(Source:"Guangming Daily" Page 16, September 6, 2024）
Zhao Yuntao
Ye Mirror (Dunhuang Scroll) Legend has it that after a person dies, everything he did during his lifetime can be displayed in this mirror, like a "recorder". Picture provided by the author
Bronze mirrors with Boju patterns from Xinmang to the early Eastern Han Dynasty existed more than 2,000 years ago. A bronze mirror from the Shang Dynasty was unearthed in Dasi Village, Anyang, Henan, near the waist pit of the tomb owner. The bronze mirror found in the Nanshangen tomb in Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia, was also on the waist of the tomb owner. The ancients regarded mirrors as "talismans". Picture provided by the author
In the illustrations of "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" painted by the Qing Dynasty, looking in the mirror was called "viewing the water" in ancient times. In ancient yamen, a plaque saying "Mingjing Gaohang" was hung, or a basin of water was placed, which meant "Mingjian". In "Journey to the West", a "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 famous children's literature "Alice in Wonderland", the little girl Alice enters another world through a mirror. In fact, ancient Chinese people also had very rich imaginations about mirrors. CT machines, night vision devices, televisions, video recorders, these products of modern technology have similar counterparts in ancient Chinese notebooks and novels, and they are all related to mirrors. Why? Like modern people, the ancients actually had many technological needs: it would be great if they could see the sick places inside the human body, it would be great if they could see the distance without leaving home, it would be great if they could look back at 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 displaying things and people, people placed their best wishes on mirrors, thus creating many magical mirrors.
The ancients hoped to have a mirror that could reflect the internal organs. "Taiping Guangji" quoted from "Songchuang Miscellaneous Records" of the Tang Dynasty, saying that during the Changqing reign of Emperor Mu Zong of the Tang Dynasty, a fisherman fished with a net in the Qinhuai River and salvaged an ancient bronze mirror. The fisherman took it in his hand and looked at it, and found that his internal organs were clearly reflected in the mirror, and he could even see blood flowing in his blood vessels. The "History of Kaiyuan Tianbao" written in the Five Dynasties mentioned a kind of "disease mirror". If you use this mirror to see where the body is sick, you can see it, and then prescribe the right medicine to cure it. "Whenever a person has a disease, he can use the mirror to see all the things stagnant in the organs, and then treat it with medicine, and the disease will be cured." This is almost equivalent to our current CT machine.
The ancients not only imagined that mirrors could reflect the internal structure of the human body, but also imagined that diseases could be directly treated by mirrors. "Yuanhua Ji" in the late Tang Dynasty records that during the Zhenyuan period of Emperor Dezong of the Tang Dynasty, someone was fishing at the mouth of the Songjiang River in Taihu Lake in Suzhou and salvaged a small mirror of seven or eight inches. This mirror could show the ulcers of the internal organs. The fishermen came to take a picture one after another, vomited one after another, and then fainted. When they woke up, they found that all the previous diseases were cured. "Malaria Prevention Mirror", Volume 4 of Lu Can's Gengsi Edition of the Ming Dynasty, said that there was an ancient mirror with a diameter of eight or nine inches. Malaria could be directly treated by illuminating it.
In the familiar "A Dream of Red Mansions", there is a "Feng Yue Treasure Mirror", which 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 Illusion Realm. It was made by the Fairy Jinghuan. It specializes in treating the disease of evil thoughts and actions, and has the effect of saving the world." It is said that it can suppress evil and cure diseases, which shows that it mainly treats mental diseases.
The 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, but the ancients believed that the organ of thinking is the heart, and "the organ of the heart is thinking." "Xie Duo" of the Qing Dynasty said that a doctor had an ancient mirror that could observe the "seven orifices" of the human heart. The smartest people have access to all seven orifices. If they are ignorant of any one of them, they will be slower. Use this mirror to observe the "seven orifices" of the heart, see which ones are blocked, and clear them, and you will become smarter. In today's science fiction films, there will be some kind of black technology to spy on other people's brains. The ancients also had this imagination. The ancients imagined a mirror that could reflect people's innermost thoughts, emotions, and secrets. "Wuzazu" of the Ming Dynasty said that in the Qin Dynasty, there was a square mirror that could reflect people's heart and courage. Qin Shihuang used this mirror to look at the people in the palace and find out who was not loyal enough. The story of Bao Gong was popular in the Qing Dynasty. This "Qin Fang Mirror" was also said to be found by Bao Gong and became a tool for him to solve the case. The mirror can reveal the true thoughts of the defendant, which is equivalent to a "lie detector".
In addition to looking at themselves, the ancients also wanted to use mirrors to explore the world, so they developed mirrors with night vision and intelligent voice functions. We know that a mirror needs light to see things. It would be great if there was a mirror that could see things clearly without light. There is such a mirror in "Supplementary Notes" of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. It is said that during the reign of King Ling of Zhou Dynasty, there was a "fire mirror" that could see anything in the dark, comparable to a night vision device. The Huo Qi Mirror also has an "intelligent voice" function. If you speak to the mirror, the mirror can answer your questions. "The Huo Qi Mirror is three feet wide. You can see objects in the dark like daylight. If you speak to the mirror, the shadow in the mirror will answer your question." The Qing Dynasty's "Flower Window and Strange Grass" also depicts such a smart voice mirror. When you go to bed at night, put the mirror next to you. As long as you sing a song, a person will appear in the mirror singing and dancing.
The ancients wanted to see farther and deeper, so mirrors were given the functions of telescopes and searchoscopes. "Wuzazu" of the Ming Dynasty said that Wang Zongshou, the adopted son of the former Shu Emperor Wang Jian, got an ancient iron mirror and hung it on a high platform, which could clearly reflect things within a hundred miles. It also said that Lu Meng of the Song Dynasty had an ancient mirror that could reflect things two hundred miles away. These mirrors functioned as today's surveillance cameras and telescopes. There are also mirrors with search function. "Wuzazu" said that in recent times, soldiers in Jinling plowed the fields and got half a mirror, which could see what was underground and could be used to dig for treasures. The "Earth Mirror Map" of the Sui and Tang Dynasties mentioned a search mirror that can detect underground treasures. If there are treasures underground, the light and shadow of the treasures will appear in the mirror. This is simply an advanced geophysical prospecting and remote sensing equipment. "Yizhilu" of the Qing Dynasty also mentioned a mirror that could detect gold and silver treasures underground. "There are gold and silver treasures in the ground. If you use a mirror to reflect them, you will see them all even if they are in the underworld." The ancients also imagined a search mirror that could see the bottom of the sea. "Xu Zi Bu Yu" of the Qing Dynasty mentioned a kind of sea mirror. When sailing, this mirror could see the strange fish and rocks on the bottom of the sea. With it, the ship could prepare to avoid it hundreds of miles away. The merchant said: "This is a sea mirror. The sea water is dark, and strange fish and all the rocks can be seen in the mirror. They can be avoided hundreds of miles away."
The ancients also imagined that the image in the mirror could be retained, which was equivalent to taking a photo. There is such a mirror in "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" in the Qing Dynasty. As long as you look in the mirror, your image will be frozen in the mirror. You can put it as a photo at home. If you change your clothes or take the photo with another person, the original image will disappear and the new "photo" will be It came to be, "When a beautiful woman is photographed, her shadow remains in it, and it cannot be erased. If she changes her makeup and takes a new photo, or becomes a more beautiful person, the previous shadow will disappear." Feng Menglong's "Love History" of the Ming Dynasty tells such a story: Fang Qiao, a scholar, fell in love with Zizhu at first sight and hoped to get her portrait. A Taoist priest gave him an ancient mirror. Fang Qiao asked someone to take the mirror and sell it in the market. When Zizhu was shopping, he saw someone selling a mirror, so he picked it up and took a look at it, and her appearance was left on it. Zizhu did not buy the mirror. Fang Qiao obtained the "photo" of his sweetheart through this mirror.
Since there are mirrors that can take pictures, mirrors with recording and playback functions also follow. "Lang Huan Ji" of the Yuan Dynasty said that a man was fishing and caught a mirror. On the back, there were words written "Purple gold refines the essence, and the candle takes the shape of a ghost in the daytime." A man named Shen Ai happened to see it and spent money to buy it. He placed a mirror in the house, and figures he had never seen before often appeared in the mirror. At night, the mirror would also glow, just like today's televisions.
Influenced by Buddhism, there is a kind of karma mirror in ancient legends. It is said that one can observe what a person has done throughout his life through a karma mirror, which is equivalent to a video recorder. Sun Guangxian's "Bei Meng Suoyan" of the fifth generation mentioned that someone saw a mirror and looked at himself, and all the dirty things he had done in the past were reflected. "It is a mirror. When I look at it, I see myself in the mirror. I have been guilty of obscenity in the past, and everything is clear." According to the "Zhengfa Mindfulness Sutra" written approximately in the Yuan Dynasty, the Karmic Mirror can not only display everything in the past, present, and future, but can also select certain fragments to display or play back at will, and can also compress, fast-forward, double speed, etc.
The concept of the metaverse is quite popular now. It is said that the metaverse is a virtual space that can interact with the real world online. Although the ancients did not know what the metaverse was, they also imagined mirrors with functions similar to the metaverse. There was a "Journey to the West Supplement" in the late Ming Dynasty, which was a continuation of "Journey to the West". It supplemented the sixty-first chapter of Tang Monk and his disciples after they left the Flame Mountain. Sun Wukong is deceived by the mackerel spirit and enters the Ten Thousand Mirrors Tower in the Qingqing World. Some of the mirrors in the building are like televisions, such as the "Tianzi No. 1" mirror, which is broadcasting the imperial examination. The picture in the mirror is the day when the results were announced. Some students are crying and some are happy; some mirrors can "interact" with the ancients and future people, such as the "Tianzi No. 2" mirror, which is an ancient blue-blue mirror. Sun Wukong "traveled" to ancient times through this mirror and met Lu Zhu, Xi Shi, Xiang Yu and others. Sun Wukong also "traveled" to the future through the ancient mirror, and went to the Song Dynasty as King of Hell to judge Qin Hui and others.
In short, the ancients not only regarded the mirror as a daily necessities, but also imagined it as an artifact with magical power through which many fantastic ideas could be realized. These somewhat "whimsical" stories about mirrors inspire people's desire to explore the unknown world, and also entrust the ancients' imagination of a better life.
(The author is an associate professor at the w88 casino of Chinese, w88 casino)
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