White Copper Zhao Gongming Xuantan Verse Ring

The name Zhao Gongming rings louder in fiction than in Daoist texts. Investiture of the Gods has him cultivating in the Luofu Cave on Mount Emei, and after his death he is enrolled among the gods as the Golden Dragon, Wish-Granting, Zhengyi, Dragon-Tiger, Xuantan True Lord, with four deputies under him: Summon Treasure, Gather Rarities, Summon Wealth and Profit the Market. The line of wealth deities is established from there. Daoist sources are earlier and call him Marshal of the Zhengyi Xuantan, with duties that went beyond money. Folk wealth deities divide into civil and martial, and Zhao Gongming is the martial one; the civil one is somebody else.

A baogao is a Daoist eulogy in verse, in lines of four, five or seven characters, and the daily offices collect a good number of them. Reciting one is not the same as making a wish: it sets out the deity's origin, office and virtues first, and only at the end turns to petition. This text is short, the phrasing archaic, and some of the words are awkward in the mouth today, but the sense stays clear. The lines are regular and rhythmic, and even without following the meaning you can hear that it is solemn.

Engraving a eulogy on a ring means selecting. A band cannot hold the whole text, so the maker takes the opening lines or the passage that lists the offices, packing the characters close with fine strokes. Cut deep and the ring grows heavy and presses the finger; cut shallow and it wears smooth in a few months. Examine it by turning it under the light: if the strokes still stand, the work will do. Characters crowded around a band run into one another, which is the great fault in engraved lettering.

In the catalogue this piece sits under pendants, though it is a ring. Do not let the category mislead you; go by the name and the shape. Categories are set in the back office, and this one was dropped in carelessly when the piece was first listed and has never been moved. It is not the only such case in the shop. When the two disagree, the name wins, and if it is still unclear, ask. A wrong category does not change the object: the copper is the same copper.

White copper holds an engraved stroke and fine lines do not slump, which is why it was chosen for a eulogy. Worn for a long time, dust settles in the strokes and darkens them, and the characters stand out better for it, so no special brushing is needed. If you must clean it, use a soft toothbrush dry and no water, since water in a fine groove dries to a white line. Store it in a bag rather than on a cord with other rings. The band is a fixed size, so measure before buying; copper is hard to resize.