Research On The Decoration Of Bronze Mirrors In Song Dynasty

As a daily commodity in ancient China,bronze mirrors were not only used for face reflection,but also to ward off evil spirits and other occasions in ancient China.They played an important role in the history of material culture because they were circulated for more than 2,000 years.The form of the bronze mirror is relatively simple,flat,mostly round,occasionally square,between the shape of water chestnut,oval and other shapes,very few have a handle.Its front is flat or slightly convex,is to achieve its basic functional surface,its back has a variety of patterns and decoration,become the main carrier of ancient art.Because the basic function of the bronze mirror is to judge the appearance,the mirror needs to be bright and compact.In the long-term practice of ancient Chinese foundry workers,they found that the high tin bronze can achieve this effect.The tin content of its material is often more than 20%,or even 30%,but the high tin bronze mirror is hard and brittle,which can be broken when it falls.The pattern or decoration on the back of the mirror should have originated from the bronze ritual instruments of the Shang and Zhou dynasties,and changed with the times.The technology is as diverse as the bronze ritual instruments.Therefore,the production of the casting bronze mirror also followed the production path of the bronze ritual instruments,and was formed by the clay model method in the early days.Most of the decoration techniques of bronze ware were borrowed from bronze containers,including inlaying,inlaying,gilding,plating,painting and wrapping gold and silver.On the basis of decorating the back of the mirror,the tinning technique gradually realized that it was also a processing technique to deal with the mirror and make it white and bright.With the popularization of this technology,the tin content of copper mirror alloy need not be very high,so that it can still maintain considerable toughness.Chinese bronze mirrors can be traced back to the Qijia culture in the Hexi corridor.The earliest appearance in the Central Plains was in the Shang Dynasty,but only sporadically found in the Western Zhou Dynasty.It is not sure whether all of these objects with bronze mirror images are used for decoration,at least some of them are used for decoration.The number of mirrors for daily use began to increase in the late spring and Autumn period.Houma found that there were models of mirrors,which reflected that the casting process and even decorative patterns of mirrors were consistent with other bronzes.After the development of the Warring States period,some special mirror technology is quite prominent,such as lacquer mirror,painted mirror,double mirror,showing a high degree of technical skills.The Qin and Han Dynasties are the great development stage of bronze mirrors.The royal family and the local capital are the important producing areas of bronze mirrors,which have strong commodity,so there are many types of patterns.However,with the spread of Buddhism to the East and the rise of Taoism,religious themes became the main content of bronze mirror patterns.With the social stability and economic development of Sui and Tang Dynasties,the production of bronze mirrors reached its peak.The great changes in the Tang and Song dynasties have been studied and discussed in the field of history,as well as in the history of art.The great changes in the Tang and Song dynasties have been studied and discussed in the field of history,as well as in the history of art.The bronze mirrors of the two eras are quite different.The bronze mirrors of Song Dynasty were often ignored because of their commonness and commonness,and the page became a basin with few studies and many gaps.This paper is designed to study this blank.It is related to the commercialization of handicraft industry in Song Dynasty.A large number of bronze mirrors were produced in industrial mode,and their decorative patterns are stronger.For example,there are flower mirrors and Phoenix mirrors that show the female culture of Song Dynasty;there are Xuyou Chaofu mirrors and Wangzhi Guanqi mirrors that show the reclusive feelings of scholars in Song Dynasty;there are trademark mirrors that show the commercialization of bronze mirrors in Song Dynasty;and there are bronze mirrors related to Taoism and Buddhism.The decorative patterns of bronze mirrors in Song Dynasty are rich in decorative and secular contents.The secularization of decorative patterns is related to the secularization of Buddhism and Taoism.The doctrines of Buddhism and Taoism are gradually secularized,and they are combined with social customs to form special folk customs and rituals.Bronze mirrors took part in the life of the song people.They were used in many occasions,such as Zhaorong,folk beliefs,weddings,funerals and celebrations.In this paper,we use the method of image and space to discuss the part of the decorative patterns in the Song Dynasty bronze mirror as a single image,and form a research field with the surrounding tomb murals and artifacts,which should be a method of tomb artifacts research.Through the interaction between the function of bronze mirror and the image generation,we can better understand the selection of decoration content and theme of Song Dynasty mirror casting craftsmen,so as to further explore the design and conception of Song Dynasty people on bronze mirror in material culture,and explore the ideological connotation of decoration in addition to the decorative significance,so as to further show the creation and decoration ideas of Song Dynasty people.