Ancient bronze mirrors tell us of Han Dynasty culture
A detail from “The Admonitions of the Instructress to the Court Ladies” of the Eastern Jin Dynasty Photo: FILE
During the excavation of tombs from the Liao Dynasty (916–1125), archaeologists noticed that some bronze mirrors were hung on the tomb gates, while others were placed on the ceilings and facing the coffins or hung on the four sides of the coffins. In some cases, tombs dating from the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) also featured bronze mirrors found in coffins. For the ancient Chinese, the purpose of hanging bronze mirrors on tomb gates was to keep evil spirits away, while the hanging of mirrors inside a tomb symbolized perpetual light shining in the darkness. Bronze mirrors as burial accessories were regarded as tools for exorcism, and grave robbers of the time usually didn’t steal them.
The earliest examples of Chinese bronze mirrors belonged to the Qijia culture, an early Bronze Age culture existing 4,000 years ago, distributed around the upper Yellow River region of Gansu Province and Qinghai Province. Bronze mirrors appeared in China 1,000 years later than in the West. Bronze mirrors created in China were often circular, with one side polished bright to provide good reflection, and the other carved with intricate designs. They also often featured handles (or knobs) in the center that would serve as mounting places for connecting mirrors to cabinets or dressers. This is proven by the painting “The Admonitions of the Instructress to the Court Ladies” of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317–420), in which a mirror is tied to a pole on a dresser.
Chinese bronze mirrors, as both a daily tool and a burial accessory in ancient times, were widely used and their functions stretched into every corner of society. For example, in imperial China, there was usually a plaque hanging at the entrance of an administrative office, inscribed with the phrase mingjing gaoxuan (“a bright mirror hung high”), denoting a just trial by an honest official. Mirrors were also associated with perfection, satisfactory love and marriage, which can be deduced from the famous idiom pojing chongyuan (“a broken mirror joined together”).
A broken mirror joined together
Archaeological findings suggest that the tradition of “a broken mirror joined together” had existed since the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220). Archaeologists found two halves of a bronze mirror in two coffins in a tomb dating to the Song Dynasty (960–1279) in Xingzi County, Jiangxi Province.
According to the epitaph, the husband, who died nine years after the death of his wife, was buried with his wife under the tradition of “two halves of a mirror, one in each spouse’s tomb or coffin.”
The Chinese idiom “a broken mirror joined together” has its origins from a story about Princess Lechang of the Southern Chen Dynasty (557–589) and her husband Xu Deyan. This couple was forced apart when the Sui army invaded their country. Prior to their departure, they broke a mirror into two parts and each kept a half as a keepsake. After the fall of the Southern Chen, Princess Lechang was forced to marry Yang Su, the chief minister of the Sui Dynasty. Many years later, it was the two halves of the mirror that finally brought the spouses back together.
Mirrors of the Han Dynasty
Concerning the prevalence of mirrors, the skill of craft, artistic styles, achievements and other factors relating to bronze mirrors, the Warring States Period and the Han Dynasty are the two most important periods in the development of the process of bronze mirror making.
There are several ways of appreciating an ancient Chinese bronze mirror. The decorative patterns and inscriptions on its back usually suggest its period-distinctive features. If a mirror was inscribed with a date, e.g., “The 22nd year of the Kaiyuan Era” (the Kaiyuan era was the early half of the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty), this mirror could be used as a reference. Any mirror that had the same or similar patterns and inscriptions could be deduced as being produced during the Kaiyuan era.
Archaeologists haven’t found any bronze mirror with inscriptions in the tombs of the Warring States Period yet. Therefore, the bronze mirrors with inscriptions were assumed to have first appeared during the early Western Han Dynasty. The most representative pattern of the Western Han mirrors was known as caoye wen, or grass-and-leaf-like motifs. Mirrors of this style usually featured a central knob encircled with a four-leafed calyx motif and dragon-like designs. Another type of mirror known as a “cloud and nebulae” mirror was quite popular during the reign of the Emperor Wu of Han (r. 141–87 BCE), the decoration of which featured clusters of small round lumps connected by scrolls, which may have represented clouds.
The TLV mirrors (they are called TLV mirrors because symbols resembling the letters T, L and V are engraved into them) were known for their obscure patterns. This type of mirror was often designed to place its owner at the center of the cosmos, a favorable position symbolically protected by the Animals of the Four Directions—the Green Dragon of the East, the Red Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West, and the Black Warrior (tortoise and snake) of the North. The earliest image of the Queen Mother of the West (a goddess in Chinese mythology) was found on a TLV mirror of the Western Han Dynasty.
Mirror of culture
Ancient Chinese mirrors are the true reflection of the social life and culture of the time. From the excavated mirrors of the Han Dynasty, archaeologists noticed that there was usually a toad in the moon engraved on the mirrors. Based on the ancient myths, this design indicates that the ancient Chinese may have believed that the toad was a transformation of Chang’e (Chinese goddess of the Moon) after she settled on the moon. It was in the mirrors of the Tang Dynasty that the images of Chang’e started to appear in the moon as a human.
The motifs of the Green Dragon, the White Tiger and feathered men on some mirrors reflect a longing for longevity (eternal youth) and immortality in the people of the Han Dynasty. The idea of becoming a winged immortal and ascending to heaven occupied a prominent place in the minds of the Han people.
Inscriptions appeared on bronze mirrors since the early Western Han Dynasty. The ideas in the inscriptions of the Han mirrors were quite different from those of the Tang mirrors. The Tang mirrors were usually inscribed to enhance the aesthetic appeal in mind for their users. The Chinese inscriptions of the Han mirrors usually expressed traditional wishes for achieving high office, wealth, longevity, immortality and many male descendants.
The article was edited and translated from Guangming Daily. Kong Xiangxing is former deputy director of the National Museum of China.
edited by JIANG HONG