The "Money Tree" Really Exists! Learn the Growth Secrets of This 1,800-Year-Old "Sacred Tree"

Guo Kai Liu Yujiao

Speaking of money trees, you may think of the dazzling treasure trees seen in film and television works, with copper coins or gold ingots hanging on the trees, or think of the taro (Figure 1), which has been highly praised among ornamental plants in recent years because its leaves look like strings of copper coins. However, these money trees either exist only in imagination or are just pure plants, and there is no real object with money growing on the trees. However, in the Han Dynasty in my country, there was really a money tree with copper coins hanging on the tree in Sichuan and its surrounding areas. This is an artifact composed of a pottery tree base, a copper trunk, branches and leaves. It was first discovered during the Anti-Japanese War in the 1940s by the Sichuan-Kang Ancient Relics Investigation Team jointly organized by the Archaeological Group of the Institute of History and Philology, the Preparatory Office of the Central Museum, and the Chinese Architectural Society. In the 1950s, the famous archaeologist Mr. Feng Hanji officially named this type of unearthed artifact as a money tree, which was widely recognized by the academic community and has been used to this day.

Figure 1. Money tree in art works (left) and money tree in plants - Taro (right) Image source: References 1, 2

These unearthed money trees have three common characteristics: combination, complexity and precision. That is, all money trees are made up of tree bases, trunks, branches and leaves. The tree bases, trunks, branches and leaves themselves have various styles, and the combination of the three is also diverse. The complex combination makes the money tree present the characteristics of "thousands of trees and thousands of appearances". What is even more amazing is that the bronze branches and leaves of the money tree are exquisitely made and as thin as cicada wings (less than 2 mm thick), which also makes it very difficult to preserve underground. Most of the money trees unearthed from Han Dynasty tombs are incomplete, leaving only pottery tree bases and scattered branches and leaves. There are only a few money trees that are intact when they were unearthed. The largest and most complete one was unearthed from the No. 2 cliff tomb of Hejiashan in Mianyang, Sichuan. It is now preserved in the Mianyang Museum. It is one of the first batch of cultural relics announced by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage that are prohibited from being exhibited abroad (territory), and can be called the treasure of the museum (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Mianyang Museum Image source: Reference 3

This money tree is 32 cm long, 26.6 cm wide, 47 cm high, and 198 cm tall. It was cast in the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty, that is, before 220 AD, 1,800 years ago (Figure 3). It was unearthed in 1990 and consists of three parts: the tree base, the trunk, and the branches and leaves. The tree base is made of clay red pottery, with a layer of white cosmetic soil and silver low-temperature glaze on the surface. The glaze layer has partially fallen off, but fine cracks can be seen. The tree base is carved in two layers, the upper layer is a round-carved male lion with two wings, squatting, raising its head, opening its mouth, and a vigorous and lively posture. The lion's back stands on a carved cylindrical cylinder with a closed mouth, which is the trunk socket (Figure 3). The lower layer is a relief of five horses, some eating grass, some running, and some looking back, with leisurely and lifelike postures. The trunk is cast in bronze, hollow, with an elliptical cross-section, and is cast into four sections longitudinally. Each section has small holes on all four sides for inserting and hanging branches and leaves.

Figure 3. The money tree (left) and tree base (right) unearthed from the No. 2 cliff tomb at Hejiashan, Mianyang, Sichuan. Image source: Reference 1

The whole tree has seven layers. On the top treetop stands a phoenix, seemingly singing. On the second layer, the gorgeously dressed Queen Mother of the West sits in the center. She wears a pearl crown, has braids next to her ears, a round-necked dress inside and a cross-collared dress outside. She sits on a dragon-tiger seat, and behind her head and shoulders grows a vase-shaped back screen. There are lotus flowers blooming above the dragon and tiger. Starting from the center, the third layer is symmetrically distributed with round jade disks on the left and right. On the jade disks are majestic strong men, elephants and elephant servants. The three upper layers construct a beautiful fairyland of peace and prosperity. The fourth to seventh layers are respectively cut with multiple branches and leaves. The lower ends of these branches and leaves have produced numerous "fruits" - square-holed round coins. The branches are upturned, and a red bird stands with its wings spread out, ready to fly. There are also auspicious animals such as deer and dragon heads on the branches and leaves. The decoration of this part shows the ancient people's yearning for a life of abundance and abundance (Figure 4).

Figure 4. The upper three layers of the money tree. Image source: Reference 1

The discovery of the money tree made people realize that the belief in the money tree was popular in the southwest region as early as the Eastern Han Dynasty. These money trees with complex and exquisite craftsmanship were either used as folk decorations or as burial objects for the deceased, showing the beautiful imagination of the people at that time about the money tree. Although, due to wars, population migration and other reasons, the real version of the money tree has disappeared in the vast river of history and has only reappeared in the form of unearthed cultural relics, the love of the money tree in Chinese culture has never stopped.

References:

Cultural and Museum Calendar丨Today is the fifth day of the lunar calendar. Welcome the God of Wealth with this real money tree. Website: https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1790831823353560057&wfr=spider&for=pc

Baidu Encyclopedia: Snow taro, URL: https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E9%9B%AA%E9%93%81%E8%8A%8B/10367875?fr=ge_ala

Mianyang Museum official website: https://museum.mianyang.cn

Liu Jun. Preliminary study on the money tree and its image[D]. Sichuan University, 2005.

He Zhiguo, Zhu Junhui, Huang Quanxiang, et al. A study on the money tree unearthed in Mianyang City[J]. Sichuan Cultural Relics, 1999, (02): 19-24.