Cash coins in feng shui
In its own language: 古銅錢的風水
Chinese 古铜钱的风水 (gǔ tóngqián de fēngshuǐ), "old copper coin's feng shui"; English speakers commonly say feng shui coins
Old Chinese square-holed coins, hung or carried to draw luck and bar harm
Round Chinese cash coins with a square hole, the everyday money of imperial China from 221 BC to 1912, are put to use in feng shui. Practitioners hold that they draw wealth, keep harmful spirits off and steady a building's yin and yang, so the coins are hung, carried or set down with care.
- Coins are round with a square hole, a shape read as sky above earth
- Cash coins were China's main money from 221 BC until 1912
- Five Emperor Coins are tied with red string and hung near beams
- The Qianlong Tongbao is prized, the Xuanhe Tongbao thought unlucky
- Metal is one of the five elements, and copper coins are said to absorb aura
What it is
Feng shui coins are old Chinese cash coins put to work in feng shui, the Chinese practice of laying out homes, shops and public buildings so that qi, the force followers believe runs through people and places, moves well. The coins are round with a square hole in the middle and served as imperial China's main money from 221 BC to 1912. Within feng shui they are held to draw money and good fortune and to keep harmful spirits, shà qì (煞氣), at a distance. English speakers usually just call them feng shui coins. Where a coin is placed is thought to matter as much as the coin itself.
Where it comes from
Cash coins were cast in China from the Warring States period until the first year of the Republic of China. The Ban Liang (半兩) of 221 BC set the pattern, and the Minguo Tongbao (民國通寶) closed the run in 1912. Their place in feng shui rests on older Chinese thinking: the round rim was read as a round sky, the square hole as the earth, and the emperor's name written between them as humanity, a scheme known as tiān yuán dì fāng (天圓地方). People also held that like gathers with like, so money kept in a house would pull in more money, for a household or for a whole village.
How it is done
Users set strings of coins in the home or in a cash register, carry them as an accessory, or keep a few in a wallet. A widespread arrangement is the Five Emperor Coins, a set of five bound with red string and hung as a counter to a beam or a bare pillar; red is treated as lucky and is thought to fill the set with yang energy. Coins are also threaded into the shape of a sword, a form tied to Taoist practice, to frighten off evil spirits. Placement calls for care, since an outward-facing coin is believed to bring misfortune.
Tools and materials
The basic item is an old coin of copper alloy, though feng shui pieces are also cut from jade, stone and other metals. Masters combine coins with other objects to boost the result as they see it: a Pixiu, a lion-like creature of wealth, for money; a Qilin for driving off evil; gourds for healing; mystic knots for protection; crystals for fortune. Jade and coins together are described as the standard means of adjusting a house's yin and yang. Each coin has a square hole (方穿, fāng chuān) through which strings were passed.
Cash coins in feng shui, drawn and placed
- Living
- Revived
- Fading
- Historical
- Legendary
- Performed
- Lineage
- Chinese feng shui, with links to Taoist practice
What it is for
People turn to these coins for money, for protection, or for both at once. A piece cast in a strong reign is held to carry two messages, prosperity and the keeping down of evil. Coins that moved through many hands across centuries are thought to have gathered the force of countless people into a small object. Practitioners also use them to settle the balance of yin and yang inside a building. Coins sold purely as lucky charms, or used in Chinese medicine and fortune telling, are treated as separate matters.
Who does it
Feng shui masters (風水師, fēngshuǐ shī) are the specialists. They tend to keep a large stock of copper-alloy coins on hand and advise on which pieces suit a given house. Ordinary people also use them at home, in a shop till or in a purse. Judging a coin is part of the craft: masters weigh the metal and its quality, the number of earlier owners who handled it, and the era of casting, and they ask whether a piece bought in an antique market is genuine.
Peoples and places
The practice belongs to China, where feng shui took shape and where antique markets supply both real coins and copies. The coin form itself travelled, and neighbouring lands copied the round piece with a square hole for their own currencies, among them Japan, Korea, Ryukyu and Vietnam. The last such coins made anywhere were struck for French Indochina as the Bảo Đại Thông Bảo (保大通寶) in the 1940s. Vietnamese speakers call feng shui coins tiền xu phong thủy, and sets sold at Hong Kong International Airport in 2018 show them as a traveller's item.
At a glance: who, where and when
Peoples
What people believe
Behind the practice sits qi, which feng shui followers treat as present in people, objects and places, along with the pairing of yin and yang. Metal is one of the five elements (wuxing, 五行), and copper-alloy coins are thought to take in an aura more readily than gold or silver, though metal is also said to be able to house evil spirits. The round rim and square hole are read as sky above earth, with the emperor, humanity's representative, in between. Inscriptions matter: the Qianlong Tongbao (乾隆通寶) comes from a strong reign and is favoured, while the Xuanhe Tongbao (宣和通寶) comes from a troubled one.
Cautions and what is closed
Two practical risks appear in the record. Antique markets in large Chinese cities hold many counterfeit coins, and practitioners insist that a feng shui coin must be genuine, so a buyer may be paying for a copy. Separately, belief itself sets a hazard: a coin turned outward, or set in the wrong spot, is said to invite misfortune, harmful spirits and poverty rather than the good the owner wanted. Practitioners therefore handle the pieces carefully and think about position before hanging anything.
Compare and confuse
Feng shui coins are easily mixed up with other lucky objects. Cash-coin charms and coin-shaped amulets carried as lucky charms outside feng shui are a different use, and so are coins employed in Chinese medicine or in fortune telling. In English the everyday name is feng shui coins; the Chinese phrase is 古铜钱的风水 (gǔ tóngqián de fēngshuǐ), literally "old copper coin's feng shui".
Today
Coins remain a standard feng shui tool and are sold widely, including sets pitched at travellers, such as those on offer at Hong Kong International Airport. Masters hold that a coin must be authentic to count, yet the antique trade in big Chinese cities is full of fakes. Collectors and dealers judge a piece by how it looks; practitioners say appearance makes no difference to its use. Five Emperor sets and red-string bundles keep the old shapes circulating.
Questions people ask about Cash coins in feng shui
What are feng shui coins?
They are old Chinese cash coins, round with a square hole, used in the Chinese practice of feng shui. Followers hold that they draw money and good fortune and keep harmful spirits away, and in English the pieces are commonly called feng shui coins.
Where does the practice come from?
From China. Cash coins were the main currency of imperial China from 221 BC to 1912, and their use in feng shui rests on Chinese ideas about qi, yin and yang, and the coin's round rim and square hole.
Why do some coins count more than others?
Practitioners read an inscription as a sign of the era behind it. The Qianlong Tongbao, cast in a period of military and economic strength, is thought auspicious, while the Xuanhe Tongbao, from a more turbulent time, is not.
What is a set of Five Emperor Coins?
Five coins tied together with red string and hung as a counterweight to a beam or an exposed pillar. Red is considered a lucky colour and is thought to charge the set with yang energy.
Does placement matter?
In belief it does. A coin facing outward is said to cause misfortune, and the wrong position is thought to bring harmful spirits and poverty, which is why practitioners handle the pieces with care.
Good reading and sources
- Cash coins in feng shui on WikipediaEncyclopedia
- More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
- Wikidata recordOpen data
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Cash coins in feng shui", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). EveryJaadu rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. Names and customs differ from one community to the next, and some knowledge is closed to outsiders and left out here. This page describes belief and practice. It does not say that any of it works, it is not a how-to, and it is not medical advice. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-22.
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