A broken mirror joined together — Reunion of husband and wife after an enforced separation or marital rupture.
During China’s Southern and Northern Dynasties, there lived a beautiful, intelligent princess named Lechang. She and her husband Xu Deyan loved each other dearly. However, before long their country was in danger of being invaded by the troops of the Sui Dynasty.
Princess Lechang and Xu Deyan then decided: “We can’t stay in the palace any more.” “It’s too dangerous here. Let’s go into exile now.”
They threw away all of their belongings except for a bronze mirror, which served as a symbol of the unity of husband and wife. They broke it into two parts and kept a half each, saying “In case we lose contact, each of us will take our half of the mirror to the fair during the Lantern Festival, in the hope that we will meet again.” “Yes, when we’re united, the two halves will be joined together.”
Their premonition would soon come true. During the chaos of war, the princess lost touch with her husband and was taken to the new minister’s house to become his mistress.
At the Lantern Festival the next year, her husband Xu Deyan took his half of the mirror to the fair, hoping to meet his wife. It just so happened that a servant was selling the other half of the bronze mirror. Xu Deyan recognized it immediately, exclaiming “That’s my wife’s half of the mirror! Where is she now?” As he heard about her bitter experiences, tears rolled down his cheeks onto the mirror to wash away the rust, and bring back the shine. Xu Deyan wrote a poem on his wife’s half of the mirror:
You left me with your broken mirror long ago
Now the mirror is back but not you
I can no longer see your reflection in the mirror
Only the bright moon but not you
The servant brought back the inscribed half of the mirror to princess Lechang. For days, she could not help sobbing because she knew that her husband was still alive and that he missed her.
The new minister discovered her story and realized that it would be impossible to gain Lechang’s love. So he sent for Xu Deyan and allowed the husband and wife to reunite.
From that story comes the idiom Pò Jìng Chóng Yuán 破镜重圆 , which is used to suggest the happy reunion of a separated couple.
The key word Mirror is Jing, and a broken mirror is Po Jing. Chongyuan means “to become round again,” since in ancient China, a mirror was always round or oval in shape.
(Source:english.cri.cn)
