S925 Silver South Red Agate Heavenly Dog Open Ring

The Classic of Mountains and Seas, in its section on the Western Mountains, describes Mount Yin: a beast there shaped like a wildcat with a white head, called Tian Gou, whose cry is like liu-liu, and which can ward off ill fortune. White head, cat's body, that cry: the earliest record of the creature. The Tian Gou of that text holds misfortune back; it does not invite it. The two characters for warding off ill fortune are plain and mean exactly that, nothing more. Later commentators read the line as a guardian beast that blocks disaster, while others hold that it was simply a wild animal with a cat's shape; both readings stand, and neither can be settled from the text alone.

Then its reputation turned. A lunar eclipse became the Tian Gou eating the moon, and people beat gongs and drums to rescue it; the beast that warded off misfortune became the one causing it. One name, two faces, depending entirely on who tells the story. Most people making small objects take the earlier face, since a bad-luck image is hard to sell and nobody wants the moon-eater on their hand. The eclipse gongs are gone now; the story survives in New Year prints.

South Red is a kind of agate, and its colour comes from iron oxide. The stone is fine-grained and looks gelatinous under light rather than glassy. It is brittle and dislikes knocks; dropped on tile it can chip. Red runs from deep to bright, and even a single parcel will not match: persimmon red sits darker, cherry red lighter, each with its own appeal. Dyed South Red shows under a loupe, the colour packed into fractures instead of spread evenly through the stone.

Set the white of the silver beside the red of the stone and the red is what the eye lands on. The open band adjusts, so either hand works; the index finger reads brisk, the ring finger steady. Red with silver suits plain clothing best, because add more colour elsewhere and the red muddles into it. The Tian Gou faces outward; do not turn the head towards the palm. On slender fingers the gap closes to its narrowest and the ring still rotates, which is the common failing of open designs.

South Red dislikes heat and dryness: keep it off radiators and away from a hairdryer. The silver will oxidise, so wipe it with a silver cloth and skip the stone. Take the ring off to shower, since surfactants in body wash work into the agate's micropores. For long storage, pad the pouch with soft paper so the stone is not against anything hard. Do not leave it on a windowsill; months of sun will dry the red out and leave it flat.