History of the Mirror

Author: [US] Peter Berger / Wu Wenzhong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-02-01
Features: If I demand everything to be normal, looking in all the mirrors would be the same, showing no vanity: the face I seek would be the face of my own before the world was created. The mirror is empty, yet it connects with mystery, religion, science, commerce, and art. As humans, looking in the mirror reflects our contradictory nature. On one hand, we want to see the true face of things and explore the mysteries of life. On the other hand, we wish to keep the mysterious things mysterious. We crave certain knowledge, yet we are also intoxicated by imagination, hallucinations, and magic. "The mirror: no one knows it, yet it reveals the essence of the work." German poet Rainer Maria Rilke put it perfectly. In J.K. Rowling's magical novel series Harry Potter, the Mirror of Erised shows "the deepest, most urgent desire in our hearts." And the history of the mirror tells us that what we see in the mirror depends on what we bring to it.