Sankakubuchi shinjukyo (Triangular-rimmed mirrors) and the Mirrors Presented to Himiko

Abstract

From what part of the Asian continent were the imported mirrors found in ancient burial mounds and other contexts obtained ? The author has conducted an analysis by region of different mirror styles and their incidences of discovery for mirrors found in China. The result was that mirrors from Japan failed to match those for any region in China. Only for the mirrors recovered from the Lelang area was there a close agreement in styles and incidences with Japan.
Were mirrors perhaps made in marginal areas such as Lelang? Among the mirrors whose distribution is centered on the Late Han to Wei period city of Luoyang there is the shiho kyo (four-phoenix) style. The author made a comparison of examples of this mirror discovered in the center of its sphere of distribution with those recovered from the periphery. As a result, those mirrors recovered from the center were seen to consist of classic examples only, exhibiting typical patterns and compositional elements. By contrast, substyles having omissions and alterations in their patterns and design elements were numerous in the periphery. Such substyles were seen in large numbers for other styles as well. From this, the possibility was inferred that there were artisans in all parts of China producing mirrors.
Moreover, there were many substyles based on classic Chinese styles recovered from the Lelang region. Mirror production was active in this region as well. The author has labeled these the Lelang Mirrors. Lelang Mirrors were imported into Japan, and there are some examples in which the pattern and inscriptions are identical.
In addition, the author made an overview of Tang style mirrors based mainly on the mirrors in the Sho so in. As a result, it was shown that these mirrors could be easily ranked from the highest on down as: jeweled mirrors decorated with gold and silver leaf applique designs, inlay, and mother-of-pearl inlay; jeweled mirrors gilded or coated with sheets of gold leaf ; large mirrors bearing minutely detailed patterns; and medium and small-sized mirrors made in large numbers by casting from replicas. The highest ranked decorative mirrors date from various periods from the Warring States and Early Han on, when similar examples are known from royal tombs. It is evident that the relative rankings of these mirrors were established from the time they were first transmitted to Japan.
If the highest ranked mirrors thus transmitted to Japan can be evaluated as of royal rank, then the mirrors given by the Wei Court to the Queen of Yamatai should also have included items of the highest rank. But the triangular-rimmed mirrors which are assumed to have been received by Himiko lack jeweled decorations, and the workmanship is rough.
It can be surmised that the one hundred mirrors bestowed on Himiko were not all of the same quality, and that they included several jeweled examples of the highest grade which were intended to remain in Himiko's possession. These jeweled items would have been made at the Wei capital of Luoyang. But if the triangular-rimmed mirrors were mass produced based on jeweled mirrors as models, there is no reason why the locus of production would be limited to Luoyang.From the perspective of pattern and manufacturing techniques, one portion of the triangular-rimmed mirrors bear an extremely close relationship to Lelang. The author surmises that triangular-rimmed mirror production was initiated in Lelang, and that these mirrors were then bestowed by Himiko on persons of lower rank.