"as the sword is the soul of a samurai, so is the mirror the soul of a woman."
"when the mirror is dim the soul is unclean."
japanese proverbs.
the significance of japanese mirrors
old japanese metal mirrors are circular, the surface convex, and the back adorned with elaborate designs in relief of flowers, birds, and other scenes from nature. professor b. h. chamberlain writes: "an extraordinary peculiarity characterises some of these japanese mirrors: sunlight reflected from their face displays a luminous image of the design on their back! so strange a phenomenon has naturally attracted the attention of men of science. after much speculation, it has been clearly proved by professors ayrton and perry to arise from the fact that the curvature of the face of the mirror over the plain part of the back is greater than over the design." it is the phenomenon rather than the possible explanation of it that interests us, and no doubt this strange occurrence accounts in some measure for the magical significance of nipponese mirrors.
the great legendary idea underlying japanese mirrors is just this, that the mirror, through constant reflection of its owner's face, draws to itself the very soul of its possessor, and, as we shall see later on, something of the same idea is to be traced in regard to old but much-loved japanese dolls.
hidari jingoro
the famous sculptor hidari jingoro on one occasion happened to fall in love with a very attractive woman whom he met in the street on his return to his studio. he[pg 191] was so fascinated by her rare beauty that as soon as he had reached his destination he commenced to carve a statue of her. between the chiselled robes he placed a mirror, the mirror which the lovely woman had dropped, and which her eager lover had at once picked up. because this mirror had reflected a thousand thousand times that fair face, it had taken to its shining surface the very body and soul of its owner, and because of these strange things the statue came to life, to the extreme happiness of sculptor and maid.
the divine mirror
long before the japanese mirror was a familiar object in the house it had a very deep religious significance in connection with shintoism. the divine mirror into which the sun goddess gazed reposes at ise. other mirrors are to be found in shinto shrines; indeed, these mirrors are the essential part of a shrine remarkable for its simplicity. the mirror "typifies the human heart, which, when perfectly placid and clear, reflects the very image of the deity." in the kojiki we are told that izanagi presented his children with a polished silver disc, and bade them kneel before it every morning and evening and examine their reflections. he told them to think of heavenly things, to stifle passion and all evil thought, so that the disc should reveal a pure and lovely soul.
the soul of a mirror
the shrine of ogawachi-myojin fell into decay, and the shinto priest in charge, matsumura, journeyed to kyoto in the hope of successfully appealing to the shogun for a grant for the restoration of the temple.
matsumura and his family resided in a house in kyoto, said to be extremely unlucky, and many tenants[pg 192] had thrown themselves into the well on the north-east side of the dwelling. but matsumura took no notice of these tales, and was not the least afraid of evil spirits.
during the summer of that year there was a great drought in kyoto. though the river-beds dried up and many wells failed for want of rain, the well in matsumura's garden was full to overflowing. the distress elsewhere, owing to want of water, forced many poor people to beg for it, and for all their drawing the water in this particular well did not diminish.
one day, however, a dead body was found lying in the well, that of a servant who had come to fetch water. in his case suicide was out of the question, and it seemed impossible that he should have accidentally fallen in. when matsumura heard of the fatality he went to inspect the well. to his surprise the water stirred with a strange rocking movement. when the motion lessened he saw reflected in the clear water the form of a fair young woman. she was touching her lips with beni. at length she smiled upon him. it was a strange smile that made matsumura feel dizzy, a smile that blotted out everything else save the beautiful woman's face. he felt an almost irresistible desire to fling himself into the water in order that he might reach and hold this enchanting woman. he struggled against this strange feeling, however, and was able after a while to enter the house, where he gave orders that a fence should be built round the well, and that from thenceforth no one, on any pretext whatever, should draw water there.
shortly afterwards the drought came to an end. for three days and nights there was a continuous downpour of rain, and the city shook with an earthquake. on the third night of the storm there was a loud knocking[pg 193] at matsumura's door. the priest himself inquired who his visitor might be. he half opened the door, and saw once more the woman he had seen in the well. he refused her admission, and asked why she had been guilty of taking the lives of so many harmless and innocent people.
thus the woman made answer: "alas! good priest, i have never desired to lure human beings to their death. it is the poison dragon, who lived in that well, who forced me against my will to entice people to death. but now the gods have compelled the poison dragon to live elsewhere, so that to-night i was able to leave my place of captivity. now there is but little water in the well, and if you will search there you will find my body. take care of it for me, and i shall not fail to reward your goodness." with these words she vanished as suddenly as she had appeared.
next day well-cleaners searched the well, and discovered some ancient hair ornaments and an old metal mirror.
matsumura, being a wise man, took the mirror and cleaned it, believing that it might reveal a solution to the mystery.
upon the back of the mirror he discovered several characters. many of the ideographs were too blurred to be legible, but he managed to make out "third month, the third day." in ancient time the third month used to be called yayoi, or month of increase, and remembering that the woman had called herself yayoi, matsumura realised that he had probably received a visit from the soul of the mirror.
matsumura took every care of the mirror. he ordered it to be resilvered and polished, and when this had been done he laid it in a box specially made for it, and mirror and box were placed in a particular room in the house.
[pg 194]
one day, when matsumura was sitting in the apartment where the mirror reposed, he once more saw yayoi standing before him, looking more beautiful than ever, and the refulgence of her beauty was like summer moonlight. after she had saluted matsumura she explained that she was indeed the soul of the mirror, and narrated how she had fallen into the possession of lady kamo, of the imperial court, and how she had become an heirloom of the fujiwara house, until during the period of hogen, when the taira and minamoto clans were engaged in conflict, she was thrown into a well, and there forgotten. having narrated these things, and all the horrors she had gone through under the tyranny of the poison dragon, yayoi begged that matsumura would present the mirror to the shogun, the lord yoshimasa, who was a descendant of her former possessors, promising the priest considerable good fortune if he did so. before yayoi departed she advised matsumura to leave his home immediately, as it was about to be washed away by a great storm.
on the following day matsumura left the house, and, as yayoi had prophesied, almost immediately afterwards his late dwelling was swept away.
at length matsumura was able to present, the mirror to the shogun yoshimasa, together with a written account of its strange history. the shogun was so pleased with the gift that he not only gave matsumura many personal presents, but he also presented the priest with a considerable sum of money for the rebuilding of his temple.
a mirror and a bell
when the priests of mugenyama required a large bell for their temple they asked the women in the vicinity[pg 195] to contribute their old bronze mirrors for the purpose of providing the necessary metal.
hundreds of mirrors were given for this purpose, and all were offered gladly, except the mirror presented by a certain farmer's wife. as soon as she had given her mirror to the priests she began to regret having parted with it. she remembered how old it was, how it had reflected her mother's laughter and tears, and even her great-grandmother's. whenever this farmer's wife went to the temple she saw her coveted mirror lying in a great heap behind a railing. she recognised it by the design on the back known as the sho-chiku-bai, or the three emblems of the pine, bamboo, and plum-flower. she yearned to stretch forth her arm between the railings and to snatch back her beloved mirror. her soul was in the shining surface, and it mingled with the souls of those who had gazed into it before she was born.
when the mugenyama bell was in course of construction the bell-founders discovered that one mirror would not melt. the workers said that it refused to melt because the owner had afterwards regretted the gift, which had made the metal hard, as hard as the woman's selfish heart.
soon every one knew the identity of the giver of the mirror that would not melt, and, angry and ashamed, the farmer's wife drowned herself, first having written the following: "when i am dead you will be able to melt my mirror, and so cast the bell. my soul will come to him who breaks that bell by ringing it, and i will give him great wealth."
when the woman died her old mirror melted immediately, and the bell was cast and was suspended in its customary place. many people having heard of the message written by the deceased farmer's wife, a great[pg 196] multitude came to the temple, and one by one rang the bell with the utmost violence in the hope of breaking it and winning great wealth. day after day the ringing continued, till at last the noise became so unbearable that the priests rolled the bell into a swamp, where it lay hidden from sight.
the mirror of matsuyama
in ancient days there lived in a remote part of japan a man and his wife, and they were blessed with a little girl, who was the pet and idol of her parents. on one occasion the man was called away on business in distant kyoto. before he went he told his daughter that if she were good and dutiful to her mother he would bring her back a present she would prize very highly. then the good man took his departure, mother and daughter watching him go.
at last he returned to his home, and after his wife and child had taken off his large hat and sandals he sat down upon the white mats and opened a bamboo basket, watching the eager gaze of his little child. he took out a wonderful doll and a lacquer box of cakes and put them into her outstretched hands. once more he dived into his basket, and presented his wife with a metal mirror. its convex surface shone brightly, while upon its back there was a design of pine-trees and storks.
the good man's wife had never seen a mirror before, and on gazing into it she was under the impression that another woman looked out upon her as she gazed with growing wonder. her husband explained the mystery and bade her take great care of the mirror.
not long after this happy home-coming and distribution of presents the woman became very ill. just before she died she called to her little daughter, and said: "dear child, when i am dead take every care of[pg 197] your father. you will miss me when i have left you. but take this mirror, and when you feel most lonely look into it and you will always see me." having said these words she passed away.
in due time the man married again, and his wife was not at all kind to her stepdaughter. but the little one, remembering her mother's last words, would retire to a corner and eagerly look into the mirror, where it seemed to her that she saw her dear mother's face, not drawn in pain as she had seen it on her death-bed, but young and beautiful.
one day this child's stepmother chanced to see her crouching in a corner over an object she could not quite see, murmuring to herself. this ignorant woman, who detested the child and believed that her stepdaughter detested her in return, fancied that this little one was performing some strange magical art—perhaps making an image and sticking pins into it. full of these notions, the stepmother went to her husband and told him that his wicked child was doing her best to kill her by witchcraft.
when the master of the house had listened to this extraordinary recital he went straight to his daughter's room. he took her by surprise, and immediately the girl saw him she slipped the mirror into her sleeve. for the first time her doting father grew angry, and he feared that there was, after all, truth in what his wife had told him, and he repeated her tale forthwith.
when his daughter had heard this unjust accusation she was amazed at her father's words, and she told him that she loved him far too well ever to attempt or wish to kill his wife, who she knew was dear to him.
"what have you hidden in your sleeve?" said her father, only hair convinced and still much puzzled.
"the mirror you gave my mother, and which she on[pg 198] her death-bed gave to me. every time i look into its shining surface i see the face of my dear mother, young and beautiful. when my heart aches—and oh! it has ached so much lately—i take out the mirror, and mother's face, with sweet, kind smile, brings me peace, and helps me to bear hard words and cross looks."
then the man understood and loved his child the more for her filial piety. even the girl's stepmother, when she knew what had really taken place, was ashamed and asked forgiveness. and this child, who believed she had seen her mother's face in the mirror, forgave, and trouble for ever departed from the home.
