White Copper Qiankun Circle Yin Yang Ring Pendant

Two rings are nested together: one closed circle, and a second that passes through it and is then joined shut. It looks like a chain of rings, but the two are not linked in the usual sense. The structure is not new in copper work; the difficulty is matching the two in diameter and in gauge. Thicken one and it will not pass through; thin it and the pair rattles. Here both rings are the same gauge and lie against each other at the crossings without slack. The outer ring is a size larger, which is what lets it seat without fouling.

The two characters qian and kun come from the Book of Changes. Qian is heaven, kun is earth, one above and one below, one hard and one yielding. The yin-yang rings take the same idea: two circles, one standing for yang and one for yin, nested together to say that the two do not come apart. Folk usage often confuses the form with Nezha's heaven-and-earth ring, but the ring in the novel is a single circle used as a weapon. It is not the same object as a paired set of yin-yang rings.

A ring has to be round, and an uneven circle wobbles visibly when it turns. Here the ring bodies are turned and then finished, the curve of the inner and outer walls consistent, the joint left at the lower side and polished until the seam cannot be seen. The weld is the weak point in work of this kind. Weld it thin and it opens with wear; weld it thick and a lump stands out there. On this piece the joint feels flat and the light runs across it without a break. When the rings turn, they rub past each other without catching.

There are two options: one is listed as white copper, the other gives only the name of the ring. A shade of difference in the metal changes both the price and the look considerably, so ask what the material is before ordering rather than guessing after the parcel arrives. White copper is cool and looks clean with black or grey. If you are unsure which copper the unlabelled version uses, ask for a photograph of the actual piece. That is more reliable than comparing against a rendered image on a screen.

Worn together, the two rings make a sound. As you walk they touch, very quietly, audible to you in a silent room. Some people find it irritating and wind a short length of clear line twice around the crossing, which silences it without stopping the rings from turning. The diameter is not small, and the pendant has presence on the chest. It tends to press against a collared shirt, sits more easily with a crew neck, and over a sweater in winter it looks fine. In thin summer clothing the pendant swings outside the fabric and the sound carries further.