a broken mirror joined together-reunion of husband and wife after an enforced separation or rupture

This idiom comes from Original Incidents of Poems·Emotion by Meng Qi of the Tang Dynasty. During the Chen Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties Period， the follower of the crown prince， Xu Deyan， got married with Princess Lechang，the Emperor Chen Shubao's younger sister to be the emperor's brother-in-law. The young couple loved each other very much. But it was just the time of great disorder under heaven.They had a premonition that they might be broken up and even go to a strange land. Then Xu told his wife: \"As long as our happy fate has not finished， we are sure to have the chance to reunite with each other.\" And Xu broke a bronze mirror into two parts， each of them kept one of them and said:\"If we are separated from each other， you will ask someone to take the half broken mirror for sale in the market on every 15th of January. As long as I am still alive， I'm sure to go there with the other broken mirror as a evidence to look for you， so I can be together with you again.\"

Before long， Emperor Wen， Yang Jian of the Sui Dynasty attacked the Chen's capital， Jiankang (present-day NanJing of Jiangsu Provinc)， and the State of Chen was destroyed at last.The minister Yang Su of Sui Dynasty who had made outstanding service in attacking the State of Chen， was offered the Duke of Yue as well as a lot of rewards， including Princess Lechang. But she still longed for her husband very much.

On the 15th of January， Xu Deyan went to the market and saw an old man take a half broken mirror for sale. Xu found out it was Princess Lechang who asked the old man， Yang' s servant， to do it.After Yang Su knowing their story， he was deeply moved and not only allowed Su to take Princess Lechang away，but also awarded them a lot of money.

Now we use it to describe the sight of reunion of a couple after an imposed separation.

此語(yǔ)出自唐·孟棨《本事詩(shī)·情感》。南朝陳的太子舍人徐德言，娶皇帝陳叔寶的妹妹樂(lè)昌公主為妻，為南朝陳的駙馬。他們二人情意相投，夫妻恩愛(ài)?？僧?dāng)時(shí)正值天下大亂，他們預(yù)感到荒亂之中夫妻可能被拆散，甚至流落他鄉(xiāng)。于是徐德言對(duì)樂(lè)昌公主說(shuō):“只要我們夫妻緣分未盡，總有再團(tuán)圓的機(jī)會(huì)?！碑?dāng)即把一面銅鏡分割成兩半，他們二人各保存一半，并囑咐她:“如果離散，就在每年正月十五那天，托人拿這半面鏡子去市場(chǎng)叫賣(mài)，只要我活著，就一定去，以另半面鏡子為憑，和你團(tuán)圓?！?/p>

不久，隋文帝楊堅(jiān)發(fā)兵攻陳都城建康(今江蘇南京)。陳國(guó)滅亡，滅陳有功大臣楊素被封為越國(guó)公，得到了很多賞賜，其中包括樂(lè)昌公主，但她仍一直想著丈夫。

正月十五到了，徐德言趕到市場(chǎng)，看見(jiàn)一位老人叫賣(mài)半面銅鏡，原來(lái)是樂(lè)昌公主托楊府的仆人到市場(chǎng)賣(mài)鏡找夫。楊素得知他們夫妻的實(shí)情后深受感動(dòng)，叫徐德言把樂(lè)昌公主帶走，還賜他們不少財(cái)物。

后以此典比喻夫妻離散后重新和好、團(tuán)圓。