What does "Five Zhu" Qian Wen bronze mirror mean?

Dragon is the totem worship of China people, while tiger is the king of animals in nature. Although there are idioms such as "energetic" and "dragon and tiger leaping", the patterns of the two together are rarely seen, which may be related to "Long Hudou" and "Qinglong and White Tiger" (the dragon in "Five Elements" belongs to the east and the wood; Tigers are in the west; Gold, Jin Kemu), etc. In ancient times, the Yellow Emperor was the leader of the dragon, while the Tiger clan was another brave tribe. Later, brave military commanders were often called Tiger Generals. From the Warring States Period to the Han Dynasty, there was a pattern of "four gods", namely the main dragon, the right white tiger, the upper Suzaku (Hong Niao) and the lower Xuanwu (tortoise and snake in one), showing opposition. "Book of Rites Quli Shang": "Before going, Suzaku went to Xuanwu, and Zuo Qinglong went to the right white tiger", also known as the God of the Quartet, was used to ward off evil spirits. Others carved dragons and tigers on the left and right sides of the stone gate of the unearthed tomb, still in opposition. From the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, a bronze dragon and tiger mirror was popular. Dragons and tigers are mostly high relief, round and stretching, ups and downs; Yi Long a tiger, left and right confrontation, head and tail relative, mouth growling; Other decorative patterns are complex and are relatively rare mirrors.

A few years ago, I hid a bronze dragon and tiger mirror (see photo), with a diameter of 9 cm and a side thickness of 5 mm. The mirror buckle is hemispherical and a diameter of 2 cm. The main decoration behind the mirror is a round sculpture of a left and a right tiger, which growls at each other. There is a Qian Wen in the middle with the seal of "Five Zhu" on it. However, the dragon and tiger mirrors unearthed in Qian Wen are all "five irons", and only the book "China Bronze Mirror" has a catalogue of "five Zhu" dragon and tiger mirrors, which is designated as Han mirrors. When looking up articles about the five-baht money system in ancient coins, someone said, "Shen Lang has five baht, which was minted by Shenchong in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. It's a bronze chimney, weighing only one gram, very thin and tiny, just like a elm pod, called Zhu instead of Zhu, with a coin pattern called Wu Zhu and a few called hardware. " (During the reign of Emperor Taixing in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, that is, from 3 18 to 32 1 year, Xing Wu made five coins, commonly known as "five Zhu coins in Shen Lang"). Therefore, I am very vacillating on the issue of dating. Due to the lack of data, it is difficult to draw a mature conclusion about the types and stages of bronze mirrors in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, because the shape, theme and layout of bronze mirrors in this period mainly continued the series of bronze mirrors in Han Dynasty, and scholars who studied bronze mirrors in the past mostly classified them as China mirrors in later generations. I think it is more reasonable to break it into China's golden mirror.

The pattern of bronze mirror casting money began in the Han Dynasty and continued until the Ming and Qing Dynasties. For example, the bronze mirrors in Zhou Shirong include Qian Wen in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Qian Wen coins in the Five Dynasties, Daguan Bao Tong in the Song Dynasty, Asian coins in the Liao Dynasty, and Taiji Bagua in the Ming Dynasty. Qian Wen is a symbol of wealth. Before the Tang Dynasty, bronze mirrors were not owned by ordinary people. Casting Qian Wen indicates wealth and power, but after the Song Dynasty, bronze mirrors were commercialized and entered the homes of ordinary people, so Qian Wen became vulgar. For example, on the jade carving in Qing dynasty, the double money pattern with bats indicates that "happiness is in sight", which is an example of this kind.

This dragon and tiger mirror is beautifully decorated. In addition to the main decoration, the inner area of the mirror back is separated by a circle of short stripes. The outer regions alternate with annular triangular patterns; In addition, there is a circle of wavy lines separated from the edge, all of which are high relief and exquisite. It's amazing that the small bronze mirror contains so much information about the ancients. Laugh and say: Dragon and Tiger fight for power and profit!