Brass Bell with Five Emperor Coins

A brass bell, five coins and a tassel, made to hang at a door.

In feng shui, the sound of metal is used to move air that has gone still and to mark a threshold, and a bell by the door does both each time it opens. Beneath it hang the five emperor coins, one for each of the first five Qing reigns, a run of prosperous years threaded together and kept for wealth and for turning away what is unwelcome. The knot above is tied in the endless form, without a beginning or an end.

Two shapes. The plain bell carries a yellow tassel. The gourd, or hulu (葫芦), carries a red one, and is the shape traditionally kept for holding good fortune and taking in bad.

Placement: inside the front door, on the handle or a hook beside it, low enough to ring when the door moves.