White Copper Leizu Talisman Open Ring

A taboo character is not made to be read. The Thunder Patriarch’s is stroke over stroke, a dozen characters stacked into one; few can pronounce it and fewer still can pick it apart. Cutting it on a ring is about the character itself, not about anyone reading it. Now and then someone studies it through a magnifier and asks whether it was cut wrong, and the only answer is that it has always been written this way. Most accept that and let it go. There is a slip of paper behind the counter with the source written on it, which saves telling the whole story every time.

In Daoism the Thunder Patriarch is the Celestial Worthy of Universal Transformation through the Sound of Thunder, who answers from the Nine Heavens and commands the Thunder Department. The taboo characters belong to ritual: written on talismans, stamped on plaques, never treated as ordinary writing. Saying that plainly is more use than praising its power. Most buyers have heard about the character somewhere and come looking for it, and they can explain it themselves, so there is little to add. Others simply like how it looks, which is easy enough. A pattern does not have to justify itself by function; liking it is reason enough.

The face of the ring is curved, so the characters have to follow the curve; cut straight, both ends come out shallow. White copper is hard, and an incised line holds its edge, which lets fine strokes survive. Polishing has to keep away from the cuts — round them off and the cutting was wasted. The antiquing stays down in the strokes so the character rises out of the metal; otherwise it is a field of silver white with nothing visible in it. The edges of a cut should be crisp. Crisp reads as a knife; rounded reads as something painted on. On a curved face the middle stroke is deepest and the ends thin out, which is simply what following the curve requires.

Men’s and women’s versions are moulded separately, with different face widths: the men’s has weight to it, the women’s is narrowed so it does not look clumsy on the hand. The opening adjusts — spread it, slide it on, close it until it neither pinches nor spins. White copper is harder than copper but still fatigues, so do not bend it for amusement. Closed, the two ends should keep a small gap. Too wide and it catches hair; too tight and you cannot open it again. That setting is something you find by trying. Anyone with thick knuckles should leave a little room when closing, or it will press a mark into the finger over time.

People ask whether the colour comes off. White copper does not lose its colour; it oxidises, drifting slowly from silver white towards warm. If you sweat, the inside darkens first. Where a cloth cannot reach, use a cotton bud with a little clean water — do not drop the whole ring in. In a drawer, keep it from under anything heavy: flatten the curve of the face and it will press on the finger bone. To brighten it, a light pass with a silver cloth is enough. Never take it to a polishing wheel. Flatten the cuts once and the ring is finished.