White Copper Zhao Gongming Black Tiger Pendant

Zhao Gongming is the martial God of Wealth: black face, heavy beard, riding a black tiger, iron whip in hand, holding the central position among the five routes. In folk prints he is not handsome. He is fierce, and the fierceness is there to guard the house. Traders hang his image facing the door, to welcome custom in. Martial gods carry a whip, civil gods carry a ruyi scepter or an ingot — that is the quickest way to tell them apart. Images of the five routes are most common in New Year prints and paper effigies, pasted behind the door at the old New Year.

The black tiger, in folk telling, was a mountain beast he subdued and kept as a mount, and it followed him from then on. Versions differ from place to place; what they share is that the tiger is under him rather than beside him, held low. The composition on the plaque follows the same rule: tiger below, man above. The tiger's stripes are a few shallow grooves with dark left in them, and polished bright they stop reading as a tiger at all. The tail runs past the edge of the plaque and ends in the cloud breath.

The plaque is vertical: the rider on the tiger's back, the tiger's head to the left, forepaws on cloud breath, one hand on the tiger's neck and the other hanging. The relief has three levels — cloud shallowest, tiger in the middle, figure highest. Compositions with three or more figures are hard on a small plaque, so the attendants are left out here and only the man and the tiger remain. The face is too small for detail, so the beard and the brow ridge have to carry it.

Four options: the black tiger pendant alone; with a Chopin chain, ready to wear; with a sandalwood cloud cord that adjusts for length; and the No. 1 floating box for giving. With martial gods, folk usage says face outward, not inward, though that applies to a house rather than to something worn on the body — worn, it simply hangs. New sandalwood cord smells strongly of wood, with a sour note that disperses in two days in a ventilated spot. The floating box lid is damped as it closes; don't force it.

Dust collects in the hollows of the face, particularly in the tiger's stripes. Sweep with a soft brush rather than a needle. When the white copper dulls, wipe with a dry cloth and stop at the raised areas, leaving the hollows dark so the stripes stay readable. Bag it when it is off, and don't let it share a pocket with keys. Folk usage doesn't put a martial god in the bedroom, since the weapon is heavy; a living room or a shop floor suits the rules better.