I have a bronze mirror with grass pattern in Han Dynasty, with a diameter of 16.2 cm, a weight of 508 g and a thickness of 0.42 cm. It has a button seat with persimmon leaf pattern, and there is an in

I have a bronze mirror with grass pattern in Han Dynasty, with a diameter of 16.2 cm, a weight of 508 g and a thickness of 0.42 cm. It has a button seat with persimmon leaf pattern, and there is an inscription belt outside the button seat, and there are twelve in it. The origin of bronze mirror

So far, only five bronze mirrors unearthed in the Yin and Shang Dynasties have been found. A mirror has a bow on the back, decorated with padding and scale lines. The other four sides are round, the back of the mirror is provided with arched ring buckles, and the mirror body is decorated with lines or multiple rings of convex strings respectively, so that the mirror body is nearly flat or slightly convex, and the mirror body is thin. At this time, the bronze mirror decoration has its own style. This style is also found in other artifacts unearthed at the same time. For example, the string pattern and nail pattern on the bronze mirror are also common in the bronze mirror of the Yin Dynasty.

There are fifteen bronze mirrors discovered so far in the Western Zhou Dynasty, all of which are round. The mirror surface is straight or slightly convex, the mirror body is thin, and the mirror buttons are olive-shaped, bow-shaped, semi-cup-shaped, rectangular and so on. It can be divided into three types: plain mirror, heavy ring mirror and bird and beast mirror. The Western Zhou Dynasty was dominated by flat mirrors. In the later period of this period, the decorative patterns on the back of the mirror changed, and new animal decorative patterns appeared, breaking the traditional style.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, bronze mirrors prevailed and developed in China. The bronze mirrors in the Warring States period are characterized by light modeling, exquisite ornamentation and smooth lines, which swept away the naive and simple style of the previous bronze mirrors and showed a new look of bronze technology. At this time, the bronze mirrors are mostly round. Decorative patterns are expressed in various ways, such as bas-relief, high relief, gold and silver dislocation, stone inlay, painting and so on. Patterns often use the method of comparing the main pattern with the bottom pattern, and the bottom pattern of the main pattern is interesting. The pattern looks perfect and harmonious. According to the theme patterns of bronze mirrors in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the types are classified. * * * is divided into the following categories:

1. Plane reflector: full plane reflector, chord plane reflector and wide chord plane reflector.

2. Pure ground mirrors: feather ground mirrors and cloud-thunder ground mirrors.

Mosaic mirror: Ye Wen mirror, petal mirror, mosaic mirror.

4. Mountain mirrors: three mountain mirrors, four mountain mirrors, five mountain mirrors and six mountain mirrors.

5. Diamond mirror: folding diamond mirror and continuous diamond mirror.

6. Animal mirrors: animal mirrors, phoenix mirrors and animal mirrors.

7. Enamel mirror.

Great progress has also been made in the production and artistic expression of bronze mirrors in the Western Han Dynasty. From the early Western Han Dynasty to the period of Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty, the bronze mirrors gradually became thicker, and the cows were mostly hemispherical or persimmon-shaped. There are also new changes in the pattern layout and grain, and a four-point layout form with four breast nails as the main grain is prominent and the ground grain gradually disappears. The theme decoration is simple and the pattern structure is simple, which changes the rigorous and meticulous style of the Warring States period. From the late Western Han Dynasty to the middle Eastern Han Dynasty, the custom mirror became the most exquisite type, with four gods as the main decorative pattern and four gods, animals, birds, evil gods and feathers as the patterns, which were vivid and lively. The pattern layout broke through the ancient design of "heart symmetry" and a new style of "axis symmetry" appeared. In addition, the appearance of "lens" also brought great glory to the inscription mirror of Han Dynasty. The so-called transparent mirror refers to a bronze mirror that can reflect the decoration or inscription on the back of the mirror on the wall opposite the mirror when the mirror is facing sunlight or other light sources. In addition to continuing to use the Warring States mirror in the Han Dynasty, the most popular bronze mirrors are roughly as follows: 15:

1. Disk mirror types: winding disk mirror, spacer disk mirror and regular disk mirror.

2, plane mirror: square four-sided mirror, even curved plane mirror.

3, grass mirror: four-breasted grass mirror, regular grass mirror.

4. Nebula mirror.

5, even the arc mirror.

6. Re-circle the inscription mirror.

7. Four rows of animal tattoo mirrors.

8. Orthographic types: Four Gods Orthographic, Bird Orthographic, Geometric Orthographic, which simplifies the orthographic.

9, multi-breasted animal tattoo mirror.

10, connecting arc mirror.

1 1, deformed four-leaf tattoo mirror.

12, animal mirror: rearrange the animal mirror and surround the animal mirror.

13. Portrait mirror: historical figures, gods, chariots and horses, four gods, birds.

14, Kuifeng mirror

15, dragon and tiger tattoo mirror; Dragon-tiger confrontation mirror, panlong mirror.

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, due to frequent wars and social unrest, the bronze mirror manufacturing industry in China entered a period of decline. The style of this period still follows the Han mirror, and the triangular animal mirror is the most popular. Bronze mirror ornamentation is often based on folk stories. In addition, there are patterns of Buddha statues, which is also a remarkable feature of bronze mirrors in this period.

The Sui and Tang Dynasties were a very prosperous period of feudal society in China. It ended the separatist situation of more than 300 years and achieved reunification; It absorbs the culture of overflowing brothers and blends into one. Bronze mirror technology has a strong sense of the times. Like the whole culture, it not only reached an unprecedented peak in casting technology, but also made unprecedented achievements in decorative arts. The alloy proportion of tin and silver (about 40%) is increased in the process, which makes the mirror surface look particularly bright and clean, with white luster and clear reflection. The shape is heavy, exquisite and delicate, with different shapes, such as sunflower, diamond, square, hexagon, octagon and Asian shape. The decoration is free and lively, generous and beautiful, and tends to be secular. It embodies the aesthetic concept of auspiciousness, wealth and longing for the fairy mountain Qiongge. There are phoenix, swan, mandarin duck, magpie, rare birds, lions, Tianma, white deer, Yunlong, sea animals, peony, lotus, grapes, bouquets and other rare birds and animals, as well as the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon and Wang Zijin playing flutes to attract the wind, immortals and the Moon Palace. The Five Dynasties after the Tang Dynasty only lasted for half a century, which can be said to be the legacy of the Tang Dynasty in art. At this time, few new mirrors came out, and many people used Tang mirrors, even if they were cast, they could not see their characteristics.

Great progress has been made in economy and science and technology in Song Dynasty, which is reflected in another climax of bronze mirror technology development. However, due to the limited copper production, the strict prohibition of copper in Song Dynasty and the large amount of bronze mirrors, the mirror casting in Song Dynasty was thin and the alloy technology could not keep up with that in Tang Dynasty. However, its progress is mainly manifested in the decorative arts. Of course, decorative art is also closely related to aesthetics. After the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, the secular landlord class and the scholar-bureaucrat class in the Song Dynasty turned their aesthetics to the nature of landscape flowers and birds, which was the main reason for the erection of landscape flowers and birds paintings in the Song Dynasty. This aesthetic interest is naturally reflected in the decorative art of bronze mirrors. Therefore, most of the decorative themes we see in Song Jing are lush flowers, birds, animals, fish and insects, terraced fields, people with flowing bridges and "hermits" intoxicated with natural beauty. These themes are often expressed in exquisite reliefs, pursuing real aesthetic feeling, without mysterious atmosphere, just like shots recorded from social life or nature, or pictures drawn by painters. This decoration is a major turning point in the history of China bronze mirror art, showing a strong sense of the times. We can also see the characteristics of the Song mirror, with various shapes, especially those with handles. Some mirrors are cast with marks, mirror casting workshops, year and month, names and records of state and county prosecutors, which shows that there are not only government-run mirror casting workshops, but also many folk mirror casting workshops in Song Dynasty. The bronze mirrors in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties followed the style of the Song mirror, and instead of developing, they tended to decline, which can be said to be the end of the history of bronze mirrors in China. In particular, the bronze mirror decoration in the Ming Dynasty is very rough, and the circular pattern centered on buttons is transformed into a profound picture by the relationship between up and down. In addition to the plane high relief of the characters in some pavilions, a large number of themes are plain cast characters, such as "Long life and wealth" and "Fulu is true". After the mid-Ming Dynasty, due to the extensive use of glass, bronze mirrors lost their practical value and were generally used to ward off evil spirits, so they were called "playing mirrors", and their artistic value could not be discussed.

Second, the value of bronze mirror

Bronze mirror is not only a daily appliance used for facial decoration, but also an exquisite handicraft. It is a treasure of China's ancient cultural and artistic heritage with excellent casting, beautiful modeling, gorgeous patterns and rich inscriptions. The back of the bronze mirror is decorated with various patterns and inscriptions. The appearance and popularity of these ornamentation and inscriptions have a certain relationship with politics, economy, ideology and culture, social life and fashion of the times. Because the mirror back area is small, the theme chosen for decoration is more representative and typical, which provides reliable physical data for us to understand and study ancient society. Bronze mirrors also play an important role in archaeological research. It is a common funerary object in ancient tombs in China. Because bronze mirrors in each historical period have their own characteristics, they have become one of the major standards of ancient tombs.