The sun-mirror () and moon-mirror () were bronze tools used in ancient China. A sun-mirror was a burning-mirror used to concentrate sunlight and ignite a fire, while a moon-mirror was a device used to collect nighttime dew by condensation. Their ability to produce fire and water gave them symbolic significance to Chinese philosophers, and they were often used as metaphors for the concepts of yin and yang (the sun-mirror representing and the moon-mirror representing ).
Terminology There are numerous Chinese names for the fire-producing "sun-mirror" and water-producing "moon-mirror".
These two bronze implements are literary metaphors for yin and yang, associating the "-mirror" with the Sun (a.k.a. ), fire, dry, and round, and the "-mirror" with the Moon (), water, wet, and square.
Yangsui
The most common Chinese term for a sun-mirror, or is a compound word combining "" (meaning "sunshine", the same as in "yin and yang") with or . The Hanyu Da Cidian unabridged Chinese dictionary gives three meanings for (): "Also written , a concave bronze mirror anciently used to start a fire from sunlight."; "appearance of clear, unobstructed flowing", which was first recorded in a poem () by Wang Bao; and "an ancient type of chariot window that admits light", which was first recorded in the Book of Jin.
Three uncommon variant names for the concave fire-starting mirror are ; with used in the Rites of Zhou, ; with used in the Book of Rites (below), and used in Taiping Yulan (below).
English translations of the Chinese sun-mirror in classic texts (cited below) include: "metal speculum for getting fire from the sun" "burning-glass" "sun-mirror" "burning mirror" "solar kindlers" or "igniters using " "burning-mirror" "burning mirror"
Fangzhu The name combines , and . The Hanyu Da Cidian gives two meanings: "an ancient device used to collect dew in the moonlight in order to obtain water"; "a mythical place where xian 'transcendents; immortals' reside".
The Taiping Yulan encyclopedia (published in 983) lists some synonyms of and , "The or obtains fire from the sun. The or obtains water from the Moon. They are copper amalgam mirrors, also named 'water and fire mirrors'."
is a near-synonym for . The , which is a type of Chinese architectural column traditionally erected in front of palaces and tombs, is topped by a mythical sitting on a round chenglupan cap.
There are comparatively fewer English translations of the Chinese moon-mirror, which lacks a direct translation equivalent and is more frequently romanized, include: "moon-mirror" "Yin mirror" "metal speculum for gathering water from the moon" "square speculum" "square receptacle"
Mirror metaphors Metaphorically using and mirrors to represent and reflects a more commonly used Chinese philosophical metaphor of a mirror to denote the ("heart-mind"). For instance, the Zhuangzi famously says having a mirror-like represents
The stillness of the sage is not because stillness is said to be good and therefore he is still. It is because the myriad things are unable to disturb his mind that he is still. When water is still, it clearly reflects whiskers and brows. It is so accurate that the great craftsman takes his standard from it. If still water has such clarity, how much more so pure spirit! The stillness of the mind of the sage is the mirror of heaven and earth, the looking glass of the myriad things. (13)
Many scholars of Chinese philosophy have analyzed the mirror metaphor for the . Harold Oshima explains that for a modern Westerner who regards a mirror as a commonplace looking-glass, this metaphor "appears quite pedestrian and unexciting" until one realizes that the ancient Chinese imagined mirrors "to possess broad and mysterious powers." For instance, a mirror can reveal and control demons. The says a Daoist practitioner entering the mountains would suspend a mirror on his back, which was believed to prevent the approach of demons—compare the European belief that a mirror is apotropaic toward vampires who are supposedly unable to produce a reflection. Oshima says the burning-mirror that miraculously produces fire best illustrates the "great sense of mystery surrounding mirrors". "Certainly this mirror symbolized a powerful connection with the greater powers of the heavens and, as such, would have served admirably as a model for the ." For the early Chinese, mirrors were not simply passive "reflectors" of information, they offered accurate and appropriate responses to whatever came before them. When placed before the sun—the ultimate phenomenon in the world—they respond with fire: the pure essence of . When placed before the moon—the ultimate phenomenon in the world—they respond with water: the pure essence of . Thus mirrors offer the paradigm for proper responsiveness: they reflect the true essence of the ultimate and —the alpha and omega of phenomena in early Chinese cosmology." Erin Cline says the early Chinese attributed mirrors to have a mysterious power and great religious significance. The ceremonial bronze and mirrors were seen as active, responsive objects because they could be used to produce fire and water (two of the Five Phases). When placed outside, concave mirrors focused sunlight to produce fire, while bronze mirrors gathered condensation in the light of the moon. But it was not simply the fact that mirrors had the power to gather or produce that made them objects of religious significance in ancient China; it was what they produced. Water and fire were thought to be the pure essences of and , respectively, and the fact that mirrors appeared to draw these substances from the Sun and Moon reinforced the cosmological power that was already associated with them.
Textual examples The Chinese classics contain early information about fire-mirrors and fangshu water-mirrors. The first two sources below are "ritual texts" of uncertain dates, and the others are presented chronologically.
Rites of Zhou The (c. 2nd century BCE) Rites of Zhou is a compilation of Eastern Zhou (771-256 BCE) texts about government bureaucracy and administration. It describes two kinds of ritual officials making the purifying "new fire". The Directors of Fire Ceremonies () used a fire-drill (), for which a variety of different woods were chosen at five periods during the year. The Directors of Sun Fire () ceremonially used a to start the "new fire". They have the duty of receiving, with the mirror, brilliant fire from the sun; and of receiving with the (ordinary) mirror brilliant water from the moon. They carry out these operations in order to prepare brilliant rice, brilliant torches for sacrifices, and brilliant water.Tr. , cf. . The Rites of Zhou commentary by Zheng Xuan (127–200) glosses fusui as . The sub-commentary of Jia Gongyan () says the fusui is called because it starts a fire by means of the jīng ( "spirit; essence") of the taiyang ("great ; sun").
Book of Rites Another ritual text similar to the Rites of Zhou, the 2nd-1st century BCE Book of Rites is a compilation of Eastern Zhou textual materials. "The Pattern of the Family" section lists idealized duties of family members. Sons and daughters-in-law are supposed to wear a utility belt that includes metal and wood (two of the Five Phases) suì fire-starters: and a , which implies that fire-mirrors were quite commonly used among the ancient Chinese. From the left and right of the girdle should hang their articles for use—on the left side, the duster and handkerchief, the knife and whetstone, the small spike, and the metal speculum for getting fire from the sun ; on the right, the archer's thimble for the thumb and the armlet, the tube for writing instruments, the knife-case , the larger spike, and the borer for getting fire from wood . Zheng Xuan's Book of Rites commentary glosses musui as . Kong Yingda (574 – 648) quotes Huang Kan , "When it is daylight, use the jinsui to start a fire from the sun, when it is dark, use the musui to start a fire with a drill". The commentary of Sun Xidan (1736-1784) says jinsui or should ideally be cast on the Summer Solstice and on the Winter Solstice.
The Chunqiu Fanlu (14), attributed to Dong Zhongshu (179–104 BC), says attracts iron and attracts fire; Joseph Needham and Wang Ling suggest the name "neck metal" derives from either the mirror being hung round the neck, or because necks are concave things.
Huainanzi Liu An's (c. 139 BCE) Huainanzi "Masters of Huainan", which is a compendium of writings from various schools of Chinese philosophy, was the first text to record fangzhu dew-collectors.
Two Huainanzi chapters metaphorically use "sun and moon mirrors" to exemplify and categories and elucidate the Chinese notion of ganying "cosmic resonance" through which categorically identical things mutually resonate and influence each other. The is , round, and sun-like; the is , square, and moon-like. The first context describes and fangzhu mirrors the sun and moon. The Way of Heaven is called the Round; the Way of Earth is called the Square. The square governs the obscure; the circular governs the bright. The bright emits qi, and for this reason fire is the external brilliance of the sun. The obscure sucks in qi, and for this reason water is the internal luminosity of the moon. Emitted qi endows; retained qi transforms. Thus yang endows and yin transforms. The unbalanced qi of Heaven and Earth, becoming perturbed, causes wind; the harmonious qi of Heaven and Earth, becoming calm, causes rain. When yin and yang rub against each other, their interaction produces thunder. Aroused, they produce thunderclaps; disordered they produce mist. When the yang qi prevails, it scatters to make rain and dew; when the yin qi prevails, it freezes to make frost and snow. Hairy and feather creatures make up the class of flying and walking things and are subject to yang. Creatures with scales and shells make up the class of creeping and hiding things and are subject to yin. The sun is the ruler of yang. Therefore, in spring and summer animals shed their fur; at the summer solstice, stags' antlers drop off. The moon is the fundament of yin. Therefore when the moon wanes, the brains of fish shrink; when the moon dies, wasps and crabs shrivel up. Fire flies upward; water flows downward. Thus, the flight of birds is aloft; the movement of fishes is downward. Things within the same class mutually move one another; root and twig mutually respond to each other . Therefore, when the burning mirror sees the sun, it ignites tinder and produces fire . When the square receptacle sees the moon, it moistens and produces water . When the tiger roars, the valley winds rush; when the dragon arises, the bright clouds accumulate. When qilins wrangle, the sun or moon is eclipsed; when the leviathan dies, comets appear. When silkworms secrete fragmented silk, the shang string snaps. When meteors fall, the Bohai surges upward. (3.2) The second mentions some of the same yinyang and ganying folk-beliefs.