Weiner Mihályné szerk.: Az Iparművészeti Múzeum Évkönyvei 9. (Budapest, 1966)

HOPP FERENC MÚZEUM — MUSÉE FERENC HOPP - Ferenczy, László: Chinese Bronze Mirrors from the Han Period

LÁSZLÓ FERENCZY CHINESE BRONZE MIRRORS FROM THE HAN PERIOD Both for their number and their workmanship, the bronze mirrors which belong to the most frequent finds of graves, occupy among Chinese antiquities a very special position. This is due to their daily use and to the importance attached to them by the Chinese. The oldest Chinese mirrors known so far belong to the middle of the Chou period. It is curious to note, however, that the brightest periods of Chinese mirror-making art do not coincide with the golden age of Chinese bronze-casting, i.e. the Shang-Yin and Chou period, but with a later age which, according to Kuo-Mo-jo's scheme, includes the last declining period of Chinese bronze art. Thus, the art of mirror-making is the last representative of the grand old traditions of bronze-casting, and consequently the main reason accounting for this belated height of mirrors does not lie in technical problems, since they had been previously resolved anyway, but in the many-sided role played by mirrors in social life. Besides their original function, the mirrors were used as protective means against evil ghosts, or as gifts on official and festive occasions. They also played a major role at funerals and this is why there are so many of them to be found in graves. For all these reasons there are many mirrors accumulated in museums and private collections. The relevant literature is also rather important in size; detailed studies permit to date the mirrors more exactly, within narrower limits. Among the publications appeared before the end of World War Two, the synthetic works of Karlgren,

1 Umehara

2 and Swallow

3 are of major importance. Remarkable for the classification of mirrors and the analysis of their inscriptions, the works of Karlgren deal mainly with the pre-Han and early Han period. Swallow treats the mirrors from the earliest times till the Sung period, but not so circumstantially. The most important works on TLV mirrors will be mentioned later. An interesting theory has been recently set forth by Bulling on the origin of mirror ornamentation from the Han period. She says that certain mirror types were covered with copies of the parasols or canopies used at ceremonies, and were thus supposed to represent the firmament. This is why the elements of heaven and of the universe can be frequently found on them. Symbols of 1 Karlgren, B. : Early Chinese mirror inscriptions. BMFEA, No. 6. Stockholm, 1934, pp. 9-81; Huai and Han. BMFEA, No. 13. 1941. pp. 1-125. 2 Umehara, Sueji : Kan sangoku rikuchö kinen kyö zusetzu. Kyoto, 1944. 3 Swallow, R. W. : Ancient Chinese bronze mirrors. Peiping, 1937. 11 Iparművészeti évkönyv IX. 161