Faculty of Design

Illustration

Muqing Chen

Feng Yue Bao Jian

"Feng Yue Bao Jian" refers to an ancient mirror in the classical masterpiece "Dream of the Red Chamber". "Feng Yue" represents the affairs of men and women in love, while "Bao Jian" is an ancient mirror. This mirror appears in the twelfth chapter of the novel, where Wang Xifeng sets up a love trap and Jia Tianxiang falls victim to it while gazing at the Feng Yue mirror. The front side of “Fengyuebaojian” shows beauty, while the back side displays the bones of the dead. The mirror can be viewed directly or looked back at. According to the lame Taoist in the book, “Fengyuebaojian” only allowed to photograph the back. The author emphasizes the importance of this fact by repeating the phrase, “It's important, it's important!”

“"In this work, the mirror portrays girls playing and reading, with lotus lamps hanging and gold chrysanthemums adorning the surroundings, creating an image of a carefree and aristocratic lifestyle. Outside the mirror, the skeletons indulge in hedonistic pleasures, with poses that resemble many ancient Chinese erotic pictures. Only a huge skeleton remains, lost in memories of the mirror, and can be described as having a pile of white bones that forget their own family name.Through this work, I want viewers to see the negative side of things by focusing on the outside of the mirror. I aim to convey the message that one should not indulge in pleasure, but rather look at things from a different perspective and learn from them."”