Pure Copper Five Jambhalas Little Fish Tag

The fish plaque had a second identity in the Tang. Officials then carried a fish tally, carp-shaped and split into left and right halves, one half kept in the palace and one carried; when the two matched, the man was who he said he was. Carp and the imperial surname Li sound alike, so the fish acquired a little borrowed standing. The tally was abolished later, but the fish stayed on in common use, its meaning back at the plainest layer: surplus. The fish on a New Year print is usually fat. This one is made rather lean. Tallies were also graded gold, silver and copper, with a rank for each material, all of it set down in rules.

The plaque is cut as a single fish, head and tail lifted, the body thickest at the middle. The front carries the five directions of wealth, one god to a face, and you choose which to order. The back is plain with one hole for the cord. The scales are not cut over the whole body: a few rows in the middle section only, head and tail left bare, so more of the surface stays smooth and the fish keeps its shape. Cutting scales everywhere turns it into a washboard, which is something you learn after doing it a while. The eye is a single stab of the graver. Land it off center and the fish is dead.

The five gods have their own histories. Wang Hai is the ancestor of traders, driving ox carts from one market to the next; Bi Gan had his heart cut out, and folk saying holds that a man without a heart cannot play favorites; Chai Rong kept a shop before he became emperor; Guan Yu stands for trust; Zhao Gongming holds the wealth. These accounts lie scattered and do not assemble into anything tidy, and folk belief never asked them to. By incense, Guan Yu and Zhao Gongming are the strongest and the other three less known. When the five are set out together, the one in the middle is not always Zhao Gongming; it depends on the district.

Pure copper is softer than white copper, so the cut is made light; a shade too deep and the line collapses. The color runs red, and darkens with wearing, the parts that see sweat going dull first. The body is thick at the middle and has weight in the hand, enough to hang with some presence on the chest. It stays against the cloth when you walk and slaps twice when you run. Weight is not a fault here; a plaque too light turns over in the wind. The red of pure copper varies in depth, even within a single batch.

Five versions, one god cut on each, and the choice usually follows your trade or whichever god the household honors. Some people cannot give a reason at all and simply like the look of one name. A copper plaque does not mind water; it minds knocks, and the tail is the thinnest part, so a knock curls it. Wipe along the scales, never across, because the copper is soft and a cross stroke raises whiskers. The back can be engraved. Think it through first; engraving cannot be taken back.