White Copper Ziwei Talisman Script Pendant

The hui character is set at the centre of the plaque, stroke stacked on stroke, packed full. At first glance it is a dense cloud, horizontals and verticals and diagonals all stuck together; you have to step back, then come close again, before the strokes begin to separate and you can see which one lies over which. The character takes up most of the area, so the margin left around it is narrow, and a fine border line is drawn to hold it in, which keeps the face from flying apart. The plaque is narrow and tall, hanging vertically, and the character is read vertically with it. Thickness is even, with no thin patch along the edge, so it does not hang off-centre.

There is a saying about writing hui characters: the stroke must not break, because break it and the qi scatters. So the graver runs from start to finish in one pass, and stopping in the middle leaves a seam. The cuts here are shallow. It looks full, but under the finger it is only a faint roughness — the shallow-engraving approach, which does not catch clothing in daily wear and does not collect dust in the strokes. The cost of shallow work is that the character fades over the years; polish it often with a cloth and after two years the strokes will have rounded a little. Shallow pieces are not for layering, either: knock one against another pendant and the cuts are what wears first.

It is filed under Taiji & Bagua because a ring of trigrams runs around the back. The hui character is on the front, the trigrams on the back — one face gathering in, one letting out. A trigram is three lines: unbroken is yang, broken is yin, and the eight are set either in the Earlier Heaven or the Later Heaven sequence, which place them differently. Which sequence this one follows has to be counted off the piece itself; it is hard to make out from a picture. If you want to know, photograph it, enlarge it, and go trigram by trigram. The ring on the back is cut shallower; under the finger it is a series of short broken marks, not a continuous line.

Pendant and necklace differ by one chain. The plaque is small, so a fine chain suits it and a heavy one takes over. The chain sits most securely two fingers below the collarbone; hang it lower and the pendant turns, and if the hui character faces inward the whole thing is wasted. Choose a spring clasp over an S hook, which is easier to work one-handed; the S hook looks better but loosens with repeated bending. With cord, choose a fine sandalwood cord; the colour is deep and answers the black of the character.

Two things are hard on a white copper face: damp, and rubbing. Wash your hands without taking it off and water collects in the cuts, dries, and leaves a pale ring; when you notice it, blot with a soft cloth. Do not use a hairdryer — copper takes heat quickly, the metal expands faster than the surface layer, and the surface can lift. Darkening is normal; where a cloth will not reach, a little toothpaste worked in circles, but do not dig at the cuts with a fingernail. In a heavy-sweat summer, take it off at night and leave it on the table to air. Copper left long in damp grows green spots; wipe them when you see them.