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9. Return to the Light
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162 9 Return to the Light An axiom of archaeology is that the most improbable finds occur at or near the very end of fieldwork. So there we were on the last day of the May 2002 season, excavating test pits in village Block 10. We had already weathered an unseasonable amount of rain, and this morning the forest seemed especially muggy. Dew dripping from the canopy above left us clammy, as the mercury remained steadfast in its quest to reach the upper 90s. While sifting the muddy red earth outside a house ruin, one member of the field crew, Carlos Leon, announced a rather unexpected discovery. Lying in the wire mesh among the potsherds and slivers of tinted bottle glass was a half portion of an old coin. Having grown up in California, Carlos immediately recognized the distinctive shape as something he had seen in curio shops. With enthusiasm, he announced that it was Chinese. I must admit, I was surprised. When I first signed on to a Maya-centered archaeology project in Mexico, the last thing I thought I would be mulling over was a Chinese coin. But there it was, complete with characters in Manchu script. I grew excited by the prospects of finally finding an object tied to the workers who had been brought to Tabi from the Far East. But I knew next to nothing about the history of Chinese currency. So later that year, while visiting family in Kentucky over the winter holidays, I paid a visit to the Crane House, The Asia Institute in Louisville. Run out of a threestory brick Victorian near the city’s public university, the Crane House offers Chinese and Japanese cultural education programs and language courses for everyone from preschoolers to corporate executives. Among its permanent resources are a three-thousand-volume library and a gallery featuring Chinese art and artifacts. The gallery’s treasures include silk textiles, porcelain vases, and tiny embroidered shoes from the time when female footbinding was an accepted, if crippling, practice. There is also a fine collection of coins. The exhibits, educational materials on Chinese history, and conversations with the helpful staff revealed a great deal. The type of square-holed Return to the Light 163 coin found at Tabi is termed wen, and it is generally considered the lowest denomination (fig. 9.1).1 It is cast of an alloy, usually copper combined with zinc. The backside of a complete coin indicates the mint location, but the half coin from Tabi is so well worn that the mark cannot be deciphered. On a complete coin’s face are four characters. The right and left symbols signify “circulating currency.” Script on the top and bottom give the reign title, an official slogan that refers to an emperor’s rule. The coin we found dates to Emperor Hsuan Tsung, a member of the Qing dynasty who ruled from 1821 to 1850.2 Hsuan Tsung’s title was Daoguang, which means “returning to the light,” an optimistic phrase not far removed from our English expression “the future looks bright.” In many ways, declaring that Hsuan Tsung was the “Daoguang” emperor was like declaring Lyndon Johnson the “Great Society” president. The slogan was a form of political branding, perhaps with a dash of self-aggrandizement. Billions of wen circulated in China during the 1800s. They never held much value, as up to a thousand such coins were needed to equal a silver dollar. Historians assert that wen never functioned regularly as money among immigrant Chinese in the Americas, even though an ex-laborer at Tabi thought that they did.3 Whether they served as payment or not, my trip to the Crane House opened my eyes to other interesting potential uses. Coins tied together with a red string have long been used in China as amulets to ward off malevolent Figure 9.1. Half portion of a Chinese coin (1821–1850) recovered at Tabi. [18.232.66.188] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 10:34 GMT) Chapter 9 164 spirits. In the gambling parlors of overseas Chinatowns, coins were pieces in games of chance. Moreover, Chinese peasants use coins in an acupuncture-like treatment called guasha. The edge of the coin rubs or pinches the skin and muscle at designated pressure points, sometimes aided by a lubricant.4 The therapy has been prescribed for a wide array of debilities, everything from fever to asthma, bronchitis, and digestive disorders. Temporary bruising and redness accompanies guasha, and its...