Antiques with golden eyes

Shen Yu took this 'Bagua Feng Shui Mirror' in his hands and weighed it. It was heavy, weighing almost four kilograms.

My eyes wandered carefully on the bronze mirror, and I soon discovered some quite interesting details.

This bronze mirror is made of brass material.

As we all know, brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. Compared with pure copper, it has a unique color and texture.

In ancient times, ancient mirrors made of brass were extremely rare.

Generally speaking, most of the ancient mirrors circulating on the market are made of bronze.

Whether it was the Qin Emperor and Han Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty when art flourished, or the Song Dynasty when the GDP was the largest in the world, bronze mirrors at that time were generally cast in bronze.

This is because bronze smelting technology was more mature in ancient times.

And bronze itself is an alloy of copper and tin, which has very obvious advantages. It is much more available than brass. It has moderate hardness and is easy to cast fine patterns, making it the first choice material for making bronze mirrors.

Bronze mirrors made of brass did not begin to appear until the Ming Dynasty and gradually became popular.

Based on this remarkable material feature, Shen Yu already made a preliminary judgment in his mind.

This dating is actually very simple, and it is most likely an ancient mirror from the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, Wang Lao's intention was not to date himself to the Ming Dynasty in such a general way. He obviously meant which emperor made this bronze mirror during his reign.

For example, is it Yongle or Jiajing, or Wanli or Tianqi.

Although Shen Yu is quite proficient in bronze mirrors, identifying an object of this level requires analyzing and analyzing every detail to draw a more accurate conclusion.

It often took dozens of minutes, and Shen Yu asked himself that he simply didn't have the patience.

So on the surface, Shen Yu appraised it very carefully, and both the material and the details looked very attentive.

In particular, I studied the ancient seal characters on the mirror body word by word, paying no attention to any detail from the style of the font, the writing technique and the degree of wear and tear of the handwriting. I tried to get relevant clues about the era from it.

But in fact, Shen Yu had already recited a treasure appraisal silently and saw the treasure light of the ancient mirror.

The Baoguang is dark blue, so it can be determined that this ancient mirror is from the early Ming Dynasty.

The early Ming Dynasty generally refers to the Hongwu, Yongle, Xuande, and Three Dynasties.

"Hey, this is not simple brass, but wind-polished copper!" A flash of surprise suddenly flashed in Shen Yu's eyes, and he couldn't help but whisper softly.

Wind-milled copper is a unique copper material in the Ming Dynasty. Its refining process is complicated and mysterious. Because of this, wind-milled copper is extremely famous, and it became the main copper material for making Xuande furnaces during the Xuanzong period.

Except for the control and use of the Ming Dynasty royal family, it is difficult to find traces of it anywhere else. It can be said to be a rare thing exclusive to the royal family.

It can be seen from this that the background behind this Feng Shui mirror should be considerable, and it was most likely that it came from the palace of the Ming Dynasty.

Shen Yu's exclamation instantly attracted the attention of everyone around him.

A trace of surprise flashed across Mr. Wang's originally calm face. He walked up to Shen Yu, stared at the bronze mirror in Shen Yu's hand and asked, "Xiao Shen, are you sure this is wind-milled copper?"

Shen Yu nodded slightly, then shook his head helplessly, and explained with a wry smile: "Mr. Wang, Fengmo Copper has been rumored to be so magical now, but in fact, no one knows what Fengmo Copper is. Exact answer.

"Even how it was cast and refined, and what color it is, no one can tell clearly now.

"It's just a rumor that the more the wind blows the material, the brighter and smoother it becomes.

“The color is yellow with a hint of red.

"However, this junior's appraisal is not based on these mythical legends, but on his own appraisal experience accumulated over many years.

"Judging from the texture and color of the mirror body, it is completely different from all the bronze mirrors I have seen before. It has a unique charm and texture, so I concluded that it is most likely the legendary Feng Mo. copper."

Mr. Wang narrowed his eyes slightly: "So, Xiao Shen, can you date this ancient mirror?"

Shen Chenyu raised his head, looked at Mr. Wang firmly, took a deep breath, as if he was gathering strength for what he was about to say, "Old Wang, I have made some judgments about this bronze mirror. This mirror must be from the early Ming Dynasty." Object."

Mr. Wang was noncommittal, "Which emperor was in power specifically?"

Shen Yu immediately began to analyze, "During the Hongwu period, Ming Taizu used the power of the three-foot sword to pacify the world. At that time, the world was initially settled, with many wastes waiting to be revitalized, and the entire country was in a long process of recuperation.

"In such a general environment, both material and manpower are limited. The production of bronze mirrors is mostly practical, and the craftsmanship is difficult to achieve such exquisiteness, so Hongwu could rule it out.

“During the Yongle period, Emperor Zhu Di sent Zheng He to the Western Seas to strengthen foreign exchanges and cultural integration. The style of bronze mirrors at this time was more grand and diversified, integrating cultural elements from different regions.

"And this ancient mirror is completely a Taoist Feng Shui mirror, so it cannot be from the Yongle period.

"Emperor Xuanzong was an artist emperor, and his pursuit of art reached the extreme. It was his will to use a large amount of wind-milled copper in the production of Xuande furnaces.

"The most important point is that Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty respected Taoism extremely.

"First of all, Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty called himself: Changchun Zhenren.

"Secondly, according to many historical records and later speculations, the cause of Zhu Zhanji's death was probably due to long-term use of the so-called 'elixir'.

"At that time, alchemy was a child's play. Taoist priests could make it however they wanted, and many of the raw materials used were highly toxic.

"There is even a very outrageous concept of "fighting poison with poison" in the theory of alchemy, which was also the main reason why Zhu Zhanji passed away at the age of thirty-six.

"Another one is that Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty had great respect for Emperor Zhenwu, which is recorded in detail in the "Records of Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty".

"Taking it all together, I speculate that it is an ancient mirror from the Xuanzong period of the Ming Dynasty. I wonder if this judgment is accurate?"

After hearing this, Mr. Wang fell into deep thought for a moment. His face was as calm as water, and only a hint of unnoticeable relief and appreciation could be seen in his eyes.

After staring at Shen Yu for a while, a smile slowly appeared on his face, "Xiao Shen, your ability to make such an accurate and clear judgment in such a short period of time is beyond my expectation.

"Hey, Mr. Shen can really smile with a smile as he has a grandson as smart, alert and knowledgeable as you.

"Yes, this bronze mirror is indeed an ancient mirror from the Xuanzong period of the Ming Dynasty.

"Speaking of which, this also has a rather strange connection with your Qingniu Temple!"

When Shen Yu heard this, he couldn't help being slightly startled, his eyes full of doubts, "Is this mirror related to the Green Bull Temple?"