#以书之名#
In the history of Chinese bronze mirrors, the two Han Dynasty can be called the peak period of mirror casting. Among them, some of the Han mirror ornaments are heaven and earth, which is not interesting, and the inscriptions are rich in content and diverse in expression.
The shape and decoration of the three-sided Han mirror
The shape of the three Han mirrors is round and round buttons. As far as the content of its ornamental theme is concerned, the first two bronze mirrors are Boju mirrors, and the Wuhan mirrors are divine beast mirrors, and the ornamental themes are different.
▲Figure (1) The Western Han Dynasty gilt "China Daning" four gods of the Bo Bureau mirror inscription unearthed in Changsha in the National Museum photo by Huo Hongwei
The first side is a gilded "China Daning" Four Gods Museum Mirror, which is treasured in the National Museum of China (hereinafter referred to as the "National Museum") and is designated as a first-class product. From 1952 to 1953, the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences excavated No. 211 tomb of the late Western Han Dynasty in Wujialing, a northern suburb of Changsha City, Hunan Province. The burial chamber is 6.9 meters long from north to south and 5.2 meters wide from east to west, and the existing depth is 1.5 meters, and it is estimated that the original depth was about 6 meters. Archaeologists cleaned up the bronze mirror in the northwest coffin of the tomb (Fig. (1)). The mirror is placed in a lacquered mirror with a diameter of about 25 cm, which has decayed. In addition to the mirror, the tomb also unearthed four breasts and four mirrors, Tonghua arc mirror.
Due to the burial of more than 2,000 years underground, the gilded "China Daning" four gods of the Boju mirror body was split into several pieces, and later repaired by today's people. The back of the mirror is decorated with a square inner and outer circle, and the "inner square" refers to a double-line square frame, and the frame is a four-leaf pattern button seat. The outer circle of the frame is formed by a double-line chord coil, a short oblique coil and an inscription band, thus forming an "outer circle". The T, L, and V-shaped patterns inside and outside the string pattern circle echo each other, constituting the classic schema of the Boju pattern. In the meantime, interspersed with the four gods of the green dragon, the white tiger, the vermilion bird, the Xuanwu four gods, the body pattern of the human-faced beast, the winged beast and other ornaments. The diameter is 18.6 cm, and the edge thickness is 0.6 cm. The back of the mirror is gilded, and the color is dull because it has been buried underground for a long time. In 2017, this bronze mirror was exhibited at the "Qin and Han Civilizations" exhibition held by the National Museum.
▲Figure (2) Guangxi Museum collection of Eastern Han Dynasty gilt "China Daning" four gods Boju mirror courtesy of Guangxi Museum
The second side is the gilded "China Daning" Sishen Boju Mirror, which is collected in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Museum (hereinafter referred to as the "Guangxi Museum", and its collection is referred to as the "Guangxi Mirror"), which is designated as a second-class product. In 1958, it was unearthed in the Eastern Han Dynasty Tomb of No. 2 Low Mountain, Wuzhou City, Guangxi. This mirror button base is four large leaves sandwiched with four small leaf patterns, and the periphery is concave and square. A T-shaped pattern stretches out on each of the four sides of the frame to form an inner area, and each side of it is decorated with a animal pattern. Around the inscription belt, the seal script body Yang inscription, a total of 28 characters.
On the outside of the inscription band, the T-shaped pattern is opposite to the L-shaped pattern, and the four corners of the button frame are V-shaped. The two ornaments divide the outer area into eight small areas, with the four gods and other animal figures on the left and right sides of the ornament. The peripheral double line sawtooth plus convex pattern and short straight line pattern are one week each. The back of the mirror is turquoise, gilded throughout, and some traces of gilt remain. In poor condition, it was broken into four pieces of different sizes, which were later restored intact. The diameter is 18.4 cm, the thickness is 0.5 cm, and the edge thickness is 0.45 cm (Fig. (2)).
▲Figure (3) Wuhan Museum Collection of Eastern Han Dynasty "Chinese People" Five-breasted Divine Beast Mirror Courtesy of Fan Guodong
The third side is the "Chinese People" five-breasted divine beast portrait mirror (hereinafter referred to as "Wuhan mirror") in the collection of Wuhan Museum, which is designated as a first-class product. In 1972, the mirror was picked from the Hubei Provincial Rehabilitation Warehouse. The mirror was acquired by the Wuhan Cultural Relics Store in 1985 and later collected in the Wuhan Museum. This mirror is a round button seat, and four tigers confront each other in pairs, and place around the button. The main area is divided into five areas with five round breasts, each of which is cast with different ornaments, such as a feathered man playing with a dragon, its long hair fluttering, two winged beasts running forward, and a beast behind it stretches its neck to look back, two winged tigers raise their heads and open their mouths, facing each other, and unicorns and two-horned winged beasts face each other, twisting their necks and looking back.
Periphery of a week seal book body Yang inscription belt, a total of 21 words, between the first word and the last word, separated by three convex dots. Around the tooth pattern, zigzag pattern, deformed bird and beast pattern each week, narrow margin. The diameter is 18 cm, the edge thickness is 0.6 cm, the button diameter is 2.8 cm, and the button height is 2.4 cm (Fig. (3)).
Inscription on three Han mirrors
The above three Han mirrors all have the "Chinese" seal script Yang inscription. Among them, the first two mirror inscriptions contain the inscription "China Daning", and the third side has the words "Chinese people". There are differences in the content of the inscription, the number of words, and the font style.
● Three-sided mirror inscription and interpretation
We first recorded the inscriptions on the three bronze mirrors, and then analyzed some of the contents of the inscriptions.
The sage's work is mirrored, and the qi is taken from the five elements. Born in Dao Kangxi, there are articles. The light is like the sun and the moon, and its quality is clear and rigid. In order to see the jade face, remove the sheep (auspicious). Daning, China, descendants of Yichang. Huang Chang (clothes) Yuanji, there is Ji Gang (Gang). (National Museum Jingming)
Seeing the mirror is right, the five elements of the qi have a rigid (outline) discipline, the law is like the end of the day, and China's great Ning Yi grandson. (Guangxi Jingming)
Qinggai is used as a mirror and four Yi clothes, and the Chinese are rich, and the grains are ripe in the clouds and rain. (Wuhan Jingming)
The "saint" in the inscription not only refers to the person with the most noble character and wisdom, but also the honorific title of the ancients to the emperor. For example, "Han Feizi and the Foreign Reserve Say the Lower Right" cloud: "It is a saint who is not close to the people, and the master does not bow to trivial matters." ”
"The light is like the sun and the moon, and its quality is pure and strong", which means that the light of the bronze mirror is like the sun and the moon, and the texture is pure and masculine. It comes from the inscription of the Zhaoming mirror of the Western Han Dynasty, and its complete text is: "The inner (Na) clear quality is Zhaoming, and the light (Hui) is like the sun and the moon." The heart is sudden, but the heart is willing to be loyal, but it is congested and not leaked. "Most of the inscriptions on the Zhaoming Mirror have reduced the words and changed slightly. In 1953, the Zhaoming arc mirror unearthed from the tomb of No. 136A in the late Western Han Dynasty tomb in Luoyang, Henan Province, its inscription is "the inner Qing Dynasty is Zhaoming, the light is like the sun and the moon, and the heart is suddenly immortal (leaking)".
▲Figure (4) The twelve-character inscription tile unearthed from the site of the arsenal of Chang'an City of the Han Dynasty in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province is excerpted from "The Arsenal of Chang'an City of the Han Dynasty", Cultural Relics Publishing House, 2005
The term "China Daning" may evolve from "Wanguo Xianning" in "Zhou Yi Qiangua". "Zhou Yi Qiangua": "Yi said: Dazai Qianyuan, the beginning of ten thousand materials, is the domination of the sky." ...... The first out of the house, Xianning of all countries. From 1975 to 1980, eight pieces of the late Western Han Dynasty twelve-character seal script Yangwen Wadang (Figure (4)) were unearthed at the site of the arsenal of Chang'an City in Xi'an, Shaanxi, with the inscription read: "The spirit descends from the sky, the Yuan Dynasty is extended for ten thousand years, and the world is Kangning." This inscription expresses a good wish for peace and tranquility similar to that of "Daning, China".
"Huang Chang (Shang) Yuanji", from "Zhou Yi Kun Hexagram": "Sixty-five, Huang Shang Yuanji." Scholars believe that in the cognition of the ancients, "yellow clothes" symbolized noble status and the virtue of softness and humility, which was very auspicious (Yu Dunkang, "Modern Interpretation of Zhou Yi", Zhonghua Book Company, 2016). "Zuo Chuan: The Twelfth Year of Zhao Gong" records an example of divination and interpretation of "Huangshang Yuanji" in history, and believes that although the hexagram of "Huangshang Yuanji" is auspicious, it may not be the case:
Nan Kuai Mei Zhengzhi, Yu Kun Zhi said, "Huang Shang Yuanji", thought that it was good luck. Shezi obeyed Huibo and said, "If you want something, what is it?" Huibo said: "I will learn this, and the faithful thing is fine, otherwise I will fail." Strong outside and warm inside, loyal also, and to lead the chastity, letter also, so called 'Huangshang Yuanji'. Yellow, the color of the middle, the dress, the decoration of the bottom, the yuan, the long of goodness. If you are not loyal, you will not be able to do it, you will not be able to decorate it, and if you are not good, you will not be able to do it. Advocating harmony and loyalty at home and abroad, taking things together with faith, and providing for the three virtues for goodness, not these three should be. And the husband is easy, you can't take risks, what will happen? and can be decorated? China and the United States can be yellow, the upper beauty is the yuan, the lower beauty is the clothes, and the participation can be done. There is still a que, although it is auspicious, it is not. ”
The meaning of "discipline outline" in the National Museum mirror is the same as that of "outline" in the Guangxi mirror. The original meaning of "discipline outline" is the outline of the net, and the extended meaning is the program and the law. Pre-Qin "Song of the Five Sons": "But the Tao Tang has this way." Now the road is lost, and its discipline is chaotic, and it is the end of destruction. (Lu Qinli, ed., "Pre-Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties Poems, Pre-Qin Poems, Volume 1, Song Shang", Zhonghua Book Company, 2013.) Eastern Han Dynasty Cui Ming's "Motto": "The reputation of the world is not enough to admire, and only benevolence is the discipline." [(Liang) Xiao Tong, (Tang) Li Shan's Note: "Selected Works", vol. 56, "Ming", Zhonghua Book Company, 2005] "Gang Ji" refers to the law and the outline. "Hanshu Lile Zhi II": When Emperor Wen arrived, Jia Yi thought: "The husband and the king, the ministers, and so on, so that the discipline is orderly, and the six relatives are harmonious, which is not done by heaven, but also by man." ”
There are some similarities between the National Museum Mirror and the Guangxi Mirror Mirror in terms of content, such as "taking qi from the five elements", "looking at Yurong", "China Daning", "descendants of Yichang", "Youjigang (Gang)" and so on.
The inscription "Chinese people" on the Wuhan mirror once caused great repercussions in the world. In 1986, at the "First Exhibition of Treasured Cultural Relics" held by the Wuhan Cultural Relics Store, this bronze mirror was eye-catching when it was exhibited. Some viewers asked in amazement: Did the word "Chinese people" exist 2,000 years ago? Some people suspected that the word "people" was miscast. However, after repeated research by experts, no suspicious points were found.
The word "Chinese people" in the inscription seems to be a modern word, but it actually appears in Sima Qian's "Historical Records and Legends of Goods and Colonies" of the Western Han Dynasty: "Fushan Xirao wood, bamboo, grain, 纑, 旄, jade; Shandong fish, salt, lacquer, silk, sound; Jiangnan out of Nan, Zi, Jiang, Gui, gold, tin, Lian, Dansha, rhino, tortoiseshell, beads, tooth leather; Longmen, Jieshi North Doma, cattle, sheep, Zhanqiu, tendons; copper and iron are thousands of miles away. All are preferred by the Chinese, and the folk are served with food and drink to send life and death. The "people" in the text refers to the common people and the common people.
● "China" mirror inscription and the Qin and Han dynasties
▲Figure (5) He Zun unearthed in Baoji, Shaanxi Province Excerpted from Wang Chunfa, editor-in-chief: "Zhaizi China: Baoji Unearthed Bronzes and Golden Essence", Beijing Times Chinese Book Company, 2020
The earliest "Chinese" inscription found on the bronze He Zun of the Western Zhou Dynasty originally referred to the national capital Luoyi, and later referred to the Central Plains. In 1963, the then members of the second squad of the Jiacun Brigade of the Jiacun Commune of Jiacun Commune in Baoji County, Shaanxi Province found a bronze statue of the early Western Zhou Dynasty (Fig. (5)) when they were digging soil on the cliff, and around 1975, when they were rusting the inner bottom, they found an inscription with the words "Zhaizi Zhong or (Guo)". Mr. Ma Chengyuan believes that the "China" in this inscription "refers to the central area of the four corners of the world, that is, Luoyi between Yi and Luo".
By the Han Dynasty, the extended meaning of the word "China" had greatly exceeded its original meaning. For example, "Hanshu Wudi Ji": In June of the sixth year of Yuan Shuo (123 BC), Emperor Wu said: "I heard that the five emperors did not return to each other, and the three generations were different. Cover Confucius to the Duke of Ding, mourn the Duke to discuss the ministers, Jing Gong to use sparingly, not the period is different, the urgent different affairs. Now China is unified and the north is not settled, and I mourn it very much. And "Hanshu Wang Mang Biography" recorded: "Mangnian China has been peaceful, but the four Yi are not different, but the envoy is sent to pay gold coins and silks, and bribe the Xiongnu Shan Yu." The term "China" in these two documents should have included the territorial scope under the jurisdiction of the Han government at that time.
The three bronze mirrors recorded in this article have "China" inscriptions, and the National Museum Mirror and Guangxi Mirror are archaeological excavations, and the excavation sites are clear, namely Changsha, Hunan, and Wuzhou, Guangxi. The Wuhan mirror is a hand-me-down, and the time and place of its excavation are unknown. However, the Wuhan mirror belongs to the mythical beast mirror, which was mainly popular in the southern region in the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty, so it is speculated that the three bronze mirrors may have been cast in the south, which also reflects the influence of the culture of the northern region of the Central Plains on the south during the Han Dynasty.
The three bronze mirrors mentioned above are from the south, and another brocade arm guard with the word "China" originates from Xinjiang, which is located in the great northwest. In 1995, a brocade arm guard was excavated in the No. 8 tomb of Niya No. 1 cemetery in Minfeng County, Xinjiang, and the seal on it read: "Five stars out of the East to benefit China." "The age of the tomb is from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the pre-Liang period of the Wei and Jin dynasties, and more precisely, when it was in the pre-Liang period of the Wei and Jin dynasties, its ins and outs and cultural connotations are worthy of further discussion by scholars.
It can be seen that since the Qin and Han dynasties, the concept of "China" has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and it is also reflected in the bronze mirror as a living utensil. As archaeologist Xu Pingfang said, "The archaeological discoveries also fully illustrate that China's unification began in the Qin dynasty and ended in the Han dynasty." The relics that best represent Han culture are coins, bronze mirrors worn by people every day, and tiles on buildings. ”
● The expression of calligraphy with inscriptions on three Han mirrors
The expression of the calligraphy of the three-sided Han mirror inscription can be said to be the same and different, and the same in the different.
First, in the layout, because the three Han mirrors are circular, the layout of the inscription follows the shape, all of them are circle-type distribution, arranged in a clockwise direction, the position of the inscription belt is slightly different, the inscription of the National Museum mirror is located in the outermost circle of the mirror back decoration, the space of the inscription belt is larger, and the number of words reaches fifty-two words. The Guangxi mirror inscription belt is on the dividing line between the inner and outer areas, and its space is small, only 28 characters are cast. They are separated by circles and naturally form four sentences. The inscription of the Wuhan mirror is between the ornament and the trim in the main area, the number of words is small, only 21 characters, the inscription is easy to arrange, and the word spacing is sparse. The above-mentioned three-sided Han mirror inscriptions are distributed in an orderly manner, balanced and symmetrical, and the word spacing is sparse and dense, which can be seen to have been carefully designed at that time.
Second, on the knot, carefully examine the monogram structure of the mirror inscription, and the Knot of the National Museum Mirror inscription is generally more square. If there are complex strokes, the structure is longitudinal, such as "qi", "daokang", "quality" and other words; if the strokes are simple, the character shape is flat, such as the word "xi", reflecting the characteristics of flexibility and changeability. Most of the font structure of Guangxi Jingming is slightly longitudinal, and Wuhan Jingming is clear and elegant.
Third, in the use of the pen, most of the strokes of the National Museum mirror inscription are straight, more square pens are used, and the round pen is occasionally seen, showing the beauty of masculinity; Guangxi mirror inscription strokes are uniform, round and gentle, the use of round pens is more, and most of the starting and closing strokes are exposed; Wuhan mirror inscription strokes are delicate and slender, and the pen is dewed, showing the beauty of femininity.
●The prevalence and reasons of the Boju mirror from the late Western Han Dynasty to the Xinmang period
Among the three bronze mirrors mentioned above, two are the four gods of the Boju mirror. It is necessary to discuss the time when such mirrors began to appear.
In 1959, the compiler of the excavation report of "Luoyang Yaogou Han Tomb" believed that the earliest appearance of the Sishen Boju mirror may have preceded Wang Mang, and the heyday should be Wang Mang's time, and its lower limit may have been until the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The geometric pattern Bo Bureau Mirror evolved from the Four Gods Bo Bureau Mirror, and its age should be in the time of Wang Mang or the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
In 1996, the Xinmang Tomb at No. 267 of the dormitory building of the Luoyang Station Public Security Bureau confirmed that the Four Gods Boju Mirror had appeared in the late Western Han Dynasty. According to the author's research, this is the earliest chronological mirror found in Chinese archaeology.
The inscriptions on the two mirrors of the Shanghai Museum record the construction of the Biyong and Ming Halls by Wang Mang in the late Western Han Dynasty. One side is the mirror of the four gods, and the inscription is: "Xinxing Piyong Jianming Hall, and then in the land of the princes, the descendants of the central government." ”。 The other side is a geometric pattern simplified Boju mirror, and the inscription cloud: "Xinxing Bixiong (Yong) Jianming Hall, then in the Tu Liehou King, the general ordered Yin Minhu to line, and the kings were in the north, Le Weiyang." "The historical Wang Mang Jianming Hall and Biyong are also reflected in the literature. "Hanshu Ping Di Ji" records: In the fourth year of the first year of the Yuan Dynasty (4 AD), "An Han Gong played the Ming Hall and Piyong." "Hanshu Wang Mang's Biography" also has a similar record: in the first four years of the Yuan Dynasty, "it was the year of Mang, and Mang played Mingtang, Piyong, and Lingtai, and built ten thousand districts for scholars. ”
Combined with the content recorded in the literature, it is speculated that the upper limit of the age of the two Boju mirrors in the Shangbo collection should be the first four years of Emperor Ping of the Western Han Dynasty. Mingtang and Biyong are important ceremonial buildings in the Western Han Dynasty, located in the southern suburbs of the Han Chang'an City Ruins in Xi'an, Shaanxi. In 1956, archaeologists excavated a large area of the Western Han Dynasty architectural ruins found in the north of Datumen Village in Xi'an, so as to further understand its architectural layout and structure. Mr. Yang Hongxun, an architectural historian, believes that the Ming Hall of the Western Han Dynasty and Biyong are one, so he calls it "the site of the Ming Hall (Biyong) of the Western Han Dynasty". If you compare the Boju mirror rubbing with the restoration plan of Mingtang and Biyong, you will find that the plane layout of the two is extremely similar, and they are both outer circle and inner square.
Some scholars believe that the casting date of the gilded "China Daning" four-god Boju mirror in the National Museum should be before May of the first five years of the Western Han Dynasty (5 AD), and compare and interpret this mirror inscription with the edict of the Queen Mother. Reading this text, it will remind people of the praise of Wang Mang in the edict of the Empress Dowager Wang in May of the first five years of Emperor Ping. A comparison of the two reveals a number of striking similarities. ...... It shows that the production of bronze mirrors is related to the formation of edicts. ...... This bronze mirror should be his work to create public opinion for the 'Nine Tin', but it is not handmade by him, a 'sage', but a work of instruction, and the time should be in the period of Emperor Ping before May of the fifth year of the Yuan Dynasty. (Ma Liangmin, "The Historical Shadow in the Mirror Inscription of the Western Han Dynasty", Proceedings of the International Symposium on Archaeology and Han Culture in the Han Dynasty, Qilu Publishing House, 2006)
▲Figure (6) The National Museum collects Xinmang and a knife flat 5,000 Courtesy of the National Museum
The Han tomb in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province unearthed a "the age of the present name" four gods Boju mirror, the upper limit of its casting age should be in the Western Han Dynasty Ruzi Ju two years (AD 7). The content of its mirror inscription is rare: "The name of the Ji Qiyan, the rule (smelting) Tonghua to the evil slaughter (滓), cast into the wrong knife world happy, Anhan Baozhen mother (no) has, Changle Rijin Yi grandson." "The world is happy to cast the wrong knife", and the "wrong knife" in the mirror inscription refers to the large-denomination metal currency minted after Wang Mang's regency in the second year of the Western Han Dynasty (Figure (6)). "Hanshu Wang Mang Biography I" contains: In the second year of Ju Shi, "in May, more goods: wrong knife, has been 5,000, deed knife, has been 500, big money, has been 50, and 5 baht in parallel." "Anhan Baozhen Shimu (no) has", "Anhan" refers to the Duke of Anhan, Wang Mang. In the first month of the first year of the Western Han Dynasty, the Queen Mother issued an edict saying: "Hou Mang III of the Great Sima Xindu is the prince,...... With recklessness as the Taifu, he did the things of the four auxiliaries, and was called An Hangong. Therefore, Xiao Xiangguo is the first of the Anhan Dynasty, which is set in the order, and it is endless. "According to the age of the casting of the gold wrong knife recorded in the literature, we can guess the approximate age of the casting of this bronze mirror.
The National Museum collection has a mirror of the Rui Beast Expo in the second year of the founding of the People's Republic of China (10 AD), with a diameter of 16.1 cm. The inscription cloud: "Only the second year of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the new family respect, the edict counts a lot of grace." Jia personnel city, do not bow to the field. He is also a school official of Biyongzhi, and the five grains become dun (ripe) and the world is safe. Those who have knowledge are graced, and they should be ranked, and their descendants will be paught. The inscription also mentions Piyong, an important ceremonial building built in the late Western Han Dynasty.
Shanghai Museum collection of the new Mangshi founding of the People's Republic of China in the second year of Tianfeng (15 AD) four gods Boju mirror, diameter 16.6 cm. The inscription reads: "The first founding of the country Tianfeng two years to make a good mirror, Changle Gui Rich Zhuang Jun, Chang Bao two relatives and wife, for the high relocation of the minister, the world is sealed in the mother (not) poor." ”
The National Museum collects a "new good copper" four-god museum mirror in the new mang period, with a diameter of 20.5 cm. There is a week of inscription belt outside the main area ornamentation, which is a 49-character seal script style Yang inscription:
The new good copper out of Danyang, and the silver tin clear and bright, the left dragon and the right tiger 囗囗, Zhu Jue (finch) Xuanwu Shun Yin and Yang, the nine sons of the central government, the carving Lou (carving) Bo Bureau to go not sheep (Xiang), the family is rich and suitable for the king.
In 1987, some scholars believed that the bronze mirror that used to be called the rule mirror should be renamed "Boju Mirror" according to the inscription on a bronze mirror rubbings in the collection of the Chinese History Museum. The article said: "When the author recently sorted out the rubbings of the old bronze mirrors in the Chinese History Museum, he found a kind of 'Four Gods Rule Mirror' (there are two papers in total) in the New Mang period, which is this kind of powerful evidence that can confirm the arguments of the above comrades. It does not mention where the bronze mirror is hidden (Zhou Zheng, "The "Rule Mirror" Should Be Renamed "Boju Mirror"", Archaeology, No. 12, 1987).
The author carefully compares the above-mentioned bronze mirror picture with the rubbings published by Mr. Zhou Zheng, and it can be seen that it should be the same mirror, both of which are the same size, with a diameter of 20.5 centimeters; Therefore, the author believes that in the past, it was thought that only the mirror was extended, and the whereabouts of the real object were unknown, are also collected in the National Museum.
We have listed a total of eight Boju mirrors with typical characteristics from the late Western Han Dynasty to the Xinmang period, mainly to illustrate that this period was the heyday of the popularity of Boju mirrors, and some of them recorded the names and facts related to Wang Mang. Regarding the phenomenon of the prevalence of the Boju mirror, Mr. Kong Xiangxing and others once raised such a question: "Why should the back of the daily necessities bronze mirror use a game (device) to match the pattern on Lu Bo? This is not easy to explain.
It should be said that the regular patterns that appeared on Lu Bo and the bronze mirror at the same time just show that this kind of pattern has its own meaning and represents a certain concept that was popular at that time, so it will be more expressed in people's daily life. According to scholars' research, from the late Western Han Dynasty to the Xinmang period, Wang Mang vigorously advocated the worship of the Western Queen Mother, and the Boju Bureau became an important tool in the sacrifice of the Western Queen Mother (Ma Feibai: "A New Interpretation of the Light and Heavy Chapters of the Guanzi", Zhonghua Book Company, 1979; Tang Yu: "Exploration of the Six Bo Images in the Xinmang Period", Journal of the National Museum of China, No. 11, 2018). It is further inferred that the Boju mirror was thus popular at that time.
brief summary
From the inscription "Zhaizi China" on the Western Zhou Dynasty bronze He Zun discovered in Baoji, Shaanxi Province in 1963, to the "China" inscription on the three Han mirrors in this article, the ancient ancestors of different eras used different ways to shape the common "China" of the ancients' cognition on different carriers.
In a cultural sense, ancient China was a fairly stable "cultural community". And when we shift our attention from ancient times to the contemporary, everyone also retains an image of "China" in their hearts, and has a strong "China" complex rooted in the depths of their hearts.