Money Board

Money Board

Money Board is a national-level intangible cultural heritage.

　　The art of Money Board likely originated over 300 years ago in Chengdu and Chongqing, and later gradually spread to southwestern regions such as Yunnan and Guizhou. Performers use three one-foot-long and one-inch-wide boards made from nanmu bamboo. Two of these boards are embedded with coins or other metal pieces that produce a metallic sound when struck against each other during the performance. Artists use them as props, often performing in a way that earns them food and lodging in different counties or prefectures — hence the nickname “Money Board.” It is also referred to as “Golden Mirror Board” or “Three Talents Board” by some.

　　Money Board, also known as “Three Talents Board” or “Golden Sign Board,” originated in the early Qing Dynasty.

　　According to the *Book of Changes*, there are three cosmic principles: Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. The three bamboo boards each represent one of these. Widely popular across Bashu (Sichuan and Chongqing), Money Board is made from nanmu bamboo strips about one foot long, one inch wide, and 0.25 inches thick. There are three boards in total, and small copper coins are embedded within them to enhance the sound when struck, serving both as musical accompaniment and performance props.

　　The performer holds one board in the right hand and rhythmically strikes the other two held in the left hand at various points. The resulting sounds create a refreshing, sonorous, and harmonious musical effect. After striking for a minute or two, the artist begins to sing to the beat of the Money Board. The singing mostly uses local dialects, replacing speech with song, and demands strict adherence to rhyme schemes — every line must rhyme and maintain a single rhyme throughout without shifting. Each line usually consists of seven or ten characters, but varying line lengths are also used to allow performers to maintain a “three-pause” rhythm.

　　The language must be simple, vivid, forceful, and expressive. Sichuan dialect, proverbs, idioms, and onomatopoeia are commonly used, but care is taken to keep the expression folkish yet refined.

　　Over time, as historical changes took place, this folk performance art nearly disappeared in northern Sichuan. Fortunately, Jiang Bingrong, a Money Board artist born in Panlong Town, Jialing District, started learning the craft in childhood. Together with his brother Jiang Bingkui, they traveled from village to village, performing in courtyards or teahouses for local audiences. Determined to preserve this traditional art form and elevate its charm, he continued the legacy. Like storytelling arts such as pingshu and lotus fall, Money Board originally involved performers drawing a crowd in busy rural markets or street intersections before beginning their act.

　　As more people grew fond of the art, performances gradually moved into teahouses. With minimal props — just a few bamboo boards — and only one performer, the format was highly flexible and well-suited to teahouse settings.

　　Thus, Money Board eventually became primarily a teahouse performance art. Over time, through continuous innovation and refinement by performers, the techniques grew richer and more diverse. Based on stylistic differences, it branched into several schools, notably the “Flower School,” “Clear School,” and “Mixed School.” The Flower School emphasizes rhythmic board techniques and expressive body movements, with performers skillfully manipulating the three boards to mimic natural sounds, creating surprising variations. The Clear School focuses on clarity of articulation, steady rhythm, and powerful projection. The Mixed School combines strengths of the other two, emphasizing both board technique and vocal rhythm, blending spoken and sung elements seamlessly with varied sentence lengths, free pacing, and smooth transitions. Performers hold three nanmu or mottled bamboo boards, each 30 cm long, 3.3 cm wide, and about 0.5 cm thick, with two of them embedding small coins or metal pieces — hence the name “Money Board.”

　　Its vocal style was developed by earlier artists based on certain melodies from Sichuan Opera’s high-pitched tunes. Money Board is typically performed solo, with lyrics in seven or ten-character lines that can be adjusted according to content. Each couplet consists of two lines. The art can produce nine different rhythms and sounds to mimic weather phenomena such as wind, clouds, thunder, and rain.

　　Traditional Money Board repertoire includes long-form “serial stories” like *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, *Water Margin*, and *Travels in the South*, as well as short pieces of twenty or thirty lines derived from folk fables, stories, or jokes, called “poetic openers.” Among the classic programs are three particularly popular “Rice-Buying Stories”: *Wu Song Attends the Fair*, *Wu Song Causes a Commotion at the Temple*, and *Wu Song Fights at the Inn*.

　　Left-behind children in Leshan, Sichuan learn Money Board to welcome the Olympics. At the Limin Left-Behind Students’ Home in Jiajiang County, Leshan City, 23 left-behind students practice Money Board daily as a unique way to welcome the Olympic Games.

　　Under the guidance of Mr. Shi Shengrong, the children are learning this valuable traditional art. To mark the Beijing Olympics, Shi specially composed a piece titled *Praising the Beijing Olympics*, encouraging the children to promote folk art while fostering patriotism and love for the people.

　　Students who participated said that learning Money Board here not only enriched their holiday life and cultivated their sentiments, but also deepened their appreciation for traditional art. Some of the 23 students have been practicing for over a year. As the inheritor of Leshan’s intangible cultural heritage for Money Board, Shi Shengrong teaches completely free of charge, driven solely by his passion and dedication to traditional culture. Through this, he hopes more children will learn this precious folk art, ensure its continuation through new inheritors, and prevent it from being forgotten — so it may continue to thrive.