Exquisite bronze mirror, after thousands of years, can it still kill demons?

In ancient China, before the large-scale appearance of glass mirrors, people mostly used bronze mirrors to face each other. Archaeological findings show that the earliest known bronze mirror appeared in Qijia culture more than 4000 years ago. The appearance of bronze mirrors made the ancients in China get rid of the situation of "taking water as a mirror". In the long historical evolution, the shape and ornamentation of bronze mirrors have undergone various changes, and people have also given them rich cultural connotations. I. Historical Evolution of Bronze Mirrors The evolution of bronze mirrors has experienced the Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, showing different characteristics at each different stage: 1 There is no clear evidence to prove when and where the bronze mirror originated, but the ancients in China often attributed their inventions to great men, so they also said that the bronze mirror was made by. "Biography of Emperor Xuanyuan" said: "(The Yellow Emperor) cast a mirror to make it look like a fifteen-sided mirror." What is said here is that the Yellow Emperor cast fifteen mirrors face to face, but all the mirrors cast by the Yellow Emperor are mirrors of God. However, the myth is not credible after all. Fortunately, people found something in the archaeological process. 1975 bronze mirror unearthed from Qijiaping Tomb in Guanghe, Gansu, 1976 bronze mirror unearthed from Gamatai Village, guinan county, Qinghai. The tombs of these two bronze mirrors belong to Qijia culture, which dates from about 2000 BC to about 4000 years ago. They are the earliest bronze mirrors found so far. The flat mirror of the Western Zhou Dynasty 2. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the production process of bronze mirrors was just emerging and the technology was not mature enough. From the late Spring and Autumn Period to the early Warring States Period, bronze mirrors were characterized by small diameter, thin body, flat mirror surface and simple ornamentation, mostly plain mirrors. By the middle and late Warring States period, the production technology of bronze mirrors had developed greatly, and the decorative patterns developed from simple patterns to hollowing out, gold and silver interlacing, jade embedding and painting, with various forms. Moreover, the diameter becomes larger and the thickness increases, and the production of bronze mirrors has reached a new peak. Warring States feather scale mirror III. Han Dynasty is an important period for the development of Chinese bronzes, and the development of bronze mirrors has entered a prosperous stage. Most bronze mirrors in the Western Han Dynasty are mainly round and semi-circular buttons, and there are also some animal-shaped buttons, which are vivid and lively, including flat carving, line carving and relief. The subject matter of bronze mirrors in the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty is more extensive, and the structural ornamentation is more and more complex, mainly animal patterns. Its craft is mainly high relief, beautifully carved, rich in connotation and numerous inscriptions. 4. Sui and Tang Dynasties are an era of innovation. The style of bronze mirrors has changed from stiff and inflexible in the Han Dynasty to free and smart, new mirror styles have emerged constantly, and the species of flowers, birds and plants in decorative patterns have emerged one after another. During the Sui and early Tang Dynasties, auspicious animal mirrors prevailed. During the period from Tang Gaozong to Wu Zetian, the grape mirror, the bird mirror and the bird mirror were very popular. During the period from Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty to Tang Dezong, bird mirror, character story mirror, Ruihua mirror, Panlong mirror and various special craft mirrors were popular for a while. In the Song Dynasty, the development of bronze mirrors entered a slow stage, and the overall mirror shape of the Tang Dynasty was followed, such as diamond-shaped flower mirrors and sunflower mirrors. Especially in the Southern Song Dynasty, the style of bronze mirrors paid more attention to practicality than decorative patterns, which were basically composed of plain mirrors and inscriptions of manufacturer's trademark numbers. Fu shou Jia an Shuang Ming mirror 6. During the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the founding of the Yuan Dynasty was short, the social development was slow, and the bronze mirror technology declined. In the Ming Dynasty, glass mirrors rose and bronze mirrors gradually withdrew from the historical stage. Although there are many forms of bronze mirrors in this period, most of them are imitation of Han and Tang dynasties, and the innovation is insufficient. During the Qing Dynasty, under the impact of glass mirrors, the output of bronze mirrors declined rapidly. During this period, the practical function of bronze mirrors declined, and they played a symbolic role in social life, such as exorcism in towns and houses, wedding dowry and so on. Second, the cultural implication of the bronze mirror China has a mirror culture of more than 4,000 years. The bronze mirror has already developed from its initial appearance to the connotation of carrying the human spirit. Bronze mirrors play various roles in ancient people's lives, bearing rich cultural connotations, mainly in the following aspects: 1. As a token of love and marriage, the bronze mirror has become a symbol of people's love and marriage because of its exquisite and round shape. Now there are many words that use mirrors to express the meaning of marriage reunion, such as "come again for the second time". Therefore, in the life of ancient people, bronze mirrors were often used as tokens of love and marriage, dowry or dowry. Most of them use bronze mirrors as bride price. "Yuan Jian Han Lei" Volume 380 "Mirror Four" records: "Nan Man is a layman, and he marries a handmaiden. No handmaiden takes a bronze mirror as a dowry." It is said that the custom in this place is to use handmaiden as dowry. If there is no handmaiden, use bronze mirror instead. At this time, the bronze mirror was endowed with the meaning of perfection, reunion and auspiciousness, indicating the happiness of marriage. Besides being used as a bride price, bronze mirrors will also be used in wedding ceremonies. In Song Dynasty, Wu said in "Dream" volume 20 "Marriage": "... a * * * crouched in the garage, holding a mirror and a lotus torch, leading the way to meet with several candles, so he took two personal female messengers and walked around on the brocade mattress. After the couple got off the bus, a maid came from the front of the car in the opposite direction, holding a bronze mirror in her hand. Several other handmaids led the way with lotus torches and candles in their hands, and two trusted female envoys helped the bride to walk forward, stepping on green quilts or green felt mats. Bronze mirrors are widely used at weddings. In addition to the "holding the mirror to the line" mentioned by the master, couples can also "tie the mirror buckle" at the wedding. The "mirror buckle" here is actually similar to what we said today, which means * * * to tie the knot. In the Tang Dynasty, Duan wrote in Book I of Youyang Miscellanies: "In modern weddings, when marrying a woman, you should fill a bowl with three liters of millet and build a well ... If you want to marry a woman, the couple will worship or * * * tie the knot." Under the influence of this wedding custom, the symbolic significance of the success of bronze mirror marriage has become stronger. In the late period of ancient society, the completeness, incompleteness and fragmentation of bronze mirrors symbolized the perfection and division of marriage and love. This symbolic meaning appears in many novels of Guda. For example, in Wang Shizhen's My Conversation in Chibei (Volume 33) and Yuan Yang Jing in Qing Dynasty, it was described that a teenager had one, and the king wanted to buy it, but the teenager refused. When they pushed and pulled, the mirror fell to the ground and broke into pieces. The teenager met Xie's daughter in the ancestral temple and wanted to elope. This is a relic of Xie's daughter. In this story, the act of giving the mirror represents the determination of the love relationship, and the broken mirror represents the breakdown of the love relationship between the two. In addition, the works of poets of past dynasties also reflect the symbolic significance of the perfect love of bronze mirrors, such as the poem "A Love" by Joe in the Tang Dynasty: "My concubine has a mirror, and my treasure box is full of pearls. From the 28th of next year, don't remember Yi. I have no light and silence, and I can't bear to take a picture. Today is a gift, and acquaintance is the opposite. " Here, in fact, the bronze mirror is the representative of the woman's mind, and the act of sending the mirror is to entrust yourself to the man. The bronze mirror has a happy reunion, and the implication of happy marriage can also be seen from its shape and decoration. Common ones are double phoenix mirror, bird-bound mirror, Swiss animal wedding grape mirror and so on. These are symbols of good luck and perfection. As one of people's daily necessities, bronze mirror has rich aesthetic taste. The ancients had the custom of burying things commonly used by the dead before their death for the dead to continue to use in the underworld. Therefore, beautifully made bronze mirrors often become funeral supplies. A large number of buried bronze mirrors have been found in the excavated ancient tombs. Archaeologists dated these bronze mirrors by different patterns and sizes. The bronze mirror found in the tomb of the Queen of the Sleepy Sea is recorded in the volume of "Returning to the Heart and Miscellaneous Knowledge" carefully compiled by the Song Dynasty: "In this world, if there is a big coat, it is often said that hanging a coffin in the mirror means breaking the darkness." Biography of Han Huo Guang: "The loss of light gives the East Garden. Wen Ming said reverently, "There is a secret weapon in the East Garden, and a mirror is put in it to hang the body." However, it came anyway. "Thus, in ancient funerals, hanging the mirror on the coffin and taking a look at the body meant to break the darkness and gain light. Hanging on the coffin is one way, and another way is to put the mirror with the dead, near the body, mostly on the head, chest, waist and feet of the dead. There are also bronze mirrors in some corners outside the coffin. For example, it is recorded in the tomb of the Western Han Dynasty in Luoyang: "The deceased was placed in the main room ... except for a bronze mirror placed at the southern end of the coffin, the funerary objects were all in the ear room. Why the ancients buried with bronze mirrors has always been a problem discussed by scholars. Dongsheng said in "Talking about Ancient Mirrors": "Mirrors are passed down from generation to generation, leaving Tujia people. When the ancients were buried, they had to bring a mirror into the coffin, which meant that the mirror was crystal clear and could shine into the nether world. There are few ancient tombs since the Han Dynasty. This is especially worthy of folklore research. It can be seen from this passage that most scholars believe that the bronze mirror became a funerary object not only because the ancients had the custom of burying commonly used things before their death, but also because the bronze mirror was crystal clear and bright, which could illuminate the ghosts in the hearts of the ancients. So that almost all tombs have bronze mirrors since the Han Dynasty. However, it must be said that these exquisite bronze mirrors lie quietly underground, and at the moment of rediscovery, people can get a glimpse of the aesthetic taste of the ancients and the exquisite handicraft art of that era, which has high archaeological significance. 3. Demonizing Town Houses In the concept of ancient people in China, the bronze mirror is also a magic weapon to exorcise town houses, which may also be based on the reflective characteristics of the bronze mirror. There are many folk stories about exorcising evil spirits with bronze mirrors, which also provide writing materials for many literati. There are more than 12 bronze mirrors in the Five Miscellanies of Ming Dynasty: "Zhou steals things for the sky, the mirror shines on people's heart and gallbladder, the mirror of a good emperor shines on demons, the mirror of a king of Sui can cure all diseases, the iron mirror of the mountain is like water in the night of Tang Dynasty, the mirror of Chang 'an is the treasure of the water house, which was taken away by the dragon, and the mirror of a fisherman in Qinhuai sees five entrails and six filths ... The bronze mirror mentioned here is amazing. It is not only as bright as day, but also can be used to seduce, cure all diseases, predict good or bad luck and so on. It is like a "tool" in the hands of a fairy. The earliest literary work that used bronze mirrors as a treasure to exorcise evil spirits was the legendary Ancient Mirror in the Tang Dynasty. By chance, Wang Du, the leading actor, got an ancient mirror in Fenyin, and told him that this mirror can exorcise evil spirits. Wang Du always takes this mirror with him when he goes out. There are parrots, old foxes and serpents in this mirror, and it can also eliminate diseases, which is extremely magical. Wang Ji, Wang Du's younger brother, went out to travel and used a bronze mirror. Many strange things were shown on the road. After Wang Ji returned to Chang 'an, he returned the bronze mirror to Wang Du. Wang Du put the bronze mirror in the box. Over the years, the bronze mirror let out a moan and disappeared without a trace. This kind of plot with the mirror as the instrument is widely used in ancient novels. For example, in the seventh time of The Journey to the West, the Monkey King made a scene in the Heavenly Palace, Erlang God fought with the Monkey King, and after the Monkey King hid, Erlang God borrowed the demon mirror of King Tota to find the Monkey King. The sixty-first time, after the King Niu was transformed, he was also captured by the demon mirror of King Tota. Many Taoist priests even carry bronze mirrors with them when they practice because they can ward off evil spirits and shine on evil spirits. Ge Hong's "Bao Puzi, Internal Articles and Entries" in the Eastern Jin Dynasty says: "The old man of all things knows himself and can confuse people, but he can't change his true shape in the mirror. Therefore, when a Taoist priest carries a mirror path of more than nine inches into the mountain, the evil spirits dare not approach, and when they see its shape, they walk away. "The universe often says that after a long time, it is easy to conjure up a monkey. These monkeys can often change their shapes to confuse people. Only a mirror can show their true identity. Therefore, Taoist priests always carry more than nine inches of bronze mirrors when they enter the mountains. At this time, if the evil spirits can't get close, they will run away. In fact, there are still many such customs in today's China society, and many families still hang mirrors on their doors to ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters. The development and changes of ancient bronze sculptures and decorative patterns and their rich cultural connotations provide an important channel for us to understand the aesthetic taste, production technology and social ideology of ancient people in China.