What does "Tong Bao" (通寶) translate as in English? [solved]

Hello,

Recently I helped someone out with translating the characters on a Chinese token imitating the obverse of some Qing Dynasty cash coins, and it got me thinking about what the characters "通寶", or Tongbao in Wade-Giles, actually translate into in English. They appear on pretty much all cash coins from China, Vietnam, Japan and Korea from the Tang dynasty onwards, until the early-mid 20th century.

As you can see there, I generally translate it as something like the English phrases "legal tender", or "for circulation", but I was wondering maybe a native Chinese speaker could clear this up for me.

Hello,

I usually keep the word currency to translate "Bao" as we can have "Yuan Bao" and "Zhong Bao" as well.
For "通寶" I use "universal currency" as I encounter this expression few times, however I must admit I never asked a chinese speaker if this translation was correct in this context so I guess it's the occasion to clarify this point.

I take it simply as "currency of ..." or a bit more strange "Current treassure of"

I also use "universal currency" but I always wondered how accurate was this translation.

Quote: "Idolenz"​I take it simply as "currency of ..." or a bit more strange "Current treassure of"

​The character "Bao" (寶) on it's own means something like "treasure" or "precious", which is why I was a little hesitant to assign the English word "currency" to it as well.

I've asked a Chinese speaking Numista friend to take a look at this thread, and give us an answer.

Greetings,

To let us know about the meaning of the phrase, let us dissect the term 通寶 into two parts: 通 and 寶.

通, in Chinese, has the meaning of 'passing through', and the term '流通' means 'to circulate (especially in monetary occasions)'.

The other term, 寶, means 'precious items' or 'something treasured'. While money is some kind of precious item in the past, the term comes from a bit of an archaic term '寶貨'. During the Xin Dynasty, directly after Western Han collapsed, the ruler, Wang Mang, decided to create twenty-eight types of currency and named them '寶貨'. [寶 meaning precious, 貨 meaning currency (coins). Hence 寶貨 is 'precious money'. The old Chinese like to name everything in a positive way.]

Past a few hundred or thousand years to the Tang Dynasty. As part of the reforming process, the emperor wanted the monetary system to be unified. Hence, he had to come up with a style which would appear on every coin, a term that would apply to most of the circulating coins: applying the change-of-part-of-speech rule, 通 now means 'circulating' and 寶貨 was simplified to only 寶 (which still carried the meaning of 'money'). The word came at last: 通寶.

Not feeling too well this week and particularly busy. Hope the paragraphs were definitive enough.

Best,
SRL

Quote: "SquareRootLolly"​
​Past a few hundred or thousand years to the Tang Dynasty. As part of the reforming process, the emperor wanted the monetary system to be unified. Hence, he had to come up with a style which would appear on every coin, a term that would apply to most of the circulating coins: applying the change-of-part-of-speech rule, 通 now means 'circulating' and 寶貨 was simplified to only 寶 (which still carried the meaning of 'money'). The word came at last: 通寶.
​

​And there you are, thanks for the detailed reply!

So I was pretty close to the mark with my guess; Tongbao means "circulating money". Mystery solved!

On some coins the two characters are in reverse order (寶通, not 通寶). Why? Does this affect the meaning?
Example: 1 Cash - Guangxu (Boo-Guwang), ND (1890-1899): https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces6817.html

Quote: "numinis"​On some coins the two characters are in reverse order (寶通, not 通寶). Why? Does this affect the meaning?
​Example: 1 Cash - Guangxu (Boo-Guwang), ND (1890-1899): https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces6817.html

​Exactly the same; Chinese is traditionally written right to left so in fact most coins should have "Bao" (寶) on the left.

通宝（読み）ツウホウ
《世間に通用する宝の意》広く一般に流通する貨幣。貨幣の表面に「寛永通宝」のように鋳込んだ。
<<From treasure that are generally used through the society.>> Currency that are generally circulated widely. Sometimes found in the currency pieces, like Kan'eitsūhō.
〘名〙 広く世間に通用する銭貨。通貨。貨幣。「永楽通宝」「寛永通宝」などと呼び貨幣面に鋳付けたりした。
(Noun) coin currency that is widely used through the society. Currency. Coin. Name of coin cast on the coin like Eirakutsūhō or Kan'eitsūhō.

The word is used for only coin with small value (though some may be cast in silver). "Coin currency" or simply "Currency".

In Japan pre-Meiji era, the Mon (Cash) Currency is a separate currency from silver and gold pieces. I.e. people have to "sell" their silver pieces for Mon coins, not "exchange" at fixed rate. Exchange rate changes daily like nowadays currencies.