When did the mirror enter China?

The earliest glass mirrors appeared in the Ming Dynasty. It was brought from Europe by missionaries who came to China, and there was no real thing. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, due to the low cost and high definition of glass mirrors, vertical mirrors quickly spread to the people.

But China has its own mirror, and China is one of the first countries in the world to use bronze mirrors. The appearance of bronze mirrors in China can be traced back to before the 20th century BC, and bronze mirrors were also found in Qijia cultural sites in the Neolithic Age.

After Shang and Zhou Dynasties, Han and Tang Dynasties and even Ming and Qing Dynasties, bronze mirrors were popular in China for thousands of years, and it was not until modern glass mirrors were widely used that bronze mirrors gradually withdrew from the historical stage.

In ancient times, bronze mirrors were made of copper in ancient times, which were closely related to people's daily lives. It is well-made, beautiful in shape, gorgeous in pattern and rich in inscriptions, and it is a treasure in the ancient bronze art and cultural heritage of China.

Not only can it be used to make up the face, but some people also use it as an instrument to ward off evil spirits and even hang it on their chests as an ornament. The cultural significance of mirrors has a long history in China.

Extended data:

Bronze mirrors in Han Dynasty played a connecting role in the history of bronze mirrors in China, which provided a model for the production technology of bronze mirrors in later generations. Moreover, great progress has been made in production form and artistic expression.

The bronze mirrors of the Three Kingdoms and Six Dynasties are basically the continuation of the tradition since the Eastern Han Dynasty, and there is a trend of degradation and decline. It was not until the reunification of the Sui Dynasty that a new atmosphere of revitalization emerged.

After entering the Tang Dynasty, the national situation was prosperous, and the bronze mirror technology also entered a new situation. As Mr. Kong Xiangxing and Mr. Liu Yiman said in "Ancient Bronze Mirrors in China", the new style "should start from Tang Gaozong, and after some time".

As an ordinary commodity of ancient people in China, bronze mirror has already completed its historical mission, but the information it inherited, such as casting skills, political system, foreign exchanges, social customs and so on, has been silently deposited in the square inch.

References:

Baidu encyclopedia-bronze mirror