(Source:"Guangming Daily" Page 16, September 6, 2024）

w88 casino games

Ye Jing (Dunhuang Scroll) Legend After Death，Everything he did during his lifetime can be shown in this mirror，Like a "recorder"。Picture provided by the author

Bronze mirrors existed more than 2,000 years ago from Xinmang to the early Eastern Han Dynasty.，A bronze mirror from the Shang Dynasty was unearthed in Dasi Village, Anyang, Henan，Near the waist pit of the tomb owner。Bronze mirror found in the Nanshangen tomb in Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia，Also on the waist of the tomb owner。The ancients regarded mirrors as "talismans"。Picture provided by the author

Illustrations from "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" painted by the Qing Dynasty. In ancient times, looking in the mirror was called "viewing the water"，The ancient yamen hung the plaque "Mirror Hangs High"，Or put a basin of water，Meaning "Mingjian"。In "Journey to the West", the "demon mirror" is used to distinguish the authenticity of the Monkey King，This is also an extension of the "clear mirror" function of the mirror。

In the children's literature masterpiece "Alice in Wonderland"，The little girl Alice entered another world through a mirror。Actually，The ancient Chinese also had very rich imaginations about mirrors。CT machine、Night Vision、TV、Video recorder，These products of modern technology，In the notebook novels of ancient Chinese，All have similar counterparts，And they are all related to mirrors。Why so？Same as modern people，The ancients actually had a lot of technological needs: it would be great if they could see the sick places inside the human body，It would be great if you could see the distance without leaving home，It would be great if we could look back on what happened in the past... But the technological level at that time could not meet people's needs，So a kind of "science fiction" thinking emerged。Because mirrors have the function of showing things and people，People place their best wishes on the mirror，So many magical mirrors were created。

The ancients hoped to have a mirror that could reflect the internal organs。"Taiping Guangji" quoted from "Songchuang Miscellaneous Records" of the Tang Dynasty，During the Changqing Period of Muzong of the Tang Dynasty，A fisherman is fishing in the Qinhuai River，Saved an antique bronze mirror，The fisherman took it in his hand and looked after it，I found that my internal organs were clearly reflected in the mirror，You can even see the blood flowing in the blood vessels。The w88 live casino"Kaiyuan Tianbao Legacy" of the Five Dynasties mentions a "disease mirror"，Somewhere in the body is sick，Use this mirror to take a look，You can see，Then take the right medicine，It can be cured，“Everyone has a disease，Look at it in the mirror，See all the things stuck in the organs，Treat it with medicine，He was cured”，This is simply equivalent to our current CT machine。

The ancients not only imagined that mirrors could reflect the internal structure of the human body，Also imagine shining through a mirror，can directly treat diseases。Recorded in "Yuanhua Ji" of the late Tang Dynasty，During the reign of Emperor Dezong of Tang Dynasty，Someone is fishing at the mouth of Taihu Lake in Suzhou where it enters Songjiang River，Salvaged a small mirror of seven or eight inches，This mirror can show the ulcers of the internal organs，Fishermen come to take photos one after another，vomiting again，Then fainted，Wait until they wake up，I found that all the diseases I had before were cured。The "Mirror for Preventing Malaria" in Volume 4 of Lu Can's Gengsi Edition of the Ming Dynasty，There is an ancient mirror，Eight or nine inches in diameter，Use it to illuminate，It can directly treat malaria。

In the familiar "A Dream of Red Mansions", there is a "Feng Yue Treasure Mirror"，It can also be regarded as a kind of medical mirror。When the lame Taoist handed the mirror to Jia Rui, he said: "This object comes from the Ethereal Palace in Taixu Illusionland，Made by the Alarm Fairy，Specialized in treating evil thoughts and actions，Has the ability to save the world and save lives。”It is said that it can suppress evil and cure diseases，It can be seen that it mainly treats mental illnesses。

Imagination of such ancient mirrors，Reflects people’s exploration of physical and mental health and their own destiny。In addition to seeing the body，The ancients also hoped to peer into people’s hearts through mirrors。

We now think that the organ of thinking is the brain，The ancients believed that the organ of thinking is the heart，"The official of the heart is thinking"。In "Xie Duo" of the Qing Dynasty, it is said that a doctor had an ancient mirror，The "seven orifices" that can observe the human heart，The smartest people know everything，If you don’t know anything，Just a little slower。Use this mirror to observe the "seven orifices" of the heart，Which one doesn’t make sense，Clear it，You can become smarter。In current science fiction films，There will be some kind of black technology to peek into other people’s brains，The ancients also had this imagination。The ancients imagined such a mirror，Can reflect people’s innermost thoughts、Emotions and secrets。"Wuzazu" of the Ming Dynasty said that there was a square mirror in the Qin Dynasty，Can reveal people’s courage，Qin Shihuang used this mirror to look w88 slotat the people in the palace，Can find out who is not loyal enough。The popular story of Bao Gong in the Qing Dynasty，This "Qin Fang Mirror" is also said to have been found by Bao Gong，Become his tool to solve the case，Looking in the mirror can reveal the defendant’s true thoughts，Equivalent to "lie detector"。

In addition to taking care of yourself，The ancients also wanted to use mirrors to explore the world，So there is a mirror with night vision and intelligent voice functions。We know，Mirrors need light to see things，If there is a mirror, you can see things clearly without light，That would be great。There is such a mirror in "The Supplementary Notes" of the Eastern Jin Dynasty。Legend of the time of King Zhou Ling，There is a "Fire Mirror"，Can see anything in the dark，Comparable to night vision devices。Huo Qijing also has the "intelligent voice" function，If you talk to the mirror，The mirror can answer your questions，"Fire equals the mirror and spreads three feet"，Seeing things in the dark like daylight，Xiang Jingyu，The shadow in the mirror answered the question”。The Qing Dynasty's "Flower Window and Strange Grass" also depicts such an intelligent voice mirror，When sleeping at night，Put the mirror aside，You just need to sing a song，A person will appear in the mirror singing and dancing。

The ancients wanted to see further、Deeper，So the mirror was given the functions of a telescope and a searchoscope。Wuzazu" of the Ming Dynasty，Wang Zongshou, the adopted son of Wang Jian, the great ancestor of the former Shu Dynasty, got an ancient iron mirror，Hang it on a high platform，It can clearly reflect everything within a hundred miles radius；It is also said that Lü Mengzheng had an ancient mirror in the Song Dynasty，Can see things two hundred miles away。These mirrors function equivalent to current surveillance cameras and telescopes。There are also mirrors with search function。"Wuzazu" says that soldiers in Jinling recently got half a mirror while plowing the fields，Can see something underground，Can be used to dig for treasure。The "Earth Mirror Map" of the Sui and Tang Dynasties mentions a search mirror that can detect underground treasures，If there is treasure underground，Then the light and shadow of the treasure will appear in the mirror，This is simply an advanced geophysical prospecting and remote sensing equipment。The "Yizhilu" of the Qing Dynasty also mentioned a mirror that could reveal gold and silver treasures underground，“There are gold and silver treasures in the earth，Look at it in the mirror，Although in hell，See everything”。The ancients also imagined a searchlight that could see the bottom of the sea，"Xu Zi Buyu" of the Qing Dynasty mentions a kind of sea mirror，While sailing，This mirror can see strange fish and rocks on the bottom of the sea，With it，The ship can prepare w88 online live casinoto escape hundreds of miles away。The merchant said: "This is a mirror that looks into the sea。The water turns black，You can see strange fish and all the rocks in the light，It can be avoided even if it is a hundred miles away”。

The ancients also imagined that images in mirrors could be retained，This is equivalent to taking a photo。There is such a mirror in "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" of the Qing Dynasty，Just look in the mirror，The image is frozen in the mirror，Can be used as a photo to display at home，If you change your clothes，Or change the photo of another person，The original image will disappear，A new “photo” is generated，"A photo of a beautiful lady，The shadow remains in it，It cannot be destroyed by grinding。If you change your makeup and take the photo again，Or even more beautiful，The former shadow will disappear。"Feng Menglong's "Love History" of the Ming Dynasty tells such a story: The scholar Fang Qiao fell in love with Zizhu at first sight，Want to get her portrait。A Taoist priest gave him an ancient mirror，Fang Qiao asked people to sell mirrors in the market，Zizhu is shopping，I saw someone selling mirrors，Just picked it up and took a photo，Her appearance is left on it。Zizhu did not buy this mirror，Fang Qiao passes through this mirror，Get the "photo" of your sweetheart。

Since there is a mirror that can take pictures，Then mirrors with recording and playback functions will follow。Said in the Yuan Dynasty's "Lang Huan Ji"，There is a man fishing，Get a mirror，There is text on the back that says "Purple Gold Refining"，Eight characters "day candle ghost shape"。A person named Shen Ai happened to be watching，Just spend money to buy it。He put the mirror in the house，People you have never seen before often appear in the mirror，At night，Mirrors also shine，Just like today’s television。

Influenced by Buddhism，There is a kind of karma mirror in ancient legends。It is said that through the mirror of karma, one can observe what a person has done in his life，This is equivalent to a video recorder。Sun Guangxian's "Northern Dream Suoyan" of the Fifth Dynasty mentioned that someone saw a mirror，Self photo，Took pictures of all the dirty things he had done before，“It’s a mirror，Zhao Zhi，See yourself in the mirror，I have been guilty of obscenity before，Everything happens”。According to the "Zhengfa Mindfulness Sutra" written approximately in the Yuan Dynasty，The mirror of industry can not only show the past、Now、Everything in the future，You can also select certain clips to display or play back，And it can also be compressed、Fast forward、2x speed, etc.。

The concept of metaverse is quite popular now，It is said that the metaverse is an online virtual space that can interact with the real world。Of course the ancients didn’t know what the metaverse was，w88 online casinoBut he also imagined a mirror with functions similar to the metaverse。There is a book "Journey to the West" in the late Ming Dynasty，It is a continuation of "Journey to the West"，Added the 61st chapter of what happened after Tang Monk and his disciples left the Flame Mountain。Sun Wukong is confused by the mackerel spirit，Enter the Ten Thousand Mirrors Tower of Qingqing World，Various mirrors in the building，Some are like televisions，Like the "No. 1" mirror，The imperial examination is being broadcast，The picture in the mirror is the day when the results were released，Some students cried，Some joy；Some mirrors can "interact" with ancient people and future people，Like the "Tianzi No. 2" mirror，This is an ancient blue-glazed mirror。Sun Wukong "travels" to ancient times through this mirror，Saw Green Pearl、Xi Shi、Xiang Yu and others。Sun Wukong also "traveled" to the future through an ancient mirror，Goed to the Song Dynasty to become King of Hell and judged Qin Hui and others。

Anyway，The ancients not only regarded mirrors as daily necessities，I also imagine it as an artifact with magical power，Many wonderful ideas can be realized through it。These somewhat “whimsical” stories about mirrors，Inspires people’s desire to explore the unknown world，It also entrusts the ancients’ imagination of a better life。

(The author is an associate professor at the School of Chinese, University of International Business and Economics)

Attachment: Original link

https://epaper.gmw.cn/gmrb/html/2024-09/06/nw.D110000gmrb_20240906_1-16.htm