Enjoy the collection of ancient bronze mirrors and paintings at the Bengbu Museum

Bronze mirrors are not only tools for arranging makeup, but also exquisite works of art. The bronze mirror is cast from bronze, with a smooth front for reflection and use in grooming, while the back often has beautiful patterns or text. According to research, its history can be traced back more than 4000 years. Ancient bronze mirrors have a variety of shapes, and the content of the decorations is even more colorful, ranging from geometric patterns to birds and flowers, from myths and legends to realistic patterns, ingeniously conceived, encompassing everything. They condense the social thoughts and aesthetic tastes of each historical period, and are treasures in China's ancient cultural heritage. The Bengbu Museum has a collection of more than 500 mirrors, covering from the Warring States to the Qing Dynasty, with a variety of types and rich themes. The Bengbu Museum's exhibition of fine bronze mirrors interprets the history of bronze mirrors from three aspects: patterns, inscriptions, and story themes, aiming to let visitors understand the functions of bronze mirrors in reflecting people, history, and the rise and fall of trends, and to appreciate the beauty of the patterns, inscriptions, and allusions on the bronze mirrors. Chinese bronze mirrors are mostly round, resembling the full moon, and in some inscriptions, the bronze mirror is often metaphorically compared to the bright moon, from which one can imagine the shadow of the moon at that time. The paintings and calligraphy works in the Bengbu Museum have different styles and schools, reflecting the overall appearance and brilliant achievements of the painting and calligraphy art in the Bengbu region and the Huai River basin.