Five generations period
At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the feudal towns were divided, which eventually led to disintegration and demise, and the wheel of history rolled to the five generations period, in which wars and chaos were frequent and regimes changed rapidly for more than fifty years.
The development of the copper mirror process is in a stagnant state, the overall craft is simple, the aesthetic value has even regressed, and the late Tang dynasty style is the main style of the copper mirror in this period. For example, the Rui Beast Pattern Belt Mirror excavated from the tomb of Qian Weizi Mother Shui Qiu and the line carved bronze mirror excavated from the Leifeng Pagoda site.
Of course, during the Five Dynasties period, there were also copper mirrors with their own characteristics, that is, the Jianzhou Phoenix Mirror, such as the Rhombus-shaped Double Phoenix Pattern Copper Mirror
Song and Yuan dynasties
After entering the Song Dynasty, the politics gradually stabilized, the country gradually became rich, and the technological innovation of the copper mirror also reached a small peak, at this time the copper mirror appeared with a handle, and the form also appeared with a handle mirror, a peach-shaped mirror plain mirror, etc., and also added ethnic patterns, aquatic grass patterns, trademark patterns, and opera patterns in the ornamentation.
The style and craftsmanship of copper mirrors in the Yuan Dynasty followed the Song Dynasty, and the Yuan Dynasty people were not good at handicrafts, so there were not many improvements to copper mirrors.
Ming and Qing dynasties
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, during this period, bronze mirrors were not only daily necessities, but also used for gifts, ornaments, blessings, marriages and other purposes, on the one hand, the shape and ornamentation were popular and antique, following the legacy of the Song and Yuan dynasties. On the other hand, it got rid of the cumbersome and majestic ornaments of the previous dynasty, and became increasingly secularized, and the themes of Ji language and imperial examination appeared.
The copper mirror is made of brass, the mirror is large and heavy, the shape is regular, and it is mainly round. There are also squares with stalks, rhomboids, special-shaped, etc. In the middle and late Qing Dynasty, with the arrival of Western missionaries, glass mirrors gradually became the absolute mainstream.
The above image resources are from the National Journal of Philosophy and Society
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Zhang Huijuan . The ancient copper mirror ornamentation process of the mainland developed and evolved. Theory of Historiography
Wang Mu. The types of bronze mirrors and ornamental characteristics of the five generations of Wu Yueguo. 《Explanation of Proper Names》
Wang Mu. Try the Song Dynasty bronze mirror ornamentation. Southern Artifacts. Issue 1, 1995