Chronological Study of the Shenshou Mirrors from the Viewpoint of the Craftsmen

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K13291
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Archaeology
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: OKAMURA HIDENORI 京都大学, 人文科学研究所, 教授 (20183246)
• Research Collaborator: CHENG Hao ; WANG Xing
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 考古学 / 美術史 / 中国史

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Based on the analysis of the inscriptions, I divide lines of the craftsmen school of the mirrors with the image of divinities and animals (or Shen-shou mirrors) roughly into four periods. In the first period, Guan-han school founded in Sichuan, created Shen-shou mirrors with ring-like nipples in the second century. In the second period, Zhang-shi Yuangong working at Wu-jun and Xiang-fang began to imitate the Shen-shou mirror of Guan-han school in 180s, and broke up into three types of Shen-shou mirror with the unidirectional, the contrapositional and the stratified arrangements in 190s. In the third period, Kuai-ji school founded about 215 A.D., imitated the three types of Shen-shou mirrors in the second period, but there are plenty of noteworthy aspects to the inscriptions mentioned with a date of casting and its sign of the Chinese sexagenary cycle. In the fourth period, Wu and Kuai-ji school mainly produced Shen-shou mirrors with the contrapositional arrangement.

Free Research Field

考古学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

中国魏の皇帝が邪馬台国の卑弥呼に贈った「銅鏡百枚」は三角縁神獣鏡か否か。日用の化粧具のほか、結婚のしるし、護符、政権のプロパガンダなど、さまざまに用いられた古代の鏡は、どのようにつくられ使われてきたか。これらの疑問に答えるため、神獣鏡づくりに情熱を注いだ工匠たちの営みに注目し、従来のように図像文様を分類するだけでなく、銘文を読み解くことにより、鮮やかに古代びとの姿をよみがえらせた。