Chapter 19 The second part is a small record of cultural relics Chapter 19 The art of ancient mirrors (2)

In the more than three hundred years of the Jin Dynasty, the Northern and Southern Dynasties, except for the dragon and tiger mirrors and the Western Queen Mother mirrors, they continued to be produced in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. In addition, there were mirrors with the inscription "Heavenly King, Sun and Moon". The edges were mostly treated with cloud and phoenix patterns, and the inner edge was changed to four words , such as Taoist formulas and laws.Later, there are the mirrors of the four gods of the twelve signs of the zodiac, the mirrors of the four gods in high relief, the mirror of double dragons with heavy wheels, the mirror of the cluster of six treasures, and so on.The latter four appeared at the end of the Six Dynasties during the Chen and Sui Dynasties, and were still popular in the Tang Dynasty.The mirror patterns in the late Southern and Northern Dynasties, after gradually using sketches of flowers and birds as themes, have also improved in terms of technical expression.The main production place has clearly belonged to Yangzhou, which can explain the development of production in the south and the achievements of art and craft in this stage.

The material culture of the Tang Dynasty is reflected in all departments of the plastic arts. They all appear to be bright in color, perfect in organization, healthy and lively as a whole, full of youthful atmosphere.The achievements of mirror art also give people this deep impression.Most of the mirror body is relatively thick (especially the grape bird, animal, flower and grass mirror), the alloy ratio, and the silver and tin content increase, so the color is as white as silver.The shape has also undergone new changes, breaking through the shackles of the traditional circle and creating various fancy mirrors.The diameter of the large mirror is more than one foot and two inches, and the small mirror is only the size of an ordinary silver coin.And start creating the handle mirror.As for the pattern organization, no matter whether it uses common flowers, birds, bees and butterflies, or imagines the legendary rare birds and beasts or fairy tales, social life, the expression methods are very humorous and humane, with a high sense of reality.Overseas transportation in the Tang Dynasty was very extensive. At that time, an inclusive attitude towards foreign cultures was also adopted to enrich the content of new artistic creations. The influence in music, singing and dancing, painting, textile patterns, and clothing was quite significant.The theme and expressive techniques of the mirror pattern also reflect this trend.For example, the mirror of grapes, birds, animals, flowers and plants, the mirror of unicorn and lion, the mirror of drunken beating and beating drums playing with lions, the mirror of knights playing with polo balls, the mirror of black Kunlun dancing, and the mirror of princes playing with lotus.The former pattern is complex and precise, processed with high-relief technology, integrating magnificence and beauty into one, which is particularly prominent in expressive techniques.The latter types mostly use the bas-relief method, which is delicate and neat, good at layout, and the structure is just right.The extremely small mirror also leaves a certain space, so that the flowers, birds, bees and butterflies have their own ecology and echo each other, making the whole perfect and harmonious.

The rulers of the Tang Dynasty promoted Taoism, and the idea of ​​immortals was popular because of this, which was also reflected in various patterns on the Tang mirrors.For example, the mirror of Chang'e flying to the moon, the mirror of Zhenzi Feishuang, the mirror of Wang Zijin blowing the phoenix, the mirror of Xianzhen riding the dragon, the mirror of water and fire gossip, and the mirror of the three gods on the sea. style.The prevalence of Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty affected all aspects of art. In addition to Feitian Pingjia, there is also a pattern of the prince playing with lotus made according to the lotus prince Sutra on the mirror. Some fat dolls are used as the theme, winding among the flower branches.It is common people's wish to have children and grandchildren proliferate continuously, so this theme painting is developed in the silk brocade, and it becomes the Brocade of Wealthy Men and Hundred Sons.Woven into curtains and quilts, it has been a favorite of the people for thousands of years.In the Han Dynasty, most of the casting of mirrors was on May 5th, but the custom of the Tang people was still the same. According to legend, it had to be done in the center of the Yangtze River, which was obviously related to the alchemist's alchemy.Also, August 5th is the birthday of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, and it was named "Qianqiu Festival" (also known as Qianqiu Jinjian Festival). According to social customs, on this day, the whole country will cast mirrors and give them as gifts to celebrate longevity.Among the more exquisite Tang mirrors, the mirrors with long ribbons and long ribbons, flying dragon mirrors, and the specially processed gold and silver flat flower-and-bird mirrors and Luodian flower-and-bird mirrors were mostly completed in the Kaiyuan Tianbao more than 20 years ago, and some of them were produced to adapt to the seasons.The society of the Tang Dynasty attached great importance to powerful families, famous families, and the marriage of children must be well-matched, but young men and women are willing to break through the shackles of feudal society to satisfy their passion for love.At that time, people often regarded it as an anecdote and turned it into the theme of novels and poems.Although the mirror pattern seldom expresses this problem directly, but in the mirrors of blowing sheng to attract phoenixes, immortals riding dragons, fairies crossing phoenixes, and various flowers and birds, mandarin ducks, mandarin ducks, cockroaches with concentric knots, and the harmony between fish and water, The image of Bing Dilian has the same metaphorical meaning as the poem describes the happiness of love and love will never be separated.In the mirror inscriptions, the five-character poems of Yuzishan in the Northern Zhou Dynasty and the brocade palindrome poems imitated by Su Ruolan in the early Tang Dynasty are often used to repeatedly praise the beauty of women by singing about the figure in the makeup mirror.

Specially processed mirrors in the Tang Dynasty include gold and silver flat flower-and-bird mirrors, Luodian flower-and-bird mirrors, hammered gold and silver flower-and-bird mirrors, and colored lacquer-painted and inlaid glass mirrors. Some of these mirror patterns with a high artistic level have the same theme as ordinary mirrors; Some of them have various new changes due to the characteristics of materials, such as the achievement of Luodian mirrors all over the floor, which is a good example.The gorgeous decorative patterns of these mirrors have reached a new peak in the history of Chinese mirror-making technology.

There are many patterns in Tang mirrors, and the representative ones can be summarized into four categories: the first category of baoxiang flower patterns, including sketched large clusters of branches, clusters of six regular baoxiang, small clusters of grass flowers, radial baoxiang and cross-branch flowers.The second category of rare birds and animals, flowers and plants patterns, including small clusters of flowers and birds, bulk flowers and birds and symmetrical flowers and birds, etc.; birds, beasts, insects and fish include lions, lions, lions, deer, pegasus, fish, dragons, parrots, mandarin ducks, magpies, Peacocks, phoenixes, dragonflies, butterflies, dragonflies and more.The third type of mirrors with stringed grapes, birds, beasts, bees and butterflies includes different styles of squares and circles.The fourth type of stories and legend mirrors include stories of various characters and social life, such as Zhenzi Feishuang, Chang'e Flying to the Moon, Confucius Asking Rong Qiqi, Yu Boya Zhong Ziqi, knights playing ball and hunting, etc.The most important part is various patterns of flowers and birds, which can be said to be the culmination of craft patterns at that time.People in the Tang Dynasty have become accustomed to using common flowers, birds, bees and butterflies as decorative patterns in daily life, and they are more lively and vivid when applied to mirrors. (This is the point that we should learn most about the patterns of Tang mirrors.) Among the flower and bird patterns, such as the ribbon with the title of luan, the title of majesty with the title of goose, the title of auspicious grass with the title of magpie, and the flower with the title of handsome falcon, are closely related to the silk patterns of the Tang Dynasty.According to the system, the official dresses of the Tang Dynasty should be woven into various natural colors of flowers and birds according to the grade, while women's clothing should be dyed, embroidered, brocade and lacquer painting to represent colorful flowers and birds, and the patterns used are in the same vein as mirror patterns.There are not many silk relics, but the mirror patterns are very rich, so the mirror patterns provide various reliable materials for the study of silk in the Tang Dynasty.

The new achievement of Tang mirrors in modeling is the creation of small mirrors and various fancy mirrors, which broke the old format, such as silver dollar-sized mirrors with honeysuckle flowers and birds, octagonal, eight-arc, square corners and other fancy mirrors. The mirrors of the Song Dynasty can be divided into two categories: the ones that should occupy a special place in the history of bronze craftsmanship in my country are official mirrors with some flowers and plants.The feature of the shape is that the body of the mirror has become thinner. In addition to the second style of Fangyuan, there are also sub-shaped, bell-shaped, tripod-shaped and many other new styles.Decorative patterns also broke the traditional habit and were made in various formats.The new sketches of twining flowers are treated with shallow and fine relief, which belongs to the practice of "knowledge and concealment" in sculpture.The pattern has many weak branches and thin leaves coiled with each other, forming the effect of windward dew.Especially excellent works, most of them were produced in the late Northern Song Dynasty.People in the Song Dynasty liked to say "colorful flowers" when discussing silk embroidery, sometimes referring to colored sketches, folded branches and strings of branches, and sometimes used as an adjective for "living colors and fragrant flowers". Generally, sketch relief flowers can be used.When this kind of "colorful flower" is reflected in the pattern in the mirror, the style is very meticulous, just like the combination of slight protrusions and some dotted lines on the bas-relief, but it is still full of vitality, with a high sense of reality and rhythm. .This kind of official mirror is extremely fine and slender, which makes it difficult to continue.Another type has a profound folk art style, which is represented by thick lines. The two styles of Pisces and phoenix wearing peony are representative, and they have been popular among the people since the Yuan and Ming Dynasties.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, the Khitan and Liao regimes confronted each other in the north, and the Northwest and Xixia used troops year after year. Therefore, the copper ban was extremely strict, and folk mirrors were often engraved with the date and place names of the states and counties for inspection and casting. From this, we know that there were mirror casting officials in each county at that time. Carpenter.The creation of the second type of mirrors was completed in the hands of local official craftsmen, and documents and real objects can prove each other. Although the production of bronze mirrors has been in use as early as 2300-400 years ago, it was gradually replaced by new glass mirrors in the past 200 years.For example, in terms of mirror arts and crafts, the development of special official mirrors in the Song Dynasty can be said to be close to the end of the song.With the rich wisdom, skills and endless creativity of the working people, along with the development and changes of society, the focus began to shift to new crafts such as firing porcelain, carving lacquer, weaving gold brocade, and carving silk.Although the bronze craft still has progress to varying degrees in several departments, for example, the official regulations of the Song Dynasty, the saddle harness processed by gold and silver was still popular.Officials of the lowest rank all use iron chisels and silver saddle stirrups.Miscellaneous pieces of iron weapons are often engraved with gold and silver.Song Xuan and antique bronze wares were highly valued at that time, and the exquisite Shang and Zhou fakes can still deceive experts until modern times.The creation also has a unique style and is unconventional.In the Shaoxing period of the Southern Song Dynasty, Jiang Niangzi cast a square furnace with fine brocade ground patterns, which is unique among bronze crafts.However, in fact, mirror-making technology was already in decline by the Southern Song Dynasty, especially in the south, and it was no longer the focus of craft production.At this time, most of the handicrafts in Yangzhou and other metropolises were destroyed by the war, and the original mirrors were mostly melted down to be cast into copper coins or used for other needs.Ordinary household mirrors are more practical than patterns.Bronze photographs made in Huzhou, Raozhou, Lin'an and other well-known shops such as "Zhangjia", "Majia" and "Second Uncle Shijia Nian" usually have no flowers on their backs, and only leave a part on the back of the mirror for sale. Store logo.Generally speaking, the copper raw material production area is supervised by the government to set up a "casting bureau", which is similar to the situation of the minting bureau. The cost is calculated in taels, three hundred and ten coins per catty.The low level of mirror art is inevitable.Although private casting continued to create new shapes, influenced by Taoism at that time, the shape was awkward, the pattern was out of balance, and it became more and more boring.For example, some bells or tripod furnaces are cast with gossip and "seeing the nature" sentences, which will inevitably become more and more vulgar in terms of plastic arts.The Jin regime established by the Jurchens in the north was confronted with the Southern Song regime, and the production was greatly damaged. Officials and private cast mirrors. Although the scale of the Northern Song mirror with flowers and grasses was still used, and some new styles were created, in terms of the general trend, the craftsmanship The world is still declining day by day, with little development and little progress.

written in 1956 (Original inscription of the book "Bronze Mirror of Tang and Song Dynasties", China Classical Art Publishing House, 1958)