Metal Xuanyin Four Symbols Totem Lighter

The body is metal in two halves that close on a straight seam and open with a crisp click. The front carries the Four Symbols in recessed relief, the ground dark and the raised surfaces polished. The sides are plain and left clear for the fingertips, so it does not slip in the hand. The base cap is a separate ring, its seam set off from the seam of the body. The edges are chamfered, which keeps them from cutting the hand or snagging cloth in a pocket. The base cap is a little narrower than the body and set in slightly, so the lighter stands steady on a table.

In the name Xuanyin, xuan means black and also north, while yin means water and falls to the north as a direction too. Among the Four Symbols the north is held by Xuanwu, turtle and snake together, and its colour is black. The name and the pattern therefore answer each other; they are not two words put side by side at random. Xuanwu governs water among the Four Symbols, and the old calendrical work used it for fixing direction and season. Its image is a turtle and a snake wound together, the snake coiled over the turtle's back with head and tail joined.

An object like this is carried about: in a pocket, in a bag, in the car. A metal shell takes knocks, and a corner struck a few times only goes blunt. The real risk is sharing a pocket with keys, whose teeth draw fine lines across the body. On the front the pattern hides them; on the plain sides those scratches are the most conspicuous thing about the piece. In a pocket the shell also meets coins, and it knocks against them with a lower sound than a plastic case would make.

Four beasts on a single face makes for a crowded layout. The dragon and the tiger take left and right, the bird sits above and Xuanwu below, and all four heads turn inward to enclose a centre. The relief is low: run a hand over it and it feels flat, and only a fingernail finds the edges. The advantage of a shallow pattern is that it does not dig into the palm; the disadvantage is that two years of use will wear it faint. The ground behind the pattern was left unpolished with a sand finish, where fingerprints do not show.

A lighter carries fire, so do not leave it on a dashboard hot in the sun or beside a radiator. Strike it several times in a row and the top grows hot; let it cool before putting it away. Keep it out of reach of children. A metal shell conducts heat quickly, and brought in from the cold in winter it is icy at first touch and warms only slowly in the hand. Do not press a finger on the pattern when opening the lid; over time that patch brightens before the rest.