o scratch, carve stripes and inscriptions on the model. After casting the bronze mirror, the markings, inscriptions are clear and flowing. After the Song Dynasty, imitation mirrors were often made of Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty bronze mirrors. Although the mirrors were of the same shape, the patterns and inscriptions were vague, the lines were not smooth and rigid. However, after a long time, some real mirrors show vague patterns and inscriptions, which requires careful judgment.

　　2. Copy the mold. In addition to using Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty bronze mirrors to turn the mold directly, imitations are also used to make the mold. Some of the pictures, patterns and inscriptions are imitated on the mirror model. The shapes, patterns and inscriptions of the cast bronze mirrors are also quite different, and the patterns and inscriptions are crude together. Some shapes, patterns and inscriptions are the same as those of real mirrors. They need to be carefully compared with real objects in terms of patterns and inscriptions, and they can be summarized, analyzed and identified from various characteristics.

　　3. Splicing of broken mirror. It' s a good idea to combine several damaged ancient bronze mirrors into a perfect bronze mirror. Although they are common with real wares in terms of texture and rust, they are assembled goods after all. Due to the different preservation environment, several different damaged bronze mirrors must have one or other differences in shape, decoration, rust color, texture and other aspects, as well as welding traces.

　　4. Change the big into the small, and change the residual into the whole. If the original mirror is damaged or for other reasons, the forger will change it into a perfect small mirror. Or remove the edge, or take the inner area, or take the button seat part. No matter which method is used, there are sawmarks or Stubbles on the edge, without the feature of round edge of the real mirror. Even if the fake ground or rust is made, it is different from the real mirror, and the thickness of the edge is also different.

　　5. Remove the handle and change the mirror shape. Because the handle of a bronze mirror cracked, the forger obeyed its beauty and saw off the handle and changed it into a new mirror shape. After sawing, there are obvious differences in the connection between the mirror handle and the edge. After sawing, the ground, rust color and unsaw place are different. Generally, the majority of people who have a handle mirror without buttons take off the handle and how to hold the mirror does not conform to the law. Therefore, when meeting a mirror without buttons, we should carefully consider and carefully observe the edge of the mirror to see if there is any flaw.

　　6. Change the inscription after that. The original mirror has an inscription, or there is ambiguity in the inscription of the mirror, or because the model year of the inscription is relatively close, in order to improve its economic value, it will be worn out. Or pile up new year' s greetings at the mill, or carve new words at the mill. If the characters are piled up later, they are mostly piled up with silver and tin. Because silver and tin are soft, the new characters are simply scraped and ground, so that the new characters piled up are higher than other places, and the tin quality is easily exposed around the characters; if the characters are carved after grinding, the characters are lower than other places. After careful examination, it can be found that there are traces of the original inscriptions under the new style, which can not be connected with the original inscriptions.

　　7. Painted or inlaid with gold and silver. The original mirror had no color or inlaid with gold and silver wire. In order to cover up the rust, the forger painted a color pattern on its back, or inlaid a gold and silver wire pattern on a large lacquer offset plate. The color of the false mirror painted after the painting floats on the rust. If the original painting color is under the rust, it is actually attached to the mirror copper; if the large lacquer offset plate is inlaid with gold and silver wire, it is simple to inlay, but the inlay is not solid for a long time.

　　8. Back button. The original mirror had no buttons, or the buttons were damaged. The forger added a button in the center of the mirror back, or cast or install a button on it because of the button' s defect to make the original button higher. In this way, carefully observe that the rust around the button and the ground are different from other places, and pick them with a knife gently together to see the welding traces.

　　9. Exaggerate or self defeating. Some of the patterns and inscriptions are imitated, and then they are embellished or self defeating. Instead of embellishing other patterns, they are the inscriptions of the times that do not conform to the copy mirror. For example, the Song Dynasty imitates the Han Dynasty' s rule " Palace" mirror. The regular pattern, zigzag pattern and mirror shape of the mirror are all the characteristics of the bronze mirror of the Han Dynasty, but the decoration is vague. The inscription of the word " Gong" is not the characteristics of the bronze mirror of the Han Dynasty, which is actually self defeating. The decoration is also faintly seen under the word " Gong" engraved. Therefore, the mirror is the type of bronze mirror of the Han Dynasty in the Song Dynasty. 10. The two characteristics of the times together produce one mirror. Some imitated mirrors have the characteristics of two times and are opposite to each other. It not only imitates the shape of the Tang Dynasty' s Linghua and sunflower, but also imitates the inscriptions of the Han Dynasty' s bronze mirrors. For example, in the Jin Dynasty, it imitates the Tang Dynasty' s auspicious animal grape mirror. The auspicious animal grape pattern of the mirror is a typical feature of the Tang Dynasty's bronze mirror, and the central part of the mirror back is engraved with the government's logo. Therefore, the mirror is the Tang Dynasty's auspicious animal grape mirror. For example, the Ming Dynasty imitates the Han Dynasty and the Song Dynasty's "Baojian" small mirror. This mirror imitates both the Huzhou mirror of the Song Dynasty and the zigzag pattern of the bronze mirror of the Han Dynasty on the mirror edge. They are opposite and more exposed, so it must be imitated.

　　11. Antique mirror with black paint on the back. Now the forgers are not only highly skilled, but also have advanced and high-grade materials for making mirrors. Some antique bronze mirrors are made in black and shiny, and the patterns are clear and neat, and the shape of the mirror is right. But the mirror body is heavy. It's made of black lacquer. After repeated scrubbing, it can be exposed

　　Son. The black lacquer on the edge can be cut off with fingernails. This kind of mirror is a kind of bronze mirror which is made of silica gel and directly turned over from the grape mirror of auspicious beast in Tang Dynasty. The clarity of the pattern is higher than that of the plaster mold.

　　In a word, no matter what kind of imitation mirror, it has the characteristics of imitation era. Only by careful identification and analysis, we can find out the flaws.