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[[File:Bronze-mirror-smba.jpg|right|thumb|320px|A bronze mirror from the [[Sui dynasty]], with designs of the cosmic diagram, beasts of the four directions, and of the 12 directions of the zodiac. Santa Barbara Museum of Art]]
Bronze mirrors were a major prestige good held by elites in [[Yayoi period]] and [[Kofun period]] Japan. They have been found in great numbers in burials across the region, in Japan, Korea, and China, and are associated with rulership both as a symbol of the sun (the brightness reflected in the polished metal), and therefore of [[Amaterasu]] and divine [[emperor]]ship, and as a simple indicator that the holder of such mirrors possesses the wealth and power to have been able to obtain such prestige objects. Their significance is further indicated by the discussion of bronze mirrors (or "sun mirrors") as goods valued, or at least possessed, by the gods, in texts such as the ''[[Nihon Shoki]]'' and ''[[Kojiki]]''; the most famous of these is ''[[Yata no kagami]]'', a mirror reportedly held at [[Ise Shrine]], which is counted as one of the [[Three Imperial Treasures]].
Bronze mirrors were a major prestige good held by elites in [[Yayoi period]] and [[Kofun period]] Japan. They have been found in great numbers in burials across the region, in Japan, Korea, and China, and are associated with rulership both as a symbol of the sun (the brightness reflected in the polished metal), and therefore of [[Amaterasu]] and divine [[emperor]]ship, and as a simple indicator that the holder of such mirrors possesses the wealth and power to have been able to obtain such prestige objects. Their significance is further indicated by the discussion of bronze mirrors (or "sun mirrors") as goods valued, or at least possessed, by the gods, in texts such as the ''[[Nihon Shoki]]'' and ''[[Kojiki]]''; the most famous of these is ''[[Yata no kagami]]'', a mirror reportedly held at [[Ise Shrine]], which is counted as one of the [[Three Imperial Treasures]].
==References==
==References==
*"Mirrors," gallery label, British Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/20863294716/sizes/l]
*"Mirrors," gallery label, British Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/20863294716/sizes/l]
<references/>
[[Category:Yayoi Period]]
[[Category:Yayoi Period]]
[[Category:Kofun Period]]
[[Category:Kofun Period]]
[[Category:Art and Architecture]]
[[Category:Art and Architecture]]