One of the most famous compilations of Chinese history completed in Song Dynasty (1084 AD) is titled Zizhi Tongjian or Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government. Specula Principum, which translates to Mirrors for Princes, provided political instructions for rulers. A genre of literature known as Specula Principum became popular in Western Europe during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The mirror analogy seems universal and timeless. I don’t know whether this is related, but whenever I hear people say great literary works “mirror” society, I pause. I knew I was being superstitious, but immediately checked all three mirrors my mother kept at home to make sure they were stable. That night I did some googling and found that breaking a mirror was considered bad luck in many cultures. Two weeks after a friend broke her mirror at lunch break, she was diagnosed with leukemia. My fear of mirrors developed when I turned 14. The magic mirror in Snow White stirs up the queen’s jealousy and causes a series of misfortunes to befall the innocent princess. Narcissus, in Greek mythology, grows infatuated with his reflection in the water and eventually dies of unrequited love. They bear ill omens in childhood stories. Walking to the cafeteria during high school, I occasionally passed by a boy: Feet glued to the hallway, he held a stainless-steel spoon and kept glancing at the reflection of his face. She did get up early, but she spent that extra hour looking in the mirror and combing her hair. One day she started to get up an hour earlier every morning-the reason, she said, was to study. ![]() One of my dorm-mates in high school was a pretty dancer. Many people, especially during their teenage years, spend a lot of time gazing at themselves in the mirror. Jorge Luis Borges, “Mirrors,” translated from Portuguese by Mildred Boyer and Harold Morland Yisang, “Mirror,” translated from Korean by Jack Jung ![]() Because of the mirror I cannot touch the me-inside-the mirrorīecause of the mirror I get to meet the me-inside-the mirror
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