1626 KB63 KB201120252022Grčar, Minaštevilka:107/108letnik:27str. 105-135DOI:10.35469/poligrafi.2022.350ISSN:1318-8828COBISSID_HOST:136337155URN:URN:NBN:SI:doc-SFSSF38GslDruštvo za primerjalno religiologijoZnanstveno-raziskovalno središče KoperPoligrafibixie jianChinaChinese cash-coinscoin-swordEast-Asian collectionsIvan Skušek ml.Kitajskameč iz novcevnumismaticsnumizmatikaPeter Baptist Turkreligijske praksereligious practicesSkušek collectionSkuškova zbirkastari kitajski novcisuperstitious practicesvraževerske praksevzhodnoazijske zbirke"Meč, ki prežene zlo"| numizmatični ali religijski predmet?|China boasts a long and rich tradition of using money and numismatic objects as part of popular religious and superstitious practices. Chinese coin-swords, the so-called bixie jian (???) or “evil-warding swords,” certainly represent some of the most curious objects of the kind. They enjoyed great popularity during the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), toward the end of which they also found their way into the possessions of European collectors and individuals who visited China at the time.The Slovene Ethnographic Museum in ljubljana holds two specimens of Chinese coin-swords – one is believed to have belonged to Ivan Skušek Jr., an austro--Hungarian naval officer as well as an enthusiastic collector of Chinese antiques and cash-coins, and the other to Peter Baptist Turk, a Christian missionary who saw Chinese society of the time mainly through the prism of local religions and superstitions. How did each of them view their sword? and, speaking from a broader perspective, how did the role and identity of Chinese coin-swords change after they had been transferred into a secondary, European environment? In other words, how were they understood by their new owners? How do European museums categorise them today? Do they belong to the domain of numismatics or religion? Or do “evil-warding swords” fall into the category of those objects whose specific nature makes them defy all kinds of museum classification?Kitajska se ponaša z dolgo in bogato tradicijo uporabe denarja in numizmatič-nih predmetov v ljudskih religijskih in vraževerskih praksah. Med najbolj posebne med njimi gotovo spadajo meči iz starih kitajskih novcev, tako imenovani bixie jian (???) ali »meči, ki preženejo zlo«. Še posebej priljubljeni so bili v času dinastije Qing (1644–1912), proti koncu katere so se vse pogosteje znašli tudi v zbirkah evropskih zbirateljev in posameznikov, ki so se tedaj mudili na Kitajskem.Slovenski etnografski muzej v Ljubljani hrani kar dva primerka takih predmetov – eden naj bi pripadal Ivanu Skušku ml., avstro-ogrskemu mornariškemu častniku ter nadušememu zbiratelju kitajskih starin in starih novcev, drugi pa misijonarju Petru Baptistu Turku, ki je na tedanjo kitajsko družbo gledal predvsem z vidika lokalnih religij in vraževerja. Kako je meč razumel vsak izmed njiju? In, širše gledano, kako se je vloga in identiteta teh mečev spremenila pri prenosu v sekundarno, evropsko okolje oziroma kako so jih razumeli njihovi novi lastniki? Kako jih danes kategorizirajo evropski muzeji? So v domeni numizmatike ali religije? ali so ti meči za obrambo pred zlimi silami morda eni tistih predmetov, ki se zaradi svoje posebne narave vztrajno izmikajo muzejski klasifikaciji?TEXTznanstveno časopisjejournalsSlovenian National E-content AggregatorNational and University Library of SloveniaZnanstveno-raziskovalno središče Koper