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The Tang Dynasty was an era to be proud of, an era of vigor, and an era of brilliance and prosperity. In the context of such an era, the Datang Dynasty's rapid economic development, open and free society, people's lives are rich and stable, and their lives are colorful and colorful, creating an open, inclusive, confident and prosperous Datang culture. As one of the cultural carriers of the bronze mirror, the Tang Dynasty bronze mirror broke the rigidity of the Han Dynasty bronze mirror, whether it is from the shape, ornamentation, inscription content or production process has a new breakthrough, making the Tang Dynasty become the most brilliant period in the history of the development of copper mirrors, and has written a strong stroke in the history of Chinese bronze mirrors.
Buddhism has had a profound impact on mainland culture since its transmission from the Western Regions to the Luoyang region of the Central Plains of the Eastern Han Dynasty in 67 AD (the tenth year of Yongping, Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty). Buddhism prevailed in the Tang Dynasty, and there are many Buddhist elements in the bronze mirror, and flying sky is a common one.
Flying heaven means flying deity, is one of the Buddhist artistic figures, formerly the gods of Indian mythology, adapted from the Buddhist teachings by the two gods Gandharva and Jinnara. Qianda Po has curly hair on his head, holds a weapon, eats incense on weekdays, is good at music, and is known as the god of incense, while Kinnara is the head of the horse, good at singing and dancing, and is the god of heavenly songs, they are inseparable in the Buddha's kingdom, do not eat wine and meat, collect hundred flowers and incense lotions, and travel between the clouds with song and dance. Whenever the Buddha preached or attained nirvana, they flew in the air, played music and scattered flowers, and sprinkled music and flowers all over the Buddha's kingdom, creating a peaceful and quiet Western paradise.
Flying sky in the mural painting of Cave 320 of Shengtang Mogao Caves
The flying flower bird pattern diamond edge mirror in our collection is 13.8cm in diameter and weighs 0.6 kg. Although its shape is not large, it can be called a fine product in the bronze mirror of the Tang Dynasty, not only because it is quite exquisitely made, the proportion of bronze is moderate, and there is almost no rust for more than a thousand years, but also mainly because of the flying pattern on the back of the mirror.
The flying pattern in the bronze mirror is relatively rare, and it mostly appears in the form of auxiliary ornaments. However, on this bronze mirror, the flying sky pattern is not only the main ornament on the back of the mirror, but also shows the artistic conception of "floating outside the nine clouds and looking down at the Immortal Palace" in the form of high relief, which not only retains some characteristics of the western region and the Indian flying sky, but also integrates the elements of traditional Chinese culture, which is consistent with the flying style in the murals of the same period, forming the unique western style of the Tang Dynasty.
Li Bai once had a poem praising Fei Tianyue as "a simple hand holding a hibiscus, a virtual step wading in Taiqing, a neon dress dragging a wide belt, and floating to ascend to heaven". The flying flower and bird pattern diamond edge mirror appropriately expresses the artistic conception in Li Bai's poems, leading us to return to Datang and appreciate the artistic charm of Datang Feitian.
Added a new copper mirror knowledge, the following should be tested everyone!
In the Tang Dynasty copper mirror ornamentation, in addition to the flying pattern introduced today, what kind of ornamentation is common in the Tang Dynasty bronze mirror? Come and try to choose one!
A
B
C
D
Answer: B (A Warring States Mountain Character Pattern; B Tang Dynasty Sea Beast Grape Pattern; C Han Dynasty Nebula Pattern; D Han Dynasty Bo Bureau Pattern)
bibliography:
WANG Zhu. Sheng Tang Mirror - Flying Flower Bird Pattern Diamond Edge Mirror, Cast Kyushu Lile Zun: Baoji Bronze Ware Museum, Xi'an Publishing House, November 2018.
Image Source:
Baoji Bronze Museum; "Research on the Application of Dunhuang Flying Murals in Animated Character Modeling"
Editor, Editor-in-Charge: Cui Ruihua
Review: Li Qi