Cleveland Museum of Art

Lobed Mirror with Heaven and Earth between the Paired Phoenixes

Date

mid to late 700s

Medium

bronze

Culture

China, Tang dynasty (618-907)

Department

Chinese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This mirror bears an important inscription as well as symbolic imagery of the Eight Trigrams and Heaven and Earth to express the ancient Chinese cosmological ideas. The inscription reads: Circle above and square below: These are symbolic of heaven and earth. In the middle are the Eight Trigrams. Making clear [the forces of] yin and yang. Stars and constellations are well aligned; The sun and the moon are virtuous and bright. Circulating around [the earth] is water, Giving identity to the Four Great Rivers. Within are the mountain ranges, To signify the lordly heights. This mirror contains cosmological symbolism with heaven represented by a large circle at top and earth by a square at bottom.

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