Chapter 18 The second part is a small record of cultural relics Chapter 18 The art of ancient mirrors (1)

Chinese metalworkers used bronze to cast mirrors, about the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.The back of most mirrors has exquisite decorative patterns, which can be divided into two categories from the perspective of modeling characteristics and artistic expression, representing two different styles: one kind of mirror body is relatively thick, the edges are even, and the pattern theme is the coiled beetle pattern. The techniques of bas-relief, high-relief, and hollow carving are used, and the patterns and patterns are similar to the decorative patterns of some bronzes unearthed in Xinzheng, Huixian, Henan, Liyu Village, Shanxi, and recently Shouxian, Anhui.There is a kind of mirror with hollow pattern, although the number is not many, the method is self-contained, and it may have been produced earlier.Another kind of mirror body material is very thin, the edge is rolled up, and the pattern pattern is divided into two layers. Generally, various thematic bas-reliefs are added on the fine ground pattern, and the ground pattern may be swirl cloud pattern, geometric pattern and silk. Luo brocade pattern.The theme decorations are representative, including mountain-shaped rectangular pattern, continuous rectangular pattern, diamond-shaped pattern, continuous diamond pattern, Fangsheng lattice inlaid narcissus pattern, embroidered cloud algae dragon and phoenix pattern, long-tailed animal (#) pattern, and patterns reflecting the time Fine gold ornaments with various patterns.This part of the pattern has a basic difference from the previous part, that is, it is closely related to the silk brocade pattern of ancient textiles, and its exquisite production also reached the peak of gold and copper craftsmanship at that time. "Huai style mirror".After the founding of the People's Republic of China, many mirrors of the same type were unearthed from Chu tombs during the Warring States Period in Changsha, so we realized that it is more correct to call them "Chu-style mirrors".From the analysis of existing materials, although the invention of the bronze mirror may not have been created in Chu State, the mirror casting workers in Chu State undoubtedly made great contributions to the improvement of production technology and the improvement of rich and diverse pattern art.The mirror has been buried underground for more than 2,300 years, and after being unearthed, it is still very well preserved. The black light of the mirror is like lacquer, which can illuminate people.According to the book "Huainanzi" in the Western Han Dynasty, it is the result of using "Xuanxi" as a reflective paint and rubbing it with fine wool.Later, mirror grinding medicine was made of mercury and tin powder.After recent research, Xuanxi refers to this mercury mixture.From this we know that my country's outstanding metallurgical workers have mastered the new technology of smelting mercury during the Warring States Period.The gilding technique that became popular during this period also required mercury to be completed.These important discoveries or inventions are a major event in the history of metallurgy and scientific and technological inventions in China.Due to the application of new science and technology, the decorative art of metalworking in China has become more gorgeous and magnificent.At that time, special processing mirrors, as well as those painted with vermilion, inlaid with gold and silver, and inlaid with colored glass on the back of jade, all reflect the high level of gold and copper craftsmanship achieved in this great historical period.

By the Han Dynasty, bronze mirrors were widely used, and the patterns and patterns were constantly enriched with new content. The most representative ones are continuous cloud algae pattern mirrors. Cloud algae are mostly processed with double hooks, and the material is thin and curled. Specifications, the largest diameter is within five inches, and it is generally considered to be made during the Qin and Han Dynasties.Some also made a round or square frame in the mirror, and cast a four-character or twelve-character inscription: "Great wealth and honor, suitable for wine and food, happy and peaceful, and daily life" is a common format.Or use the four-character inscription "An Le Wei Yang", which must be placed aside.

The second is a small flat-sided mirror, with a slightly thicker body and blackened copper, but the inscription is inscribed with the eight characters "Seeing the light of the sun, never forgetting each other", and between each character, two or three different simple cloud patterns are used. Made into a pattern, the font is square and neat like Qin carved stone.Although the structure of the pattern is relatively simple, the inscription raises a question. In the early Western Han Dynasty, mirrors were used as tokens of love between men and women. They were given to each other as souvenirs during their lifetime, and buried in graves after death. The legend of "reunion after a broken mirror" was born in this period, seven or eight hundred years earlier than the story of Princess Lechang later told.There is also a large daylight mirror, with seven-character rhymes added to the outer edge, and the text is like the style of "Ode to Nagato". It is used to describe the use of mirrors from time to time, as a metaphor for love separation and worry.There is another kind of nebula mirror, which uses the positions of astronomical stars to form a pattern, or makes nine obsidian and seven stars in the central mirror button, and connects the surrounding stars with cloud patterns to form a cloud bird pattern.These are all mirrors from the early Western Han Dynasty.The third type is a medium-sized or large-scale four-god regular mirror, which is mainly decorated with blue dragons, white tigers, rosefinch, and basalt. Patterns, continuous clouds and algae patterns, continuous clouds, magpies and phoenix patterns, the combination of theme organization and edge decoration together form a lively and magnificent picture.Similar to the general craft patterns of the Han Dynasty, the intrusion of the idea of ​​immortal alchemists began to be seen in the development.This kind of mirror may have been created by Emperor Wu Liu Che as a fashion official, and it was still popular in Wang Mang's era. It was the standard style of official mirrors from the middle to the end of the Western Han Dynasty.Some of them also cast the year name, author's name and seven-character rhyme between the inner and outer edges, expressing the wish for the safety and happiness of the individual or parents.The most commonly used ones are "Shangfang's work is so ingenious, there are immortals who don't know how to grow old, thirsty to drink Yuquan and hungry to eat jujube..." and "New good copper comes out of Danyang, and it is clear and bright with silver and tin. The left dragon and the right tiger are ominous" and other sentences.Some even talked about buying and doing business and making a fortune if everything goes well.There is also an inscription that says "Xuzhou is better for copper, and Luoyang is famous for craftsmanship".The age of its production and the social consciousness reflected in the inscription on the pattern are therefore more definite.The fourth type is a large-scale inscription mirror of "Changyi's descendants" and "Changyi's high-ranking officials".The pattern is simple, and people in the past believed that it was made in the early Western Han Dynasty. In recent years, most of them are made in the late Western Han and early Eastern Han.In addition, there are god-man dragon and tiger mirrors developed from the rules of the four gods, segmented mirrors of gods, eight phoenix mirrors from "one to three males", "heavenly kings, sun and moon" mirrors, raised dragon mirrors, and the chariot and horse figures of the Queen Mother of the West. The mirror can represent the products of the transition from the late Han Dynasty to the Wei and Jin Dynasties.The eight phoenix mirrors use the flat picking method to simplify symmetrical patterns such as paper-cuts, and the edges may be engraved with small wishful clouds, which is full of folk art flavor.Immortal dragon and tiger mirrors, some plane relief dragons and tigers, white tigers of the Western Han Dynasty, and red bird tiles, have the same relief style, and the images are particularly vigorous and magnificent.Generally, bas-relief sculptures are mostly used, which is a technique since the Western Han Dynasty.Later, the dragon and tiger were simplified by the round relief method, and the whole body is not obvious except for the head. Most of them were produced after Laozi in Huandi Temple, and they were signed with the year of Jian'an.The fairy dragon and tiger mirror plus the seven-character poems such as "Hulu destroys the barbarian clothes, and congratulates the country for peace" were created in the Western Han Dynasty, and there were imitations during the Han and Wei Dynasties.There is also a high-round relief dragon mirror with dragons of different heights, which is a new development in composition and expression techniques.What is particularly noticeable is the mirror of the West Queen Mother, the East King, and the Chariot and Horse God. It is made of exquisite copper.The organization of thematic patterns is varied, and the relief techniques are also ingenious.Some use the oblique carving method, engraving four horses in parallel, pulling a cart and galloping, bead curtain embroidery, and lifting up and down, forming a deep volume effect, which is very vivid. It is a new achievement in the history of Chinese sculpture art. Song and Ming lacquer carving methods are all influenced by it.This kind of mirror appeared most often in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, and provided important clues for studying the popular era of the legend of the Queen Mother of the West in the Han Dynasty and the relationship between Vietnam and witches.

According to unearthed records in recent years, since the Western Han Dynasty, there have been large-scale mirrors processed in various ways such as gold-plated mirrors, gold-coated mirrors, and lacquer-backed mirrors with colorful figures.At that time, in addition to the special production by Shangfang Gongguan, the mirror casting process has also become a specialized handicraft industry in several large commercial cities in China. Chang'an, Luoyang, Xishu, and Guangling all have specialized masters who cast various mirrors and list them for sale in the market. .The inscriptions on many mirrors reflect these things clearly.At that time, these mirrors were not only popular as high-end art commodities throughout the country, but also as far away as the Western Regions and abroad.In recent years, mirrors have been unearthed in the northwest, which can be used to judge the relative age of the tombs.The unearthed Han mirrors and Han-style mirrors in Japan further prove that cultural exchanges between China and Japan began as early as the Western Han Dynasty, two hundred years earlier than the late Eastern Han Dynasty mentioned in "Wei Lue".From the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms period, there was also a kind of iron mirror inlaid with gold and silver patterns, which was first seen in the records of Cao Cao's "Shangzawushu".In recent years, such mirrors are often unearthed in China.The mirror button is flat, and the design and pattern are relatively simple, similar to the style of the Bafeng mirror. After it was opened, the iron and silver technique was applied.However, iron is easy to oxidize when buried in the soil, and there are not many complete mirrors preserved.