The five wealth gods, decoded

The Five Wealth Gods (五路财神, "wealth gods of the five roads") are among the most recognisable figures in Chinese folk religion — and the design of our Five Wealth Gods bracelet is a direct translation of their story. Here is what the five actually stand for.

One god, four generals, five directions

At the centre stands Zhao Gongming (赵公明), a fierce-bearded general deified as the marshal of wealth, riding a black tiger. Around him, tradition posts four subordinates — one per direction — whose names are a wishlist: Zhaobao (招宝, "summoning treasure") in the east, Nazhen (纳珍, "gathering jewels") in the west, Zhaocai (招财, "summoning wealth") in the south, and Lishi (利市, "profit in trade") in the north. Five gods, because wealth should arrive from every road — not one.

That is also why businesses from Hong Kong to Hangzhou still welcome the five back on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year (初五) with firecrackers at dawn: the gods are believed to take a tour on New Year's Day and return on the fifth. You want to be facing the right door when they do.

Why the bracelet carries five colours

Each direction belongs to one of the five elements, and each element to a colour — so a five-god piece naturally becomes a five-colour piece:

Our versions swap the arbitrary colours for five honest materials — cinnabar, obsidian, and tiger eye carrying the trio of fire, water and earth tones, with wood and metal tones strung between.

If your chart leans water or earth — the two elements most associated with wealth storage in BaZi — the quiz will tell you; that reading starts at the element quiz.