S925 Silver Four Mythical Beast Passage Bead Charm

Azure dragon in the east, white tiger in the west, vermilion bird in the south, black tortoise in the north. Almost anyone can recite the four lines, but putting them on an object is another matter, because the positions cannot be shuffled. The set was complete by the Han dynasty. Whole groups survive on roof-end tiles, they are common on the backs of bronze mirrors, and the four beasts are ranged around a centre that usually carries a TLV pattern as well. They began as astronomical coordinates and were only later borrowed as ornament.

A lulutong is a hollow round bead drilled through both ends so that it turns on a chain. The name means every road open, and the bead is meant to keep moving. Carving four beasts on a bead like that gives each face its own animal: turn it and the face changes, and nothing looks crowded. This is harder to make than a flat plaque. All four directions have to work as pictures, there is no front and back, and therefore no place where the carving can be allowed to go slack.

The inside wall has to be polished. If the channel is not clear the cord drags, and within a few days it will be fuzzy. The relief outside has to stay low. Raised too far it knocks against the neighbouring beads, and one bead pushing the strand apart spoils the whole line. The four beasts need to be even in mass: stretch the dragon and the tiger has to grow with it, or that face looks empty when it comes round. The bead has to spin freely, which means a little clearance between the wall and the cord. Too tight and it will not turn at all, and the name on the box becomes a joke. The surface is polished bright while the hollows are left slightly hazy, so that the four animals have depth.

Put it at the centre of the strand. One is enough; two look repetitive. Lapis, dark ebony and coconut shell all work, with the brightness of the silver acting as the eye of the composition. Turquoise suits it too, cool against cool, and the lines of the four beasts read more clearly that way. Do not use too fine a chain. The bead has weight, a thin chain cannot carry it, and it will flip over after two steps. Braided cord works as well, navy or deep green, with the knot hidden inside the bead so no ends show. On a thin wrist, shorten the cord, or the bead will slide down onto the back of the hand.

Silver dents under pressure, so do not throw the bead into a bag with your keys; a round face takes one knock and keeps the hollow, and no amount of polishing brings it back. Wipe it with a soft cloth, and run a cotton thread through the channel now and then. Leave the black in the recesses. That is the line where one beast ends and the next begins.