Which dynasty did the bronze mirror belong to?
Mountain mirror is the most diverse bronze mirror in the Warring States period.
The origin of mountain pattern
There are many opinions about the origin of the "mountain" pattern in academic circles, mainly including "replacing the shape with characters", "cutting the mountain from Chu" and "seemingly being changed by some animal patterns", but these opinions have not found an intuitive and credible evolution process and trend for it. Generally speaking, the emergence and development of a decorative pattern is closely related to the cultural background factors such as social economy and clan tradition at that time. The same is true of the pattern of "mountain", so what is its source? Among many original patterns, the ancient frog pattern is the most similar. Its shape evolved from the early Banpo and Miaodigou painted pottery frog pattern to the late Qijia culture frog pattern, and finally evolved into the so-called' Hook Yun Leiwen' on pre-Qin bronzes and knitwear. This "mountain" pattern is obviously a unit part of Yun Leiwen, so the "mountain" pattern evolved from the ancient frog pattern. In addition, the earliest bronze mirror in China was found in Qijia culture, so it is possible that there was a "mountain" pattern first and then a cloud thunder pattern, which is a process from simple to complex.
Based on the principle of multiple textual research and the current ethnographic data, it can be found that there are a large number of abnormal frog patterns similar to comic books in the tapestries and embroidery patterns of Zhuang, Miao, Li and Tujia nationalities handed down from Baiyue, Ba and Chu in ancient times, and the Li nationality still regards frog patterns as totem worship, from which we can see one of the sources of its development. In archaeological data, we can refer to the silk books unearthed from Changsha Chu Tomb, Jiangling Chu Tomb and the bamboo slips unearthed from Baoshan Chu Tomb.
The meaning of mountain pattern
There are many meanings and configurations of China bronze mirror ornamentation that people don't understand. Mountain patterns in the Warring States Period, custom patterns in the Han Dynasty, grape mirrors of sea animals in the Tang Dynasty, etc. It really took a lot of Chinese and foreign scholars' hard work and pen and ink. Chinese and foreign scholars also hold different views on the gable mirror in the Warring States period: for example, Liang Ting (Mu Dan) thinks: "Carving four mountains is like four mountains, and this generation takes words as the shape." (See the mirror spectrum of rattan flower pavilion). Japanese scholars koi fish and Ai also mentioned in the Study of Ancient Mirrors in China that the writing of the mountain character in Oracle Bone Inscriptions is almost the same as today's inscription! In ancient China, mountains were often associated with the concepts of immobility, quietness and nourishment. Therefore, the use of dashan characters on bronze mirrors to represent mountains, like words such as blessing, longevity and happiness, contains strong auspicious meanings. These viewpoints of predecessors can be used for reference, but why did such decorative mirrors appear during the Warring States period? What kind of thoughts and feelings did it express under the background of the times at that time? Why did this mountain pattern disappear in Qin and Han Dynasties? Here, the younger generation wants to talk about their superficial understanding of these issues!
Mountains are a part of the earth, often tall and majestic, with deep valleys and dangerous roads; The mountain is rich in food resources, but it is also inhabited by fierce birds and beasts. All this naturally leads to the mysterious speculation of human beings, so mountains are deified like land and considered to be dominated by God. Worship of mountain gods was very common in ancient China. In myths and legends, mountains are often the sojourners of God. Shan Hai Jing divides China's mountains into 26 regions, and records 450 mountains and their gods. Because some peaks are "sky-high", the ancients imagined them as the same way as heaven and earth and worshipped them. "Huainanzi × Terrain Training": "The hill of Kunlun, or twice as high, is Liangshan, and it will not die if you climb it. Or twice as much, playing around, that is, spirit, can make trouble. Or twice as much as this, it is the dimension of heaven, and it is God, which is called the residence of Taidi. " Because clouds can grow in valleys and rain can come from clouds, the ancients thought that mountains could make clouds and rain. "Book of Rites × Sacrifice Method": "Mountains, rivers, valleys and hills can emit clouds, which is wind and rain." There are many sacrifices to mountains in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, and the Yin people have regarded mountain gods as the objects of praying for rain, stopping rain and praying for the New Year. This belief in the function of mountain gods seeking rain has been spread to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. In Historical Records × Zhao Shijia, there is also a record that "Huoshan is precious as expected by the drought in Jin Dynasty".
The worship of mountain gods was originally a kind of natural worship in the early days of mankind, but when some famous mountains were imagined as places where gods lived and roads leading to heaven, the sacrifices of these famous mountains were monopolized by the government. "Book of Rites × Wang Zhi": "The son of heaven worships the world's famous mountains and rivers, and the five mountains regard the three public, and the four blasphemies regard the princes. The princes sacrificed famous mountains and rivers. " Emperors of past dynasties paid tribute to heaven and earth in many famous mountains to worship Zen, indicating that they were governed by destiny. Historical Records × Zen Sutra: "Guan Zhongyu said: The ancients sealed Mount Tai, and the ancestors of Zen Liang were seventy-two." The famous mountains sacrificed by emperors in past dynasties are very complicated. However, with the emergence of the unified empire, the system of mountain people's sacrifice represented by Wuyue was established in the Western Han Dynasty, which was followed by later generations and was regarded as a sacrifice code and repeatedly sealed.
With people's understanding of the mystery of mountains, after the Han Dynasty, the belief in mountain gods gradually lost the nature of nature worship, and mountain gods were no longer the main body of making clouds and rain, so the mirror of mountain characters disappeared immediately after the Han Dynasty. What people worship is mainly his social function. Since the mountain god can "soar to the sky", people have added social functions to it, such as dominating the official career, living and dying in the world and so on. Therefore, to sum up, I think that this kind of gable mirror appeared in the Warring States period is not what the predecessors said, "Carving four mountains is like four mountains, and this generation is shaped by words"; (because the concept of five mountains has not yet formed in this period). And what auspicious meaning is expressed. This only expresses a very simple totem worship of the people, that is, mountain worship. If this kind of mirror with decorative patterns is understood as "carving four mountains to resemble four mountains, and this generation is shaped by characters", then what are the mirrors with three mountains, five mountains and six mountains we are talking about? Please think carefully!