Multi-knob fine pattern mirror - Tachiusaimonkyo

This bronze mirror was made on the Korean Peninsula between the 2nd century BC and the 1st century AD, and its main feature is that its back has multiple knobs, i.e. two or three knobs, positioned off-center, and is decorated with intricate geometric patterns made up of straight lines, arcs, and concentric circles, and its mirror surface is slightly concave. It is different from Chinese mirrors, which make up the mainstream of bronze mirrors in Asia, which have a single knob and are flat or convex. This type of bronze mirror originated from the multi-knobbed roughly designed mirrors of the Liaoning region of China, and, together with the bronze swords that were born there, developed in a unique way on the Korean Peninsula. Judging from its shape and the circumstances of its burial, it can be said that it was originally a talismanic object, rather than a visual device like a normal mirror. Nine pieces have also been excavated from the Japanese archipelago, but most of those excavated from northern Kyushu and the westernmost tip of Honshu were buried in tombs, just like other imported bronze artefacts from the Yayoi period in these regions, and the rest were unearthed from ritual sites in the Kinki and Chubu regions. The fact that this bronze mirror, the first to come into contact with the inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago, was a ritual tool and that its reception differed depending on the region is suggestive in considering the subsequent history of mirrors in Japan.

[Tanaka Taku]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

紀元前2～紀元後1世紀ごろ朝鮮半島で製作された銅鏡で、裏面には、その中心を外れた位置に多鈕、すなわち2ないし3か所の鈕(ちゅう)があり、直線や円弧、同心円などからなる細かな幾何学文様で飾り、さらに鏡面がわずかな凹面になる点を大きな特徴とする。アジアの銅鏡の主流をなす中国鏡は、一鈕で平面ないし凸面であり、その点が違っている。この種の銅鏡は、中国遼寧(りょうねい)地方の多鈕粗文鏡に起源し、そこで生まれた銅剣類とともに、朝鮮半島において独特の発展をしたものである。その形態や副葬状況からみて、もともと通常の鏡のような映像具ではなく、呪具(じゅぐ)であったとみてよい。日本列島からも9点出土しているが、北部九州地方と本州最西端から出土したもののほとんどは、この地方の弥生(やよい)時代の他の舶載青銅器と同じように、墓に副葬されており、他は近畿地方と中部地方の祭祀(さいし)遺跡からの出土品である。日本列島の住民が最初に接したこの銅鏡が祭祀用具であったこと、地域によってその受け止め方が違ったことは、その後の日本の鏡の歴史を考えるうえで示唆的である。

［田中　琢］

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