Imitation mirror - bouseikyou

This refers to bronze mirrors that are imitations of Chinese mirrors, which are the mainstream of bronze mirrors in East Asia. This type of bronze mirror can also be found on the Korean Peninsula, Central Asia, and Vietnam, but those from the Yayoi period in the Japanese archipelago, especially the Kofun period, are particularly notable in both quantity and quality, and these are often what is meant by imitation mirrors. Imitation mirrors from the Yayoi period are small crude products that are part of the lineage of Korean products that imitated Western Han mirrors. Imitation mirrors reached their peak in the first half of the Kofun period, when production began using Later Han mirrors and Wei and Jin mirrors as models, and many of them are complete adaptations of the original designs, but there are also some with unique designs that go beyond simple imitation of Chinese mirrors. Furthermore, there are large mirrors with a diameter of 46.5 centimeters, which are unsuitable for use in imaging, as well as small mirrors with a diameter of less than 3 centimeters. There are also bell-shaped mirrors that were designed to produce sound, suggesting that these imitation mirrors were mirrors without imaging capabilities, or magical objects.

[Tanaka Taku]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

東アジアの銅鏡の主流をなす中国鏡を模倣製造したものをいう。この種の銅鏡は、朝鮮半島や中央アジア、ベトナムなどにもあるが、日本列島の弥生(やよい)時代、とくに古墳時代のものが質量ともに顕著であって、仿製鏡というと、これをさすことが多い。弥生時代の仿製鏡は、前漢鏡を模倣した朝鮮半島製品の系譜に連なる小型粗製品である。仿製鏡の最盛期は古墳時代前半にあって、後漢(ごかん)鏡や魏晋(ぎしん)鏡を手本として製作が始まり、その図像文様の換骨奪胎したものが多いが、それと並んで、中国鏡の単純な模倣の域を脱した独特の図像文様をもつものもある。また、映像用には不適切な、直径46.5センチメートルもある大型品や直径3センチメートルにも満たない小型品まであり、さらに、音響の発生を目的とする鈴(れい)鏡があって、これら仿製鏡が映像機能をもたない鏡、呪具(じゅぐ)であったことを暗示している。

［田中　琢］

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