The Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty are two very important dynasties in the history of China. The spirit of pioneering and innovation, the consciousness of self-improvement and the national pride of openness, wealth, tolerance and self-confidence have always influenced this day. The characteristics of bronze mirror art in different periods of Han and Tang dynasties are the reflection of this innovative spirit and strong consciousness.
Keywords Han and Tang bronze mirrors have a strong sense of pioneering and innovation
Bronze mirrors are daily necessities used by the ancients to dress up and take pictures. It has a close relationship with people's lives and is an indispensable daily necessities of the ancients. It looks at the front and appreciates the back, cleverly integrating the practical life and artistic appreciation of the ancients into the square inch. It embodies the rich imagination and outstanding creativity of ancient craftsmen. At the same time, bronze mirrors are popular handicrafts, bearing the wishes and yearning of ancient people for beautiful things and reflecting the realistic or ideal living conditions. It is not only a treasure in China's ancient cultural heritage, but also an indispensable material for studying its politics, economy, ideology and culture, social life and fashion of the times.
The invention and casting of ancient bronze mirrors in China lasted more than 4,000 years from Qijia culture period to Ming and Qing dynasties. Although it has gone through different dynasties, each period has its own unique style and characteristics, with distinct characteristics endowed by different times, forming a complete development and evolution system of China bronze mirrors. Throughout the development history of bronze mirrors, the Han and Tang dynasties are the most attractive and artistic periods. Their bronze mirrors are well-made, beautifully shaped, ornate in patterns and rich in inscriptions, which are the treasures of China's ancient cultural heritage. It can be said that this was inseparable from the prosperity of the country at that time. Let's compare the artistic characteristics of bronze mirrors in different periods of Han and Tang Dynasties.
First, the artistic characteristics of Han mirrors in different periods
The Han Dynasty was the heyday of China's feudal society. After Wen Jing's rule and cultivation, the national strength of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was restored, the Huns were eliminated, and four counties in Shahe were established, which made the people of the Western Han Dynasty form a strong national consciousness that "whoever commits a strong Han Dynasty will be punished from afar". At the same time, the Silk Road was opened. Communicate with Europe and Asia. Foreign exchange brought the national strength to the peak of the Han Dynasty. The most prominent feature of the popular bronze mirrors in the history of bronze mirrors in China is magnanimous, awe-inspiring and inviolable, which conveys an aggressive and fierce atmosphere. Thick edges and raised inscriptions all show a solid sense of existence, with the breath of rocks and mountains.
In the early Western Han Dynasty, Han mirror mainly followed the mirror style of the Warring States period. At this time, the most popular mirror is Pan Guo Mirror, which has a rough ground pattern and the main pattern consists of two lines and three lines. The layout is winding, with intervals and alternation, and cultural relics and inscriptions appear. It has a new decorative function.
Mid-Western Han Dynasty. The technology of bronze mirror is highly developed, and the shape and pattern have changed significantly. The mirror surface is enlarged, the mirror wall is thickened, and chord buttons and bridge buttons are rare. Instead, they are hemispherical round buttons, peak buttons and animal buttons. Flat edge or inner arc edge. The theme decoration mostly adopts four-point layout, that is, the mirror back is divided into four areas based on four breasts, and the main decoration is arranged in the middle. At this time, the popular ground patterns since the Warring States Period have disappeared. The popular mirrors in this period are nebula mirror, sunlight mirror, mirror, reunion mirror, animal mirror, continuous arc mirror and so on.
From the late Western Han Dynasty to the middle Eastern Han Dynasty, bronze mirror technology has undergone new changes. The decorative patterns on the back of the mirror tend to be dynamic from static, and there are four auspicious images, such as Qinglong, White Tiger, Suzaku and Xuanwu, as well as various auspicious animals, birds and feathers with immortal meanings. The pattern is lively and realistic. The expression technique is still outlined with a positive line, but it is more delicate than before. Very beautiful. Bronze mirrors in this period paid attention to edge decoration, and most of them were decorated with ribbons at the edges. At the same time, many kinds of inscriptions appeared. Rich in content. Common inscriptions are "Fang Shang", "Shan Tong" and "Ji Shi Ming", and there are twelve-character and seven-character poems in the local branch.
The animal mirror and the dragon and tiger mirror, which appeared at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, used relief techniques to make the back of the mirror semi-stereoscopic, undulating and lifelike. Meanwhile. There are also dragon and phoenix mirrors, bird mirror, twisted four-leaf curved phoenix mirror, twisted four-leaf beast head mirror and so on. It is characterized by clear patterns, good paper-cutting effect and rich folk art flavor. At this time, the layout of decorative patterns has also changed, and a new "symmetrical" way has appeared, such as a straight inscription mirror, that is, the inscription "to the three public places" or "to the three public places" is written directly on the top and bottom of the button, and the two sides are symmetrically decorated with double-edged characters or double-dragon phoenix patterns, so that the content and form are better unified. The inscriptions on bronze mirrors in this period include "Zhi San Gong", "descendants of Changyi" and "Jun".
Second, the artistic characteristics of Tang mirrors in different periods.
In 6 18, Li Yuan and his son came to power. Established a powerful Tang empire. After Emperor Taizong's Zhenguan, it came to the period of Li Zhi and Wu Zetian. The national strength of the Tang Dynasty reached the peak of feudal society. During this period, national unity, political stability, social economy and productivity developed rapidly. The development of productive forces and economic prosperity have promoted the trade and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. More than 70 countries had friendly exchanges with the Tang Dynasty. Frequent trade exchanges have promoted the diversified development of economy and culture. The open atmosphere promoted the infiltration and absorption of foreign cultures and revealed all aspects of social life, which originated from the combination of animals and grape grain in the artistic decoration of ancient countries such as Central Asia and West Asia, and had a special impact on the reform and innovation of Tang mirrors.
Since Zhang Qian was sent to the Western Regions in Han Dynasty, grape grain was introduced to China. It was not until the Tang Dynasty that this vibrant decorative pattern of piled fruits, rolled branches and blooming flowers appeared in a large number of silk fabrics, which conformed to people's pursuit of spiritual and material beauty and luxury in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. When artisans cast bronze mirrors for the court in the Tang Dynasty, they put the birds, bees, butterflies and trotting animals in the Sui mirror together in their favorite grape grains, creating a "Rui beast grape mirror" that embodies the integration of Eurasian civilization. It is the largest category in Tang Jing and the representative of the tang dynasty bronze mirror. It is also the most distinctive bronze mirror in ancient China. It is the brilliant crystallization of the prosperous Tang culture. Its evolution is mainly the transition of the mirror button from round to crouching animal shape, and the development of the image of the beast playing with its neck. The number of Swiss animals in the inner area is simplified from small to large, and the shape is from running to climbing and playing, and finally develops into a crawling posture: the animals decorated with grapes, branches and fruits in the outer area develop from the long tail to the faces of Swiss bees and butterflies, and the outer edge is inclined to the edge of the triangle, and the small petals are gradually sparse. The double-line high circle in the inner and outer areas is wider in the early stage. Mid-term stenosis, late vines wrapped around beams, double circles looming.
Xuanzong period. Due to the emperor's preference for plump and full shapes, various plump and gorgeous bronze mirror patterns were popular at this time. The double Luan mirror and Bao mirror, which show the shape of a rich bird, are typical works. The inscriptions around the edge of the mirror, which we often see in Han mirrors, disappeared in the middle of the Tang Dynasty, which is the most prominent decorative effect of the Tang people in order to express their favorite flower-and-bird shapes. As a result, the love content such as "not forgetting each other" directly shown in the Han mirror was replaced by the double phoenix bird in the Tang mirror, which became a gentle and implicit oriental symmetrical beauty. In this mirror, the composition of flower-and-bird patterns is symmetrical, flexible and eclectic, and each form and composition is full of vitality. It shows the artistic conception of beauty, lightness, strength and prosperity.
Since the mid-Tang dynasty, the shape of bronze mirrors has gradually changed, breaking through the imprisonment of square mirrors and round mirrors. There are diamond, sunflower, sub-font and other shapes. This change makes the flower-and-bird decoration echo the mirror shape. It provides a broad idea for future generations to change the shape of bronze mirrors.
The bronze mirrors in the Tang Dynasty are not only diverse in forms and rich in decorative patterns, but also more innovative in casting technology, creating special craft mirrors such as flat gold and silver, mother-of-pearl, hammering gold and silver, painted paint, inlaid glass and hollowing out. The most luxurious product in the Tang mirror is the gold and silver flat folding mirror, which is characterized by exquisite carving, bright and gorgeous. The tang dynasty bronze mirror's craft swept away the past formal, abstract, mysterious and patterned style, and formed a new style with bright colors, perfect composition, elegance, freedom and liveliness.
Third, the comparison of bronze mirror art in Han and Tang Dynasties
In the development of bronze mirrors in China, the Han mirror was in its heyday and the first peak of the development of ancient bronze mirrors in China. During the 400 years of Han Dynasty, when lacquerware and ceramics replaced bronze daily necessities, bronze mirrors made great progress and became the most products in the bronze casting industry in Han Dynasty. Its shape, pattern, technique and artistic conception can be called a link between the past and the future, and it is the first of its kind. Until the Three Kingdoms, the Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, some mirrors were still very popular, which made the bronze mirrors of this period known as "China mirrors". The theme ornamentation of the Han mirror is extremely extensive, and the world, strange birds and animals are colorful, which shows the broad vision, majestic momentum and strong feelings of the Han people in a three-dimensional way, and all of them contain the complex of the Han people. Tang mirror is a period of development and prosperity, and it is another peak of the development of ancient bronze mirrors in China. The profound culture of Han and Tang dynasties gave birth to more brilliant achievements in this period. Not only did it break through the previous round bronze mirror form, but also fancy mirrors such as sunflower, diamond and Asian appeared. In addition to round buttons, mirror buttons also have turtle buttons or animal buttons. The theme decoration also broke through the rigidity and pattern of the Han mirror, which was full and beautiful, and the layout was flexible and changeable. The theme and style not only reflected the new arts and crafts at that time, but also absorbed the factors from Central Asia and West Asia. Such as common grape grain, flowers and birds, flexible relief and high relief decoration techniques. All of them are full of exotic humanistic colors, showing traces of foreign cultural integration, which fully embodies the prosperous atmosphere of the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
Looking at the art of bronze mirrors in Han and Tang dynasties, we can reflect the innovative spirit, competitive consciousness and national pride of two generations. Its influence has continued to this day.
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