd (hulu) like protection.

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安平厭勝物Taiwan

32.03 Tan Chu-DuanChina

Chinese amulet trigrammen

BaGua Mirror Hang on Top of Door at Songshan District, TaipeiTaiwan

Taijitu and demon warding mirror

魯國大夫廟Taiwan

Amulets of the Mailiao Gongfan TempleTaiwan

台灣民間信仰-護身符Taiwan

風雞Taiwan

Smoking the Temple Amulets upon the Incense in the main Incense burner at Lugang Mazu TempleTaiwan

安平厭勝物07Taiwan

新莊保元宮平安符Taiwan

Door knock with Ba-Gua decorationTaiwan

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