White Copper Dao of Nature Tag

Chapter twenty-five of the Laozi has four lines: man takes his model from earth, earth from heaven, heaven from the Dao, the Dao from what is so of itself. They climb one step at a time; read them as a flat list and the sense thins out. Carved on a plaque, most people take only the last phrase, and that is no harm — four characters stand up on their own. Laozi was talking about how a person takes a model; on a plaque, all that remains is the weight of four characters.

Setting four characters on a plaque is harder than the characters themselves. On one line the spacing has to be even and the last character cannot crowd the edge; on two lines you have to decide which pair carries weight and which recedes. A white copper face is small, so seal script muddles easily, while clerical script spreads sideways and reads cleanly instead. A deep cut gives the fingertip a step; a shallow one goes flat under raking light. Whether the four sit easily comes down to white space — skimp on it and they stifle.

In the shop it files under gourd. The gourd is a workhorse of folk ornament: the word sounds like fu and lu, fortune and salary; a vine sets quantities of fruit and quantities of seed; and it once served as a bottle for medicine and for wine, so it carries both a lucky phrase and a working history. Whether this particular plaque takes the gourd’s outline is best settled by looking at the piece — the name says only “tag.” Gourds trail on a continuous vine, and in old embroidery patterns they pair with “sons and grandsons for ten thousand generations,” which is a further layer of meaning.

A flat face lies against the body without digging in, which is what makes it easier to live with than a fully carved pendant. The hole sits at the top edge: too small and a thick cord won’t pass, so you are on fine waxed cord or a thin silver chain; too large and the plaque slides side to side. Some people add a small spacer bead above the hole to hold the plaque off and keep it from rubbing at the collarbone — a practical trick. The copper at the hole should be rounded over, so a cord can run against it for a year without breaking inside.

Good for an elder, good for someone who reads. The four characters name no particular deity, so the recipient is not put in an awkward spot whether they believe or not — that is what makes it easier to give than a plaque with a god on it. For someone in business, don’t turn the four characters into a lecture on commerce; it twists easily. A card in the box with the source printed on it saves explaining out loud. Some customers buy it for a teacher and write the four characters on the card — cleaner than a carton of cigarettes and a bottle.