What does the bronze mirror mean in ancient China?

Round shapes in ancient China also represented reunion, fortune and satisfactory love and marriage . Since the nature of reflection is somewhat mysterious, people were prone to associate mirrors with the supernatural. They could, it was believed, dispel evils and so mirrors become a favourite burial accessory.

Where was the bronze mirror with a support in the form of a draped woman found?

The Metropolitan Museum of Art . New York City, United States Date Created: mid-5th century B.C.

What is the superstition about mirrors in China?

A Chinese myth once held that images in the mirror were actually demonic beings who were pretending to be our reflections, while silently plotting our deaths .

What are the Chinese secret mirrors?

The mirrors were made out of solid bronze . The front was polished and could be used as a mirror, while the back has a design cast in the bronze, or other decoration. When sunlight or other bright light shines onto the mirror, the mirror appears to become transparent.

What is the oldest bronze mirror?

Bronze; 1/4 x 5 1/2 in . The very earliest mirrors in China show up among the Quija culture living along the upper regions of China's Yellow River between 2200 and 1600 BCE.

Who made the bronze mirror?

METAL MIRRORS — Mirrors were used by the ancient Egyptians as early as c. 2900BC. These were made of polished bronze shaped into flat round discs—in representation of the sun-god Re—with handles of wood, metal or ivory. Likewise, in China, an unearthed cast bronze mirror has been dated as early as 2000BCE.

What is the name for a clothed female figure in Archaic period sculpture?

Kore (Greek: κόρη "maiden"; plural korai) is the modern term given to a type of free-standing ancient Greek sculpture of the Archaic period depicting female figures, always of a young age.

What does bronze symbolize in China?

Possession of bronze vessels thus became a symbol for the holding of power and prestige . Rulers used bronze cauldrons, cups, drinking vessels, and other containers to present offerings of food and wine to royal ancestors and deities.

What does the Kofun bronze mirror symbolize?

In Yayoi and Kofun times, Chinese mirrors were symbols of rulership or kingship, diplomatic gifts from China and status items exchanged with the sealing of political alliances .

What was the purpose of bronze in ancient China?

The era of the Shang and the Zhou dynasties is generally known as the Bronze Age of China, because bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, used to fashion weapons, parts of chariots, and ritual vessels , played an important role in the material culture of the time.

What does a bronze mirror dowry mean in Chinese culture?

Since most bronze mirrors are round, the mirror has become the best symbol of perfect bliss . Round shapes in ancient China represented perfection, reunion, fortune and satisfactory love and marriage as well. As a result, a mirror was often used as a pledge in love or part of the dowry.

Bright Moon on Dressing Table: Bronze Mirrors through the Ages from the Collection of Hunan Provincial Museum

Bronze mirror had always been regarded as a daily-use article to put up make-up or dress up all the way through the late Neolithic Period to Ming and Qing Dynasties. Blended with our forefathers’ aesthetic affection and delicately made, these bronze mirrors, with their gorgeous patterns and solemn inscriptions, add luster to Chinese cultural history.

Among which, Bronze Mirror with Seven Point Star from Neolithic Period brings the wind of brilliant ancient civilization; Bronze Mirror with Dragon Design from Warring States Period happened to coincide with the design of the well-known Dragon and Phoenix Painting on Silk; Bronze Mirror with Patterns of Auspicious Animal (Ruishou) and Grape from Tang Dynasty evokes the jingling sound of camel bells amid the Western Regions of China; Bronze Mirror with People Playing Football from Song Dynasty re-creates the grand sports meeting over one thousand years ago; to name just a few. Each bronze mirror, loaded with profound historical and cultural connotation, is a perfect fusion of practical utility and artistic appreciation.

In total there are over 300 bronze mirrors in the collection of Hunan Provincial Museum. Through these selected 20 pieces, we are able to get a peek at the spiritual world of ancient Chinese people, try to appreciate our ancestor’s esthetic sentiment and feel the brilliant and profound culture of China.

Bronze Mirrors for Exorcising Evil Spirits

People in ancient China believed that the bronze mirrors can be used to ward off evil spirits and subdue demons, so the bronze mirrors were often found being placed on top of the door, the ridges and walls of houses and temples, and even on the soldier's chest.

Four animal patterns are depicted in succession with simple lines on the reverse side of this bronze mirror. Bronze mirrors with such design was used to be placed at home to exorcise evil spirits because ancient Chinese people believed that certain animals had the power of keeping away from the evils.

This bronze mirror is inscribed with Chinese characters introducing when (933AD) and where (She, a religious site) this mirror was used and the owner of the mirror might be Ma Xifan.

Four mystic running beasts and 20 Chinese characters were inscribed on the reverse side of this bronze mirror. Judged from its inscription, it might used to be placed on the top of the government office, demonstrating that the officials are insightful and upright.

This bronze mirror has a special religious significance. This mirror was one of the treasures bestowed by the emperor of the Vassal State of Ji to Yuchi Temple during its reconstruction in the Ming Dynasty as a token of immortality, peace and prosperity. Its reverse side is inscribed with the Chinese characters meaning “set up on a propitious occasion on the 10th day of the 10th month in the 20th year of the Wanli reign period”. The “20th year of the Wanli reign period” refers to the year 1592, when Zhu Lingluan, Emperor of the Vassal State of Ji, was on the throne.

Bronze Mirrors with Cultural Connotations - With Designs of Natural World

Bronze mirrors, with rich cultural connotations, had always been used as a carrier for our ancestors to express their affection, yearning and best wishes. Different in sizes, exquisite in patterns and varied in inscription contents, they are not only the true reflection of the social life of that time, but also of our forefathers’ aesthetic and artistic perception.

This mirror was used by ancient Chinese people to view themselves when applying makeup. This mirror with the five inscriptions of the Chinese character “Shan” is exceedingly valuable due to its scarcity.

This square bronze mirror, decorated with flower patterns around its knob, is exceedingly precious due to its rarity of shape.

Composite-flower, integrating the features of lotus flower, peony and chrysanthemum into one, has been the representative image of Buddhism since Wei Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties.

Mandarin ducks mate for life and mourn the loss of their mates, which is why the bird has long been regarded as the most traditional and the most potent symbol of love and married bliss in China. So this bronze mirror might be a keepsake of lovers to symbolize happiness in love and suggestive of romance, devotion, affection, conjugal fidelity, togetherness and enduring love.

Wavy, curly and S-shaped branches, together with patterns of flowers and leaves, are decorated on the reverse side of the bronze mirror, symbolizing the continuous happy life in an endless succession.

Bronze Mirrors with Cultural Connotations -With Designs of Animals

Generally, Panchi refers to a kind of animal similar with dragon, but slimmer and entwined. Decorated on this bronze mirror are an openwork knob and Panchi pattern, a symbol of auspice in ancient China.

Boju pattern (TLV-shaped pattern) is an important type for bronze mirrors in Han Dynasty, which reflects the Han people’s world view of “Round Sky and Square Earth” and the philosophical thinking of “harmony between man and nature”. Besides, such auspicious animal designs as dragon, phoenix, tiger, unicorn, rosefinch and toad are also decorated on the reverse side of this bronze mirror.

Designs of tiger and dragon are decorated on the reverse side of this bronze mirror, which reflects the Han people’s philosophies of “paying supreme tribute to Confucianism” and worship towards the primitive totem.

Decorated on the reverse side of this bronze mirror are two mythical birds and two heavenly steeds, dancing and flying, with full-blown flowers interspersed around them, which symbolizes the peace and prosperity of Tang Dynasty.

Decorated on the reverse side of this bronze mirror is a dragon, with its mouth wide open which seems to swallow or disgorge the mirror knob. Auspicious patterns of clouds are interspersed around the dragon. Dragon is the highest-ranking animal in the Chinese animal hierarchy, strongly associated at one time with the emperor and hence power and majesty.

Decorated on the reverse side of this bronze mirror are two symmetrical peaco*cks.

Two fishes are decorated on the back side of this bronze mirror. Judging from the dynamic patterns of water grass and waves around them, these two fishes are swimming and frolicking about around the mirror knob. The word “fish” and “surplus” in Mandarin are hom*ophones, which represents abundance and well-off life. Furthermore, in the Chinese traditional customs, fish symbolizes the good wish of the prosperity of future generations.

The patterns of the back side of this bronze mirror can be divided into three layers. In the innermost layer, depicted are four mythical animals, rosefinch on the top, Xuanwu at the bottom, Green Dragon on the left and White Tiger on the right. Chinese characters are inscribed in the middle layer and twelve animals symbolizing the years of birth are decorated on the outer layer.

Bronze Mirrors with Cultural Connotations - With Designs having Religious Meanings

Flying figure, or apsaras, was originally a female spirit of the cloud and water in Hindu and Buddhist mythology. In Buddhist sutras, the scenes of celestials (male and female) singing, dancing and/or scattering petals to praise the Buddha and other saints are often described. These images arrived in China and, together with Buddhism, played an important role in Chinese art. From then on, the term “apsaras” in China refers to the flying celestials in either gender, young or old, monks or laity, singular or plural.

The bagua is eight trigrams used in Taoist cosmology to represent the fundamental principles of reality, seen as a range of eight interrelated concepts. Each consists of three lines, each line either "broken" or "unbroken," representing yin or yang, respectively. Altogether 6 lines of Chinese characters are inscribed on this bronze mirror, with the general meaning of “a famous master created arhat paintings in 1903”.

A Taoist-like figure is decorated on the reverse side of the bronze mirror, which is looking up to the sun and moon and doing expiration and inspiration exercise. Patterns of a tortoise and a crane, both the symbol of longevity, are depicted around the Taoist. Five Chinese characters “潭州官场造” are inscribed, which means that "made in Tanzhou” (Changsha’s ancient name).

Depicted on this bronze is a female praying to Guanyin. Guanyin is the bodhisattva associated with compassion as venerated by East Asian Buddhists, usually as a female. The name Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means “Observing the Sounds (or Cries) of the World”.

Bronze Mirrors with Cultural Connotations - With Designs of Stories and Figures

Three scenes are depicted on this mirror, telling a strange story that a man named Wangzhi watches two men playing chess under a big tree, a female appears all of sudden and offers them peaches, they all disappeared after they finish eating the peaches, and when Wang Zhi returns home, he finds that everything has changed.

Bronze mirrors were also used as gifts in ancient China. This bronze mirror was a tribute to the emperor from the officials. Four Chinese characters “Qian Qiu Wan Sui” are inscribed on the reverse side of the mirror, expressing the good wishes that the emperor could live long through all eternities.

Decorated on the reverse side of this bronze mirror are a man named Yu Boya playing a qin (zither-like musical instrument) and a mythical bird dancing to the melody on the other side. Bo Ya was a qin player from the Spring and Autumn Period or the Warring States period. Boya was good at playing the qin and a man named Zhong Ziqi was good at interpreting and appreciating the qin. Whatever Bo Ya tried to convey in his music, Ziqi would never fail to understand, so Boya’s story exemplifies the Chinese ideal friendship.

Depicted on the back of this bronze mirror are an old man sitting under a pine tree, a servant standing aside, a deer walking toward the old man, followed by a person holding a bottle, and a crane stretching its neck out from a stone gate. The inscriptions respectively refers to the place where and time when the mirror was made, as well as the theme “Life in Changsha”.

Decorated on the reverse side of this bronze mirror are an immortal sitting on a stone on the right, a maid holding a tray of peach of immortality under a bamboo tree on the left, a flying crane on the top and a creeping tortoise at the bottom. Immortal, peach of immortality, crane and tortoise are all symbols of longevity in Chinese culture, thus such patterns represent people's good wishes for long life.

Depicted on the back of this bronze mirror is a relief of stories of two ancient hermits, Xuyou and Chaofu. Xuyou (left) is washing his ears in a stream for he heard that emperor Yao intended to abdicate the crown in his favor and he felt that this news stained his ears and disturbed his quiet life in seclusion. Chaofu is leading a water buffalo away from the stream because he thought the water has been polluted by Xuyou.

Bodhidharma was a Buddhist monk who is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Ch'an to China, and regarded as its first Chinese patriarch. The story depicted on this bronze mirror is that Bodhidharma crosses the sea in 527AD to Guangzhou and then to Shaolin Temple in Songshan ,one of China's five sacred mountains.

The story told by this bronze mirror is Liu Yi delivering a letter. While passing by the Lake Dongting on his way to attend the imperial examination, scholar Liu Yi encountered a shepherdess who asked him a favor of delivering a letter to her farther, the dragon king of Lake Dongting. Liu gave up the examination to help the girl and she finally married Liu Yi out of gratitude.

This mirror has a smooth surface. Depicted on its back is a relief of a scene of playing football. Apart from a couple of football players, there are also a referee and audience. Everyone’s costume and movement are vividly portrayed on this bronze mirror.

Bronze Mirror with Design of “Eight Immortals Giving their Birthday Greetings to Heavenly Queen Mother” Story,Yuan Dynasty (1271—1368AD).Diameter: 23.2cm.Collection of Hunan Provincial Museum© 2006-2013Hunan Provincial Museum.

Depicted on the reverse side of this bronze mirror is a scene of Eight Immortals crossing the sea to give their birthday greetings to Heavenly Queen Mother. The Eight Immortals are a group of legendary immortals in Chinese mythology. They are revered by the Taoists and are also a popular element in the secular Chinese culture.

Bright Moon on Dressing Table: Bronze Mirrors through the Ages from the Collection of Hunan Provincial Museum - Alain.R.Truong (2024)

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