Lump of Money at the Iron Lion

In Iron Lion Park stands the Kaiyuan Temple, which displays a find of a large lump of money from the late Tang Dynasty (years 617/18-907) and the Northern Song Dynasty (years 960–1126). The iron cash weighs a total of 48 tons and originates from a time span of 300 years. Accompanying the excavation was a legend, claiming that an iron donkey was buried underground. A family of seven wanted to unearth the donkey, but it was too heavy. The brother-in-law was called to help, and when part of the donkey was already recovered, a child from the family yelled at him to put in more effort. Startled, he let go, and the iron donkey fell back into the shaft and could no longer be recovered. Thus, only the iron back of the donkey was seen sticking out of the ground.
In 1997, the “donkey” was finally excavated by the authorities and turned out to be a massive lump of old money. Through the coins' engravings, most of the iron cash was attributed to the time of the Song Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Huizong. It was a sensational find, as there were no sources regarding the circulation of iron cash during this period in northern China.
The location of the find near the Iron Lion of Cangzhou aligns well with the long-established iron industry in this area. The Iron Lion was indeed cast during the later Zhou Dynasty (between the Tang and Song Dynasties), meaning in the same era.
Furthermore, it has been speculated that the family in the legend actually suspected a cast iron stove, and somehow through retelling, it transformed into a donkey. 😉