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technique was used to produce tiny wrinkles on the face of the mirror too small to be observed by the eye. Although his explanation of different cooling rates was incorrect, he was right to suggest the surface contained minute variations which the naked eye could not detect; these mirrors also had no
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amalgam was laid over the surface; this created further stresses and preferential buckling. The result was that imperfections of the mirror surface matched the patterns on the back, although they were too minute to be seen by the eye. But when the mirror reflected bright sunlight against a wall, with
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The basic mirror shape, with the design on the back, was cast flat, and the convexity of the surface produced afterwards by elaborate scraping and scratching. The surface was then polished to become shiny. The stresses set up by these processes caused the thinner parts of the surface to bulge
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of Wa (Japan), where they were received as rare and mysterious objects. They were described as "sources of honesty" as they were said to reflect all good and evil without error. That is why Japan considers a sacred mirror called
79:. The front was polished and could be used as a mirror, while the back has a design cast in the bronze, or other decoration. When sunlight or other bright light shines onto the mirror, the mirror appears to become
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with decorations, written characters, or patterns on the reverse side that could cast these in a reflection on a nearby surface as light struck the front, polished side of the mirror; due to this seemingly
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discovered that they had a
Chinese magic mirror in their collection. The curator, Hou-mei Sung, discovered that a mirror in their collection reflected an image of
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the resultant magnification of the whole image, the effect was to reproduce the patterns as if they were passing through the solid bronze by way of light beams.
29:, Japan, 19th century. In this example there is a further bronze backplate, with an inscription, so that the Buddha can only be seen as a reflection.
264:. The English called the artefacts "open mirrors" and for the first time made technical observations regarding their construction.
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83:. If that light is reflected from the mirror onto a wall, the pattern on the back of the mirror is then projected onto the wall.
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interviewed the craftsman and he explained a small portion of the technique, that he learned from his father.
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Today, Yamamoto
Akihisa is said to be the last manufacturer of magic mirrors in Japan. The
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in 1932. Bragg noted that "Only the magnifying effect of reflection makes them plain".
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This Tang-era book was lost over the centuries, but magic mirrors were described in the
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cultures, but most lacked this characteristic, as did most
Chinese bronze mirrors.
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Mak, Se-yuen; Yip, Din-yan (2001). "Secrets of the
Chinese magic mirror replica".
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483:"'Magic mirror': Hidden image revealed in reflection of centuries-old artifact"
71:) traces back to at least the 5th century, although their existence during the
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The Genius of China: 3,000 Years of
Science, Discovery, and Invention.
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outwards and become more convex than the thicker portions. Finally, a
75:(206 BC – 24 AD) has been claimed. The mirrors were made out of solid
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transparent quality at all, as discovered by the
British scientist
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in 1844. In total, just four magic mirrors brought from China to
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As the manufacture of mirrors in China increased, it expanded to
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200:of China gave numerous bronze mirrors (known as
163:(1031–1095), who owned three of them as family
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435:New York: Simon and Schuster, Inc. p. 66-67
109:Robert Temple describes their construction:
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260:several models they had brought from
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232:The first magic mirror to appear in
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495:from the original on 6 June 2023.
236:was owned by the director of the
16:Metallic mirrors of ancient China
215:three great imperial treasures
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133:In about 800 AD, during the
137:(618–907), a book entitled
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402:10.1088/0031-9120/36/2/302
246:French Academy of Sciences
240:, who, on his return from
97:were the standard in many
139:Record of Ancient Mirrors
457:"The Magic Mirror Maker"
431:Temple, Robert (1986).
354:: 16–17. October 1988.
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269:Cincinnati Art Museum
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43:Chinese magic mirror
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204:in Japan) to Queen
192:. In fact, Emperor
55:traditional Chinese
523:Chinese inventions
148:transparent effect
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47:simplified Chinese
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518:Optical illusions
463:. 4 February 2014
382:Physics Education
238:Paris Observatory
213:to be one of the
156:Dream Pool Essays
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467:13 December
352:The Courier
314:18 November
198:Wei Kingdom
81:transparent
73:Han dynasty
507:Categories
309:Met Museum
291:References
285:TLV mirror
202:Shinju-kyo
410:250800685
365:23 August
360:0041-5278
169:quenching
165:heirlooms
493:Archived
279:See also
273:Amitabha
196:and the
161:Shen Kuo
99:Eurasian
390:Bibcode
194:Cao Rui
124:History
116:mercury
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258:London
250:Europe
206:Himiko
77:bronze
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63:pinyin
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406:S2CID
348:(PDF)
262:Japan
242:China
190:Japan
186:Korea
180:Japan
129:China
469:2020
437:ISBN
367:2011
356:ISSN
316:2022
188:and
41:The
488:CNN
398:doi
256:of
159:by
59:透光鏡
51:透光镜
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