BRONZE MIRROR EXCAVATED FROM TOMB 218 AT SOKAMNI, PYONGYANG, 3RD CENTURY CE, DIAM. 22.8CM, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF KOREA - TAASA Review September 2011

BRONZE MIRROR EXCAVATED FROM TOMB 218 AT SOKAMNI, PYONGYANG, 3RD CENTURY CE, DIAM. 22.8CM, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF KOREA – TAASA Review September 2011

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This article was originally found in the September 2011 edition of TAASA Review (Volume 20, Issue 3, Page 11).

The full article is available for free to TAASA Members.

The objects are typically in the form of discs that were polished to a high sheen on one side, and on the other were cast with an array of decorative schemes that in various ways enriched the symbolic meanings of the objects.

Bronze was the preferred medium used, and its shiny and durable qualities not only had a practical purpose, it also enhanced the metaphorical and ritual connotations of the objects.

Many mirror inscriptions allude to this, as exemplified in a Chinese mirror excavated from a third century tomb in Pyongyang...