The majority of the Dali Kingdom bronze mirrors are circular,while a small number of them are square,mallow flower-shaped,and water chest flower-shaped.According to the decorative patterns,they can be categorized into thirteen types:character story mirrors,bronze coin pattern mirrors,the Eight Diagrams pattern mirrors,double-fish pattern mirrors,the Four Supernatural Animals pattern mirrors,Capricorn pattern mirrors,auspicious animal pattern mirrors,flower and bird pattern mirrors,rosette pattern mirrors,chrysanthemum pattern mirrors,four-petal flower pattern mirrors,plain surface mirrors with inscriptions,and pure plain surface mirrors.These bronze mirrors can be divided into two periods:the early period equivalent to the middle to late Northern Song Dynasty and the late period equivalent to the Southern Song Dynasty.The patterns and inscriptions indicate that the bronze mirrors unearthed in the Dali Kingdom area mainly came from the Central Plains region,mostly introduced through Sichuan and Guangxi regions,as the outcome of Market Horse Trade.As one of the centers for mirror casting at that time,Chengdu region should be one of the important sources of bronze mirrors in the Dali Kingdom.At the same time,some bronze mirrors from the Jin Dynasty may have been introduced here through direct or indirect channels,and there are also some locally cast bronze mirrors in the Dali Kingdom,reflecting the close cultural communication between the Dali Kingdom and surrounding areas.These bronze mirrors,as precious offerings,are mainly unearthed in Buddhist pagodas near the capital city of Dali Kingdom,with a small amount used as precious funeral objects in tombs.Meanwhile,some bronze mirrors are likely to have religious functions and be used as ritual tools in religious activities.
Dali KingdomBronze mirrorsCultural communicationBuddhism
万方数据
维普
