White Copper Wenchang Emperor Spacer

The spacer is small, a size below the main beads, strung between two larger beads to divide the strand. This one carries a seated figure, a soft cap on the head, both hands holding a tablet, the folds of the robe stepping downward; the back is flat and sits against the main bead without rocking. Both mouths of the hole are chamfered, so the line rubbing back and forth will not fray. The figure is cut shallow, so it does not dig into the hand on a strand and will not catch a sweater.

Wenchang Dijun governs examination success. The belief has two layers: the six Wenchang stars in the Dipper, which old texts say rule literary fortune, and the Zitong god of Zitong in Sichuan, the two merging into Wenchang Dijun after the Yuan. Academies and guild halls used to keep his shrine. Candidates would bow before entering the examination hall, and the offering table held spring onions and cakes for the puns on cleverness and on passing high. An academy usually had a Wenchang pavilion, busiest around examination dates. On the first day of a village school, students burned incense at the Wenchang place and the teacher led them in bowing, which counted as the first stroke of the brush.

Two colours, gold and silver. The gold leans yellow, as if washed with gilding, and stands out against dark wooden beads; the silver is the natural white copper, cool, and suits cool-toned stones like turquoise and lapis. The figure is the same on both, and only the surface treatment differs, one warm and one cool, so they do not clash on the same strand. The gold version’s yellow is kept pale rather than bright, so that it does not compete with the oiled sheen of the wood.

A spacer has more than one use. A single one below the Buddha head serves as a counter bead, or one can be set every nine main beads to mark sections for counting. The hole runs through and the line passes the middle, and the bore is sized for common bracelet cord; a thick cord will not go and has to be opened slowly with a fine reamer, turning and testing rather than reaming all the way at once. A spacer should sit a little loose, because too tight presses a mark into the main beads.

Worn with wooden beads, the thing to fear is mutual abrasion. Wood is soft and copper hard, and long rubbing leaves a ring on the wood. The remedy is a thin leather or silicone washer between them. The copper itself need not be washed often, since a cloth is enough, and too much washing strips the patina out of the crevices and leaves the colour dead. On a bracelet worn daily the spacer needs no special care; wipe it along with the main beads.