The collection of the Vladimir Arseniev Museum of Far East History includes medieval bronze mirrors from the era of the Golden Empire.
In the 12th century, the Jurchen nomadic tribes that inhabited the territory of Manchuria, Central and Northeast China, North Korea and Primorye founded their Jin Empire, which seized vast territories in northern China and held them under its rule for a long time. The inclusion of a part of Chinese lands into the Golden Empire (another name of the Jin Empire) allowed the Jurchen state to use both the production potential of the Chinese and their technological knowledge, for example, in making bronze mirrors.
Bronze mirrors, the history of which dates back to the traditions of medieval China, testify to the high skill of Jurchen metallurgists. The back of the mirrors features relief images of flowers, fish and animals executed with great realism. Particularly popular were the depictions of mystical creatures — dragons, which symbolized the willpower and fortitude of the people who had such mirrors.
The museum exhibition includes
a round bronze mirror with an image of two twisting water dragons wrapped
around a pearl on the reverse side. The side of the mirror is embossed with a
registration inscription in Chinese, which designates the region: “Yichun
County of the Upper Capital City“. Yichun County, where this mirror was
registered in accordance with the emperor’s decree, was located in the area of
the Jin Empire’s Upper Capital, not far from present-day Harbin. The mirror was
made between 1157 and 1215, after the emperor’s decree banning the free
circulation of copper in the state. Patterns with two dragons have long been
found on ancient Chinese mirrors, demonstrating the technology of executing
relief images. During the Golden Empire period, the heads and tails of two
dragons coiled around a decorative pattern, and were sometimes shown with a
pearl. The creatures had roving round eyes, a wide-open maw, and clearly
engraved scales. Mirrors were made in the shape of a rhombus, circle,
sunflower, octagon, etc.
