Yi Bin grins from ear to ear when people say his house is like a "fish pond." But what they are referring to is not the common fish but his precious "double-fish bronze mirrors."

In the past decade, Yi, 43, a policeman in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, has collected more than 180 bronze mirrors of the Jin Dynasty (1125-1234).

In ancient times, mirrors were made of bronze. People burnished one side of the mirror to reflect images and covered the back with creative and ingenious patterns.

The history of bronze mirror making dates back to the Qin Dynasty (221 BC-206 BC), and only began to fall into disuse in the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) when mirrors made of glass came into vogue.

Among his collections, Yi particularly values the "double-fish" series, which has two frolicking fish on the back of the mirror. He now has 70 double-fish bronze mirrors lining his book cabinets.

"I don't mean to brag," he said but, "My collection of double-fish bronze mirrors is undoubtedly the best in China."

Yi was born in Acheng, a small city near Harbin, which is the ancient capital of the Jin Dynasty the place where the Nuzhen people, the founder of the Jin Dynasty, originated and prospered.

He said his collection of double-fish mirrors was even bigger than that of the Acheng Jinyuan Museum, which is believed to be the largest museum in the country on Jin culture.

Life-long hobby

When he was young, Yi used to play with two bronze mirrors, handed down by his forefathers.

"I simply couldn't keep my hands off them," recalled Yi. The intricate patterns at the back of the bronze mirrors fascinated him. Moreover, since he lived near the historical sites of the Jin Dynasty, collecting relics of those times were easier than collecting other things, he said.

"Bronze mirrors of the Jin Dynasty have their peculiar beauty compared with mirrors of the other dynasties," he said. "The patterns and ornaments on the back of the Jin mirror are very creative and are infused with the ethnic flavor of the Nuzhen people."

The most common patterns are those of the double fish, double dragons, human figures, flowers, mysterious beasts or auspicious words, according to Yi.

The double-fish pattern is specially representative of the Jin mirror. Two frolicking fish, one male and the other female, are arranged in a circle with one's head next to the other's tail, against a backdrop of waves dotted with flowers.

Yi said that there are reasons for the fish image's prominent use in Jin mirrors. "Big rivers and lakes abound in the region where the Nuzhen people lived, thus fishing played an important role in their lives," he said.

"Fish is a symbol of a bumper harvest and good life," he said. "Besides, fish is seen as one of the most prolific creatures and thus a powerful symbol of fertility," he said.

In Chinese, "yu" (fish) is a homonym of another word, which means "surplus" or affluence.

Therefore, a custom of carrying a symbol or ornamentation of fish was popular with officials and nobles of the Jin Dynasty.

"Due to the high cost of molding, bronze mirrors were usually not something the commoners of the Jin Dynasty could afford," he said.

"The value of bronze mirrors depends on their 'pinxiang' (back pattern intricacy), diameter and thickness," Yi said. "The more intricate, larger and heavier, the better."

One obvious characteristic of the Jin mirror is that it usually has the government or manufacturer's name carved on it, marking its uniqueness, he said.

Yi's collections include a rare piece which has both a "Haidongqing" (savage bird) and fish on it and a strange one with two exquisite plump carps and a nice turtle-like knot in the centre. It is 23.7 centimeters in diameter, one centimeter thick and weighs 2.5 kilograms.

All the 70 double-fish mirrors are either of different sizes or show different kinds of fish in varying postures, reflecting the remarkable creativity of the Nuzhen people.

Carps, crucians, grass carp and fish with strange protruding mouths, can all be seen among Yi's collections. He also has 25 dragon mirrors and more than 40 mirrors with historical figures on them.

A mirror with an image of a graceful fairy is one of his favorites. He has named it "feitian" or flying Apsaras and bought it from a collector in Acheng for 3,500 yuan (US$431) in 2001. But shortly after, another friend in Beijing liked it very much and bought it from him at 15,000 yuan (US$1,850).

"But after I gave it up, I would always think of it," Yi said. "It seemed like nothing could fill its void."

So in 2003, Yi bought it back at 20,000 yuan (US$2,466).

Increasing popularity

Bronze mirror collection is growing in popularity. The China Guardian Auctions, a large auction company, sold a bronze mirror of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) at a record price of 451,000 yuan (US$55,610) in its 2004 spring auction.

Bronze mirrors of the Jin Dynasty are becoming a hit on the antique market and prices have tripled, Yi said.

He estimates that his collection is worth at least one million yuan (US$123,304). Already he has an offer of 60,000 yuan (US$7,398) for the "feitian" mirror, which he has refused.

"I didn't expect my collection to become a way to make money when I first took to it," he said.

Recalling the early days, Yi remembers how during the spring festival of 2000, he exchanged his newly bought color television for the bronze mirror with a turtle-shape knot in the centre.

"I liked it at first sight and knew I would not sleep well if I could not have it. But I didn't have enough money at hand at that time, so I thought of the TV," he said.

Yi is very proud of his purchase of eight double-fish mirrors. A collector surnamed Zhao in Shenyang, capital of Northeast China's Liaoning Province, sold him eight double-fish mirrors in 2002.

At that time, Yi already had 42 double-fish mirrors and that collector had eight.

"I heard that he had eight and thought it was already a very remarkable achievement, so I invited him to my home," he said.

"He couldn't believe his eyes when I opened my cabinet and exclaimed: 'How did you manage to do this?"'

"He decided to transfer all his eight mirrors to me," Yi recalled.

"Because he knew he would never surpass me in this field, he gave up," he said happily. However, Yi said he still cannot afford to buy three mirrors he likes.

(China Daily November 29, 2005)