White Copper Jambhala Figure Pendant

Folk tradition sorts the gods of wealth into civil and martial. Guan Yu is a martial god of wealth, and merchants keep him for loyalty and for keeping his word — in matters of accounts, the point is not to cheat. Bi Gan is a civil god of wealth. In Investiture of the Gods his heart is cut out, and folk telling follows that to say a man with no heart cannot be partial, so he divides wealth fairly. One stands for trust and the other for fairness, and set side by side they do not conflict. Which one goes on the altar is a household habit; there is no fixed rule.

Five styles are laid out together: look at the figure first, then at the words. Guan Yu has the long beard and the soft cap, with the phrase ten thousand taels of gold. Bi Gan wears civil official dress and carries wealth from the eight directions. Lord Chai is shown pushing a cart, with four characters for a peck of gold coming in daily. Wang Hai has goods slung over his shoulder and the words for calling in wealth and treasure. Zhao Gongming has a dark face and a heavy beard, one hand on an iron whip, with may all go as you wish. Different men, and the wording carries a different tone in each case.

Lord Chai is Chai Rong, Emperor Shizong of the Later Zhou, said to have pushed a barrow and sold umbrellas in his early years, travelling from place to place; traders count him as one of their own and call him the Southern Road god of wealth. Wang Hai is an ancestor of the Shang people. The Classic of Mountains and Seas says he yoked oxen and drove horses, taking ox carts to other tribes to trade, and later ages named him the first ancestor of Chinese merchants. Zhao Gongming's Daoist title is Marshal of the Zhengyi Xuantan; with a black tiger and an iron whip, he is honoured in folk practice as the principal god of wealth. An emperor who fell on hard times, an ancestor of traders, and a Daoist deity: three different roads in.

Which style to choose depends on who receives it. For someone in business, Guan Yu and Zhao Gongming are the safe pair. For someone at a desk on a salary, Bi Gan's wording is the gentler. For travelling trade and wholesale, Lord Chai and Wang Hai fit. Buying for yourself, follow your eye and do not overthink it. All five are the same plaque shape, so they can be swapped on a single cord. The backs are plain and the knot sits there, with no thread ends showing at the front.

The hard part of a figure plaque is the face. A small error and the eyes and brows smear, which shows badly on cast pieces; on these five the facial relief is pressed firmly enough to hold. Beards and robe folds are fine lines, and those are the first places to wear flat. Once the white copper darkens, the lines in the recesses actually read more clearly, so do not hurry to polish them. The characters are raised, and a finger can feel each one in turn.