White Copper Nine-Syllable Mantra Engraved Pendant

The nine syllables are lin, bing, dou, zhe, jie, zhen, lie, qian and xing, from Ge Hong’s Baopuzi, in the inner chapters, in the section on entering the mountains. The text says that going into the mountains one should know the secret invocation of the six jia, which runs lin bing dou zhe jie zhen lie qian xing, nine characters in all, and should be recited quietly. Daoism took it as a protective formula for entering mountains and travelling far, each character articulated, silent where possible. Baopuzi is about going into the mountains, where miasma and snakes are common; the recitation is to steady oneself.

The plaque is rectangular with small rounded corners, and the nine characters run vertically on the face, one column to the bottom, with no horizontal rules. They are cut by hand and not exactly the same size, bing a little wide and zhen a little long, and after looking a while you can read the varying pressure of the blade. A plain border is left around the face, framing the nine characters so that the eye does not wander off. Their weight is not centred but slightly high, leaving more blank below than above. The plaque is thin and disappears under a shirt.

The nine characters later reached Japan and merged with the nine-syllable cutting of esoteric Buddhism, becoming the nine-syllable protection familiar from ninja stories. Both trace to the same passage, though the uses diverged long ago. Few in China know the source. Most meet the characters first and look them up afterwards, and only then find that they were not invented by a novel. So in Japan the nine syllables usually come with hand signs, while in China they are usually just recited.

Four options, differing in fittings. The pendant alone is the plainest: a hole at the top, your own cord. The sandalwood cloud cord is adjustable, dark, and the wood carries a little oil that grows smoother with wear. The Chopin chain is metal, hangs stiff, and looks good with a shirt. The floating box is packaging: the box holds the pendant suspended in the middle, so that it floats when opened, which makes a presentable gift. The sandalwood cord darkens with wear, and the cool white of the copper holds it down.

On an engraved plaque the cuts are the weak point. Do not use a stiff brush, because the bristles round the edges of the cuts and the characters blur. Clean the surface only, with a soft cloth dipped in water and wrung until it does not drip. Worn against the body, the edges will be polished bright by clothing; that is the beginning of patina, so leave it. Store it in its own bag, not stacked with other metal. If sweat gets into the cuts, draw it out with a cotton bud rather than letting it dry.