White Copper Kuixing Pendant Necklace

The figure of Kuixing is easy to recognise: blue face, red hair, a brush in one hand and an ink dipper in the other, one leg kicked up behind with the toe aimed at the dipper — that is “Kuixing marking the dipper”. The other foot stands on the head of a turtle, so there is also “alone on the turtle’s head”, meaning first place. One image carries two auspicious sayings, and scholars liked that; nobody thought it vulgar in a study. Some versions put a ruyi sceptre where the dipper should be, which is another line of drawing and less often recognised.

Kuixing was originally the first star of the Northern Dipper, called Kui. Han apocryphal texts say Kui governs literary fortune, and once the examinations began the star became the patron of the examination hall. Pavilions and towers to Kuixing went up everywhere, usually beside the Confucian school, low buildings of three or five storeys, with a figure often only a foot high and brushes and ink stacked on the altar. In some places it is called a tower, in others a pavilion; different name, same figure.

Getting this pose onto a small plaque is not easy. The kicked leg is unsupported and shrinks in casting; the brush shaft is thin and breaks. So small pieces tighten the curve of the leg to bring it against the hem of the robe, and thicken the brush a little. To judge a Kuixing plaque, look first at the leg and the brush; everything else can be forgiven. Do not leave a large flat back: add a layer of cloud there, so the reverse has something to look at.

The difference between the pendant and the necklace is the chain. On the necklace the chain passes through the hole at the top, so the plaque turns on the chest and shows both faces as you walk, which means the carved back has to be finished cleanly; the pendant takes your own cord, knotted behind, and the face stays outward longer. For a student the chain should end above the chest, so that bending to write does not knock the desk. Keep the chain thin; a heavy chain overwhelms the plaque, and a student wearing one looks less like a student than like someone wearing a parent’s.

The seventh day of the seventh month is said to be Kuixing’s birthday, and the old academies held a ceremony that day, scholars bowing to him for a place on the list. Nobody keeps it up now, but mentioning it when you give one to a candidate has more in it than a flat “good luck in the exam”. Do not overdo the words: Kuixing governs literary fortune, not marks, and saying it too fully turns it into a promise. A good pen in the box is more practical than a heap of lucky phrases, and it gets used. Warm the plaque in your hand before handing it over — copper is cold, and it should not arrive like a shock.