Chapter 8 Section 7 Little Things in Life (Part 2)—Mirror, Umbrella

Many small objects used in daily life have undergone thousands of years of development and have not changed much in shape, such as fans, sticks, and combs.But there are also some great changes, even the raw materials for making it have changed, such as mirrors, umbrellas and other daily utensils. The glass mirrors we use today were introduced from the West in modern times.Before modern times, the mirrors used in our country were all made of copper, called "mirror" or "jian".This kind of bronze mirror is generally made into a round shape, with a polished mirror surface and a button in the middle of the mirror back for wearing a rope.There are often beautiful patterns or auspicious characters cast on the back of the mirror.From these patterns or characters, people can judge which dynasty it was cast in.

Before the invention of "mirror" and "jian", people looked at the calm water. "Zhuangzi Dechongfu" once quoted Confucius as saying: "People don't look at flowing water, but at still water." The large basin holding water in ancient my country was also called "Jian", which shows that the mirror is called "Jian" and the big basin holding water is also called "Jian". Basin has a certain relationship.supervisor, ancient writing , like a person bending over to look into the water basin.Guo Moruo said: "The ancients used water as a prison, that is, they used a basin to hold water to look after them. This kind of water basin is called a prison, and copper is used as a mirror. The word "Jian" is like a person standing next to a water basin and looking down... …Ordinary people use pottery to hold water, and nobles use copper to hold water. If the bronze is polished very clean, it can be seen even without water. Therefore, a further step is to flatten the copper basin into a mirror.” This analysis is Quite rightly, it not only explains the stage when human beings used water basins to take images before the metal mirror, but also explains the reason and process of the metal mirror.

It is said in ancient times that the mirror was cast by the Yellow Emperor. This is of course not true history, but we cannot say that it is non-existent, because we have discovered the earliest bronze mirror in China in the Qijia cultural site about 4,000 years ago.The Qijia culture bronze mirror has two sides: one was unearthed in Qijiaping, Guanghe, Gansu Province in 1975, with a round, plain back; the other was unearthed in Gamatai, Guinan, Qinghai, in 1976, round, with a seven-pointed star pattern on the back.The era of the Qijia culture is roughly the same as the legendary era of the Yellow Emperor. Although the bronze mirror was not necessarily invented by the Yellow Emperor, there is no problem in saying that the bronze mirror was invented in the Yellow Emperor's era.

Some Shang Dynasty bronze mirrors have now been discovered, generally with geometric patterns on the back, bridge-shaped buttons, and some mirror surfaces are slightly convex, showing that the bronze mirrors at this time have made considerable progress.Because the diameter of bronze mirrors is generally not large, only the slightly convex mirror surface can fully illuminate the face of a person. This is not a small scientific discovery.The bronze mirrors of the Western Zhou Dynasty, especially the early Western Zhou Dynasty, are generally relatively simple in shape and simple in decoration. This probably has something to do with the Zhou people's advocacy of frugality after the founding of the country.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, bronze mirrors were widely developed.The bronze mirrors of the Warring States period are thin, light, and beautiful in shape. The back pattern is mostly on top of the ground pattern and the main pattern is added, which is extremely beautiful in decoration.There are many archaeological discoveries of bronze mirrors in the Warring States Period. In addition to special craft mirrors, the back is decorated with flower and leaf patterns, mountain (or T) patterns, diamond patterns, animal patterns, panchi (panchi) patterns, continuous arc patterns, etc. There are also openwork and staggered gold and silver back decorations, which are extremely magnificent (Figure 18).

The Han Dynasty was the heyday of Chinese bronze mirrors.The back decoration of the Han mirror, in addition to continuing the popular patterns of the Warring States Period, also has four-breasted animal patterns, rule patterns, mythical and animal patterns, mythological or historical figure portrait patterns, phoenix patterns, dragon and tiger patterns, etc.Han mirrors like to cast auspicious rhyming inscriptions on the back of the mirror, such as "always rich, joyful; long-term lovesickness, never forget each other", "always be with the king, happy with each other; never forget each other, don't look far away", " When the sun is shining, it is suitable to drink and eat; to grow rich and honor, to be happy and do nothing", etc., which reflect a strong interest in life.Others wished themselves and their descendants a long life, which shows that bronze mirrors in the Han Dynasty were widely used (Fig. 19).There are many records of the surnames of the mirror makers in Han mirrors, such as "Tian's Zuo Jing (mirror) is really good", "Tian's Zuo Jing (mirror) Siyi clothing", etc. This is the bronze mirror becoming a general commodity. Has been popularized to the people's strong evidence.

Bronze mirrors declined in the years of continuous wars in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and developed to a high degree in the Sui and Tang Dynasties.The composition of lead in Tang mirrors is more than before, and the mirror surface is silvery white. The shape also breaks through the previous round and square traditions, and new mirror shapes such as octagonal, sunflower, Asian characters, and handles have appeared.The back decoration of the Tang mirror is lively and fresh, including the four gods (blue dragon, white tiger, rosefinch, and Xuanwu), the twelve zodiac signs, the auspicious animal grape, the auspicious animal phoenix, flowers, birds, bees and butterflies, and character stories, etc., which are very exquisite (Fig. 20).In the Tang Dynasty, bronze mirrors were the necessary dowry for women to marry, so the mirror casting industry developed rapidly in various places.According to reports, the most famous mirror-casting areas in the country at that time were Bingzhou (now Taiyuan City, Shanxi) and Yangzhou. Zhang Ji's "Baitou Yin" "Yangzhou Bronze as a Bright Mirror", Wei Yingwu's "Sensing Mirror" "Casting Mirrors in Guangling (Yangzhou was called Guangling in ancient times)" , hair in a water chestnut flower box", all of which mean that the bronze mirrors cast in Yangzhou are of a high level.

There are many styles of bronze mirrors in the Song Dynasty. The more popular ones are diamond-shaped, sunflower-shaped, and hand mirrors with handles, as well as rectangular, chicken heart, and shield shapes. They pay more attention to practicality than patterns.The themes of bronze mirrors in the Song Dynasty are relatively concentrated. The bronze mirrors with patterns are mostly tangle flowers carved with thin lines; the bronze mirrors without patterns are mostly cast with the trademark name of the mirror.Judging from the trademark name of Song Jing, the famous producing places of cast mirrors at that time were:

(1) Huzhou, now Wuxing, Zhejiang, which was the largest mirror-casting center in the Song Dynasty; (2) Raozhou, which is now Boyang, Jiangxi; (3) Jiankang, which is now Nanjing, Jiangsu; (4) Chengdu, which is now Chengdu, Sichuan. In addition, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Wuzhou (now Jinhua, Zhejiang), Mingzhou (now Ningbo, Zhejiang), Changzhou, Xiuzhou (now Jiaxing, Zhejiang) also produced bronze mirrors with better quality. Liangzhe Road can be regarded as some branches of Huzhou mirror making. The bronze mirrors of the Yuan Dynasty basically followed the previous dynasties, but the back ornaments have gradually become simpler.The bronze mirrors of Ming and Qing Dynasties were mostly cast on the plain back with the date of production.After Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, bronze mirrors were replaced by glass mercury mirrors, and finally withdrew from the stage of history.

The rise and fall of bronze mirror back decoration has an important relationship with the changes in the ancient Chinese lifestyle.Before the Tang Dynasty, mirrors were mostly held by hand, or placed on a candle-shaped mirror stand.At that time, people sat on the ground, and the mirror stand was relatively low, so the back of the mirror was very prominent, and the gorgeous decoration can make the bronze mirror a lot of color, so with the development of bronze mirrors, more and more attention is paid to the back decoration.After the Song Dynasty, people’s living seats increased, and the style of the mirror table was close to that of the modern dressing table. The mirror was fixed and hung on the high mirror table, and the back could not be seen. The simpler it is, the simpler it is to only remember the name of the production location and workshop. This is because the back of the mirror is less and less "shown".

Newly cast ancient bronze mirrors must be ground and polished before they can be used; after a long time of use, the mirror surface will become dark due to oxidation and must be reground to look good, so mirror grinding was a special occupation in ancient times.In some opera stories, there are some contents that use grinding mirror as a clue, which refers to grinding bronze mirror. Mirrors have evolved from bronze to glass mercury, and rain-proof umbrellas have evolved from silk to oiled paper and oilcloth. There is also a process of popularization and popularization here. Umbrellas were invented very early in ancient my country. It is said that Lu Wang made umbrellas in the Zhou Dynasty, which needs further research.In ancient my country, the umbrella was written as "umbrella", which was originally a ceremonial guard for shading the sun and rain, made of silk.However, this is only a special product for royal nobles or senior officials, and ordinary people cannot use it (umbrellas may only be the honor guards of the monarch at the earliest. From the Jin Dynasty, officials went out, and there were umbrellas in the guard of honor. Until the Qing Dynasty, the law still stipulated that "common people are not allowed Use a silk parasol").The earliest umbrella that ordinary people could use was called "簦" (deng Deng). "Ji Jiu Pian" commented: "Big and with a handle, the hand is called a 簦; small and without a handle, the first wear is called a hat." The tool is relatively large in shape, and the "簦" side cannot fall down. In fact, it is a big bamboo hat with a handle. Judging from the ancient Chinese classics, the earliest rain gear of the ancestors should be the coir raincoat and the bamboo hat. "The Book of Songs Xiaoya No Sheep": "Er Mu comes to think, what's the coir and the hat?" The coir, written in ancient Chinese characters forty-five chapters, "Wind and Rain Evening Poor Wind and Rain Ci" writes that Baoyu wears a coir rainy day and wears a hat to see Lin Daiyu, which belongs to This kind. In addition to the coir hat, there was also a rainproof coat made of oilcloth in ancient times.This kind of raincoat is made of tarpaulin made of silk coated with tung oil and emerald oil. The cost is very high, and it is a special product for a few nobles.Although this is a real raincoat worthy of the name, until the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was still out of touch with ordinary working people, and there were few folk productions. The rainproof umbrella we are talking about now was only available in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. At that time, the earliest folk umbrella was the "oil paper umbrella".The "Illustrations of Hegong Utensils" compiled by Linqing in the Qing Dynasty quoted "Jade Chips" and said: "During the Yuan Wei (Northern Wei Dynasty), Wei people made umbrellas from bamboo fragments and oiled paper, which was convenient for walking." Umbrella handle with clips and umbrella ribs that can be supported and dropped. Oil paper is attached to the outside of the umbrella ribs.This kind of umbrella is simplified by combining ancient rainproof tools such as umbrellas, covers, and trusses. Song Gaocheng's "Things Jiyuan" said: "All the officials in the Jin Dynasty rode cars with covers but no umbrellas. The Yuan and Wei Dynasties had China in the north, but the northern custom made it easy to ride, and the umbrella cover was put on the ears of the rider. It is suspected that it began in the Later Wei Dynasty. Its ears." This makes sense.The ancient car cover is shaped like an umbrella, with a handle (bar) and a bow that supports the cover.The umbrella of the Northern Wei Dynasty absorbed the structure of the car cover and modified it so that it can be opened and closed freely.In this way, a cheap and easy-to-carry umbrella appeared, which can be used to shelter from rain on rainy days and put away for storage on sunny days. Until modern times, it was still the main rainproof tool in China's vast urban and rural areas. Ancient umbrellas were larger than today's umbrellas, with longer handles, and some original features of umbrellas and covers. The main producing area of ​​my country's umbrellas is in the south of the Yangtze River. The "Spring and Ming Retirement Records" written by Song Minqiu in the Song Dynasty records: Jiangnan Zhou was very poor when he was young, and made a living by making umbrellas. Later, because of his relatives, he became the concubine of the Southern Tang empress. traced.The empress of the Southern Tang Dynasty joked with him once: "It is not I who use you to make you rich, it is Gaomihou who helped you start your business!" Gaomihou is an umbrella.The original meaning of Gaomi is a hill, and the umbrella looks like a hill when it is opened, so Li Houzhu joked with Zhou Ze that when you were young, Gaomi Hou helped you to start a business. few.The main producing areas of umbrellas in the south of the Yangtze River are Wenzhou and Hangzhou in Zhejiang, Fuzhou in Fujian, Foshan in Guangdong, Xiangtan and Yiyang in Hunan.The varieties of umbrellas include oiled paper umbrellas, oiled cloth umbrellas, silk cloth umbrellas and green silk parasols.Wenzhou flower umbrellas are made of paper and silk with oil, and painted or overprinted with landscape flowers and birds. They are exquisitely made and durable; Hangzhou umbrellas are made of light bamboo produced in Fuyang and thin and light silk as umbrella ribs, which are elegant, light and easy to fold; Paper umbrellas, bodiless lacquerware and corner combs are also called "Fuzhou Three Treasures".Fuzhou umbrellas are made of frost-resistant and tough old bamboo in the mountainous areas of northern Fujian. The umbrella surface is "scratched" with a knife, which is beautiful and durable. Men's and women's umbrellas are separated: the men's umbrella is larger and the style is more simple; the women's umbrella is small, and the umbrella surface is mostly sprayed and printed with oil-sealing paper.Hunan paper umbrellas are called "rain cover" by the local people. They are made of high-quality green bamboo as raw materials. The cut umbrellas in Xiangtan are durable;