White Copper Qingwei Gourd Antique Pendant

Most people hearing the name Qingwei hu for the first time assume it is a kind of gourd. Qingwei is a talisman school known for thunder rites from the Song and Yuan onward, and it is not the same as Zhengyi or Quanzhen. Its methods emphasise inner cultivation: refine yourself first, then command the thunder generals. That sounds esoteric, but on an object it comes down to talisman diagrams. Diagrams on objects are indicative rather than a full liturgy, and since thunder rites are practical, the diagrams simplify along with them. The branches differ and there is no room to go into it here. Qingwei talismans can still be found in old liturgy books, and their strokes are all small.

Hu simply means gourd; it is not a separate character. The three words Qingwei hu bind a school to a shape, which gives the gourd an extra layer of provenance. The full name is awkward in the mouth and few remember it, so the shop dropped the school and calls it Qingwei hu. In Daoism the gourd holds medicine: Iron Crutch Li's carries physic, Laozi's carries elixir, and a figure shown with a gourd is usually a loose immortal.

Antiqued white copper runs grey-brown, with the recesses near black and a weightier look than new copper. The waist has to be cut cleanly, and the two lobes run about three to two in diameter: too round and it looks like a light bulb, too flat and it looks like a garlic bulb. The waist line is cut in a single pass, which is where a steady hand shows; stop halfway and a step remains. The mouth should be small, since a wide one turns the gourd into a jar. A gourd made too thin will dent with long wear. After enough of them, the ratio is obvious at a glance.

The two options differ over the chain. The necklace version is the easy purchase; the pendant alone suits someone who already has a chain, and a chain reaching just above the chest is right. The gourd is not heavy, so a fine chain will carry it, but the clasp has to be secure; avoid a spring ring, which opens easily. The leather cord version is more casual and suits coarse cloth, and it should be tied with a double knot, since a single one slips. The hole on the pendant alone is at the top, which makes threading simple. Leather softens and darkens with use.

Worn against the skin, copper leaves a ring mark on the back in summer. That is not colour coming off, and it wipes away. To keep the antiqued layering, keep silver dip away from it, because the dip takes the oxide layer off entirely. Wipe with a dry cloth in one direction and it brightens; when it is bright enough, stop. The antiqued colour varies in depth, and pieces from the same batch differ. A dry cloth fuzzes with use, and when it does, replace it.