The Arrangement And Preliminary Study Of Chu Bronze Mirrors In Hunan Museum

The object of this study is the Chu bronze mirror of the Hunan Museum,which includs unearthed and bequeathed bronze mirrors.First,this study uses the typological analysis to divide the bronze mirror of Chu system into four categories based on their ornamentation,namely,prime mirror,pure land mirror,thematic ornamentation mirrors and special craft mirrors.We subdivide this four categories and further explore their typical features of Chu mirrors.Prime mirrors include pure element mirrors,chord element mirrors,single-line curved plain mirrors,and concave broadband plain mirrors.Pure land mirrors include feathery ground pattern mirrors and cloud mine ground pattern mirrors.Thematic ornamentation mirrors include floral pattern mirrors,word pattern mirrors,diamond pattern mirrors,dragon mirrors,and phoenix mirrors.Special craft mirrors include painted mirrors.Second,combining information from excavated tombs,the ornamentation of bronze mirrors and their variations,typological analysis are conducted to divide the phase of Chu mirrors,which are divided into the late Spring and Autumn period to the early Warring States period,the middle Warring States period,and the late Warring States period.Third,the casting and ornamenting techniques of the bronze mirrors are explored.The painted mirrors are painted with black or vermilion lacquer on the back.Based on that,other colors of lacquer are used to depict various types of ornaments.the carved glass mirrors are carved in two parts,that is,the front side and the back side of the mirror.Then these two parts are sandwiched together by inlaying or welding.In addition,the sources of the metal materials of Chu mirrors are discussed.Abundant Chu mirrors are found in Hunan.Finally,the cultural elements and ornamentation of Chu mirrors are analyzed using cultural factors analysis.Then we compare the differences and relationships between Chu mirrors and Qin mirrors and early Han mirrors.The Chu mirrors pioneer the culture of bronze mirror decoration by combining auxiliary and ground motifs.The early Qin mirrors are dominated by native mirrors,while it is much influenced by elements of the Chu mirrors in the later period.In the case of the early Han mirrors,the elements such as the string knob,the main motif and the ground motif,the coiled chi dragon motif,the leaf motif,and the curved rim of the mirror are heavily influenced by the Chu mirrors and are developed on this basis.