Fengjing is the most beautiful and popular. Double phoenix mirrors are mostly round in shape, and the theme decoration is usually double phoenix. The phoenix shape is large and covers the back of the mirror. Many mirrors are rarely decorated with other patterns except double phoenixes. The two phoenixes are connected end to end and wrap around each other, resembling a paper-cut pattern. The wings and tail are delicately and gorgeously carved. In particular, the tail feathers are exaggerated and deformed, and some are like three long ones

Bronze mirrors in the Song Dynasty focused on practicality and did not advocate luxury. The body was light and thin, and the decoration was simple. The shape was still mainly round, and some Various forms such as square, arc, diamond and handle.

The reverse side is often decorated with patterns such as flowers, birds, fish and insects, character stories, landscapes and pavilions, and some are plain without patterns. Pattern processing often uses a combination of hidden and positive lines, using the rhythm and rhythm of the lines to enhance the ups and downs and weight of the patterns, overcoming the frivolous and monotonous feeling caused by thin bodies. The animal and plant patterns among them are accurate in image, vivid in posture, and rich in composition. The composition of the landscape and figure patterns has a painterly effect. Bronze mirrors of the Song Dynasty were mostly produced in Huzhou, Fuzhou, Chengdu and other places. In smelting and casting. The alloy composition of the bronze mirrors in the Song Dynasty changed, which brought about changes in the texture and color of the bronze mirrors. Most of the bronze mirrors of the Song Dynasty were made of brass, with a significantly reduced tin content and a large increase in lead content. This alloy composition has always affected the bronze mirrors of later generations, and has also become an important basis for identifying bronze mirrors from the Song Dynasty and even subsequent dynasties.

Mirrors with stories about gods and characters: Bronze mirrors with this theme are rich in content and come in many types. The fairy stories include the Flying Fairy Mirror, the Immortal Subduing the Dragon Mirror, the Two Immortals Crossing the Sea Mirror, the Arhat Crossing the Sea Mirror, the Chang'e Flying to the Moon Mirror, the Moon Palace Mirror, and the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl Mirror. The themes of character legends and stories are more abundant. There are: Cuju pattern mirror, dressing mirror, Wang Zhi Guanyi mirror, Ning Qi Fan Niu mirror, Qigong figure mirror, turtle and crane Qishou figure mirror, paying homage figure mirror, Xuanyuan mirror. Among them, there are many arhat pattern mirrors, turtle and crane figure mirrors, Wang Zhi Guan Yi mirror, Ning Qi Fan Niu mirror, and worshiping figure mirrors. Here are a few examples. Visiting Figure Mirror: The picture shows a pavilion, a small bridge, flowing water, and a big tree. There are figures and waiters in front of the pavilion. A person on the bridge made a gesture of paying homage. There are nearly 10 known so far. Among them, a section unearthed from the tomb of Huizong Chongning of the Northern Song Dynasty in Xiangyang, Hubei Province is particularly important for determining its era. Ning Qi Fan Niu Jing: The picture is divided into two parts: water and land. There is a big tree and two people on the ground. A man is holding a cow, and there are ripples in the water. There are currently seven or eight known faces. Wang Zhi's Game Mirror: The picture also has two parts: land and water. There is a big tree on the ground. Under the tree, two people are playing chess. One person is watching the game, and there are people walking on the shore.

Bagua mirror type: The most diverse forms of Bagua mirrors in the Song Dynasty. Judging from the combination of Bagua and other patterns, there is a Pishen Bagua mirror, that is, Bagua is organized with Qinglong, White Tiger, Suzaku and Xuanwu. Twelve Earthly Branches Bagua Mirror (Picture 6)

, Celestial Elephant Bagua Mirror, Dragon and Tiger Bagua Mirror, Twelve Zodiac Bagua Mirror, Bagua Inscription Mirror, Bagua Mirror, no matter the pattern is complex or simple, the Bagua mirror is Very prominent. The arrangement of the Bagua mirrors of the Song Dynasty is still arranged according to the orientation of "Yi Lun Gua". Since the Qian hexagram is in the northwest and the Kun hexagram is in the southwest...it is different from the position of the Qian hexagram in the south and the Kun hexagram in the north advocated by Shao Yong, a scholar of the Song Dynasty. They are consistent with the Bagua orientation. Other patterns are also arranged in a strict directional sequence. For example, the four gods are arranged according to the directions of Qinglong in the east, white tiger in the west, Suzaku in the south, and Xuanwu in the north. The twelve zodiac signs are arranged according to the directions of Zi? Rat in the north, Wu and Ma in the south. Some of the Song Bagua mirrors came from the tomb of Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty in the third year of Chongning (1104), the tomb of Huizong in the third year of Zhenghe (1113), and the tomb of Emperor Gaozong in the ninth year of Shaoxing (1139). It can be seen that they were particularly popular in the late Northern Song Dynasty and the early Southern Song Dynasty. Trademark mirror type: The so-called trademark inscription is an inscription cast in a long grid on one or both sides of the mirror button. The content is mostly the region where the mirror was made, the shop, the trade name and the surname of the craftsman. According to the different regions where mirrors are made, people divide them into: Huzhou mirror, Jiankang mirror, Chengdu mirror, Hangzhou mirror, Raozhou mirror... Huzhou mirror: common forms include rhombus shape, sunflower shape, square, long strip, and handle shape. wait. There are many types of inscriptions, among which the Shijia inscriptions are the most common, such as: "Huzhou Yifeng Bridge South Restaurant is opposite the Shijia real bronze Zhaozi", "Huzhou real stone eighth uncle smelted copper Zhaozi, every two hundred inscriptions". Archaeological materials prove that Huzhou mirror became popular in the late Northern Song Dynasty and was most popular in the Southern Song Dynasty.

Hangzhou Mirror: Inscriptions such as "The bronze mirror of the Chui family in Hangzhou opens to the west under the Qingdao Bridge in Yuezhou" and "The real bronze mirror of the Gao family in Hangzhou". Chengdu Mirror: The inscription is "Chengdu Gong Family Bronze Mirror". Jiankang Mirror: The inscription is "Jiankang Household Copper Smelting Photos".

Raozhou mirror: inscription such as "Raozhou Xinqiao Xu family bronze mirror". ?

In addition, there are Jizhou, Suzhou, Mingzhou, Changzhou, Xiuzhou, etc. This article will not list them one by one. Auspicious inscription mirrors: Bronze mirrors have auspicious inscriptions as the main content, and many bronze mirrors no longer have other decorations. For example, on the mirror with the inscription "Fu Shou", the inscription is divided into two circles. The inscription in the inner circle is "Fu Shou Jia An", with a happy pattern between each word. The inscription on the outer ring is "Qingsu family heirloom, a treasure for everlasting use". They have been unearthed in Zhuping, Henan, and Liaocheng, Shandong. Mirror with the inscription of loyalty and filial piety: the inscription is divided into two circles. The inner circle is inscribed with the name of loyalty and filial piety, and the outer circle is inscribed with the inscription of long life, wealth, and family harmony. Exquisite mirror with inscriptions: It is round and has a handle, with two rows of inscriptions on the back saying "Eight-faced exquisite mirror" and "The mouth is not free from sitting". Unearthed from a Southern Song Dynasty tomb in Wuchang, Hubei Province. Judging from the unearthed tomb data, this type of mirror with auspicious inscriptions was mainly popular in the Southern Song Dynasty. These inscription mirrors have outstanding features. The font is in seal script, and the number of characters is mostly eight. There are also four in the inner area and eight characters in the outer area. The arrangement is either circular or vertical. The latter is mostly two rows, with four characters in one row. , the fonts are relatively large, the strokes are clear, the content is popular, and there is no accumulation of gorgeous rhetoric. Plain mirrors: There are many plain mirrors unearthed from the tombs of the Song Dynasty. Most of the mirrors have no decorations or inscriptions on the back. A few mirrors have several string patterns. They are round, square, square, angular, handle-shaped and sunflower-shaped. For small buttons. Many of the tombs with Sujing unearthed have epitaphs, including Yuanyou Yuanfu in the Northern Song Dynasty, Qiandao, Chunxi, Qingyuan, Jiading, Baoqing, etc. in the Southern Song Dynasty. Judging from the forms of the mirrors unearthed from these tombs, those unearthed from the tombs of the Southern Song Dynasty are all sunflower-shaped and rhombus-shaped cable mirrors.

2. Some important characteristics of the bronze mirrors of the Song Dynasty. Among the bronze mirrors of various eras in China, the shapes of the Song mirrors are the most diverse, including round, square, rectangular, lozenge-shaped, bell-shaped, shield-shaped, and tripod-shaped. Stove shape, chicken heart shape, etc. Just look at the mirror shape. It can be said to be unprecedented. In terms of the alloy composition of Chinese bronze mirrors, Song mirrors were also an important transition period. Song mirrors were different from Han and Tang mirrors in that they contained less tin and more lead. Therefore, unlike the silvery white copper of Han and Tang mirrors, they became brass. The color and texture are not as hard as the Han and Tang mirrors, and become rough and soft. Emphasis on practicality rather than ornamentation is the biggest characteristic of Southern Song Dynasty mirrors. In the Song Dynasty, mirrors with no decorations other than names and trademarks and inscriptions were extremely popular. This situation is almost never seen in Tang Dynasty mirrors.

3. Comparison between Song mirrors and some mirrors from other eras. Pisces mirrors; Most of the Pisces mirrors of the Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties mentioned in past records are gold mirrors, and no one has been found that can be dated to the Tang Dynasty. Pisces mirrors, there were very few Pisces mirrors in the Song Dynasty. Dragon pattern mirror: The most popular dragon pattern mirror in the Tang Dynasty was a coiled dragon. There were very few double dragon mirrors. In the last generation, it was just the opposite. There were very few single dragon patterns, but the double dragon pattern was the most popular and had outstanding characteristics. There are single dragon and double dragon mirrors from the Jin Dynasty. Some of the double dragons are connected end to end and some are symmetrical, but not like the Song Dynasty mirror with the head at the bottom and the tail at the top. Bagua mirror: became popular in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, and was most popular in the Song Dynasty. The variety is rich, and there are very few in the Jin Dynasty. Story mirrors of immortal characters: The difference between the Song and Tang Dynasties is relatively obvious, but the golden mirrors of the Song and Yuan Dynasties are not so clear. Judging from the current materials, most of Song Jing's paintings like to use themes such as watching chess with king's qualities, worrying about love and rice, immortals crossing the sea, and worshiping people. As for gold mirrors, they like to use Xu Youchaofu, Liu Yi Chuanshu, Wu Niuchuanyue, Haibo, Tongzi Climbing Flower Branch Mirrors, etc. In the past, because some Song and Jin mirrors could not be distinguished clearly, mirrors of the same type with inspection text engraved on the edge were considered to be gold mirrors, while those without, such as sea-ship mirrors, were considered to be foreign mirrors. Now unearthed information proves that this type of mirror was a popular mirror in the Jin Dynasty. Some mirrors from the Ming Dynasty, especially mirrors with trademark inscriptions, were often considered to be Song mirrors in the past. With the increase in data, the characteristics of the two were gradually summarized. For example: mirrors with trademark names, Song mirrors have a strip-shaped rectangular frame on one or both sides of the button, mirrors are mostly small round, small square and mostly on the mirror button. Most of the Ming mirrors were made by a certain person, and there were almost no Song mirrors. In the Song Dynasty, the Shi family was the most famous mirror in Huzhou, and in the Ming Dynasty, the Xue family was the most famous. Most of their names were symbolic, named after peaks, rivers, springs, streams, etc. It appears that such surnames are actually trademarks. Mirrors with auspicious inscriptions: The inscriptions on Song mirrors are mostly two sentences and eight characters, divided into inner and outer areas, or arranged in vertical rows on both sides of the button. In the Ming Dynasty, there were mostly four characters, arranged above, below, left and right of the button, and their contents were the most popular auspicious words among the Chinese. For example, dragons and phoenixes are auspicious, five sons will be admitted to the imperial examinations, be awarded the first prize, live long and rich, and be the happiest doing good deeds.