White Copper Turning Yao Yin Yang Ring

Qian is three solid lines, Kun three broken ones — one all connected, one all broken, the two clearest trigrams in the bagua. The line is the basic unit: yang a single long stroke, yin two short ones, and the sixty-four hexagrams come from stacking the eight trigrams pairwise, layer on layer. This ring puts Qian and Kun on the face, and the “turning” in the name most likely refers to a ring of movable structure on the face. In the names of the sixty-four, Qian and Kun come first, one pure yang, one pure yin.

A ring that turns is called a live ring in the trade. A hairline gap has to be left between the moving ring and the body: tighten it and it will not turn, loosen it and it rattles. White copper grinds against itself and goes slack after half a year of turning — a common complaint with copper work, not a mark of poor making. Dust in the gap makes it gritty; rinse with warm water, dry, and wear again. Do not oil it. Fine sand is the worst thing for that gap: after a trip to the beach, rinse it before anything else.

Where the taiji diagram with its pair of fish came from is not settled. Some trace it to a Song dynasty Daoist text, some say it was drawn later still, and the field has not agreed. I will not invent a date for it; I will only describe the figure as it stands: a dot of black in the white, a dot of white in the black, the two heads biting each other’s tails, so that it holds together as it turns. Pairing the diagram with the bagua is also a post-Song development, and it is the pairing that makes the diagram read complete.

The face is wide and will press on the two neighbouring fingers; on a thick hand it leaves a mark within half a day. The turning section sits at the center, and soap lodges there when you wash your hands — take it off, rinse it, put it back on. This is a small thing to have on the hand, to turn twice during a meeting, while waiting for someone, while thinking something over; the principle is the same as rolling walnuts. Worn long enough, the moving ring shines brighter than the rest, from the finger. That does not wipe off, and it is normal.

Most buyers read the Yi; some just like the figure. I do not talk about changing fortunes, and I could not. If it is a gift, ask first whether the person minds a hexagram on the face of a ring — some do, some do not care. The band is fixed, so measure around the knuckle as well as the base; the base alone gives a size too small. I have also had customers take it to a friend who writes code, saying he stares at a screen all day and having something in his hand to turn might quiet him down.