White Copper Wealth Under Heaven Turtle Pendant

The turtle lies flat, its shell arched, the head drawn in and the four feet tucked under the body with only the tips of the claws showing. The shell is divided into plates: one row down the middle, two rows on either side, with a sunken groove between them. The underside is flat and cut with a few horizontal lines. The hole passes crosswise through the shoulder. The middle row of the shell is the most domed and the plates to either side step down, so the hand finds a slope. A horizontal groove runs where head meets neck, which is the thinnest place on the whole animal.

The turtle holds one place among the old Four Spirits — dragon, phoenix, lin and turtle — and it is the only one of the four that is a living creature. Turtle shell was used for divination, and the Shang records cut into plastrons are one of the sources of Chinese writing. The turtle also lives long and is easy to keep, and folk use it to steady a house, setting one in a corner where it is said to hold the foundation down. There is also the practice of releasing a turtle back into the water, which counts as laying up merit.

The phrase wealthiest under heaven lands on the turtle as a pun. The jia in the phrase is the shell, and the same word also means first grade, the top of a list; being rich enough to top a region turns on that second sense. Sayings of this kind were common on old plaques and shop signs, and they turn on the cleverness of the wording rather than promising anything. Made into a pendant, the meaning is folded into a small shell. Traders like a turtle on the counter for steadiness and for lasting, not for speed. The rim of the shell is thin and will roll if it is knocked.

Wear it with the shell facing out and the pattern toward you; turn it the other way and you have a bare back. It sits better at the waist than at the neck, since the turtle is wide and lies flat against the chest. It can go on a bag, though the claw tips catch in fabric, so choose a smooth-faced bag. It is often given to elders, being light enough to wear without effort. The cord passes through the shoulder hole, and a pull on both ends lays the turtle crosswise, where it will not stand up.

The grooves of the shell are shallow, and sweat and dust collect in them until they read as black lines. Do not pick at them with a needle, because every pass adds a scratch. Rinse with warm water, work a soft brush along the grooves, and dry it afterwards. A copper turtle fears a fall more than anything; the shell is hollow, it dents where it lands, and a dent cannot be pushed back out from inside. Rest it on cloth when it is off, not against a set of keys, because the ridges of the shell flatten at one knock and do not come back.