An amazing youtube video has just come out showing the effect of the legendary bronze mirror delivered by China to shaman queen Himiko (c.250 AD). It shows the stunning effect of light reflected on the mirror, which not only produces a sunlike golden orb but reflects the markings on the back of the mirror. Please do take a look at it – it’s only just over a minute but quite stunning.
In the youtube video the mirror is used too to reflect onto a cameraman, producing a kind of round aura around him. This must surely have seemed magical to the people of the time and one can well imagine it conferring an air of spirituality. There’s a theory that Himiko was the prototype of Amaterasu, and here in the shining convergence of female queen and sunlike qualitiy is substance for the supposition.
The replica of the original mirror was made using a 3D printer, curiously. It’s a most magical find!
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The original mirror in Kyoto National Museum, thought to be that of Himiko
Experiment indicates ancient mirror in Kyoto is Chinese magic mirror
Mainichi Jan 31, 2014
KYOTO — An official at Kyoto National Museum has announced that an ancient bronze mirror in Japan dubbed “Himiko’s mirror” may be a Chinese magic mirror — a type of mirror that can reflect the pattern on its back when a light is shined onto its face.
Museum official Ryu Murakami made the announcement based on an experiment using a replica created using laser measurements of the original. The mirror, whose diameter ranges between 21.4 and 23.8 centimeters, is designated as an important cultural asset.
The original article, unearthed from the Higashinomiya Tomb in Aichi Prefecture, belongs to the “sankakubuchi shinjukyo” (triangular-rimmed deity and beast mirror) category of mirrors. As the name suggests, these mirrors bear depictions of deities and beasts. Himiko, with whom the mirror is associated, was a queen of the Yamatai kingdom in ancient Japan.
Chinese magic mirrors, which look like ordinary mirrors, are said to have been around for over 2,000 years in China. The replica consists of 75 percent copper and 25 percent tin, close to the makeup of the original. When light was shone onto the face of the replica mirror, the pattern on the back was reflected onto a wall.
Looking at the pattern from the side, it has thick and thin sections. When the mirror is polished, stresses are exerted on the thin sections and the mirror bends and creates small elevations, making it harder for those sections to wear away, unlike the parts above the thicker sections. As a result, minute elevations and depressions matching the pattern on the back are formed, affecting the way light is reflected off the surface. This enables the pattern on the back to appear when light is reflected from the mirror onto another surface.
Modern mirrors used in shrines mimic the sacred bronze mirrors of old - but without the magic
I have a smaller replica version of the magic mirror described. I bought it from the museum shop in Shanghai. It works very well if held in the sunlight. The pattern appears like magic on the wall. It is a great little souvenir.
Oh, next time I’m in Shanghai I’ll definitely be on the lookout for one. I understood they were rather rare and expensive, as the process of making them involves skilled work and lots of time-consuming finishing…
It is said that the Chinese Emperor Cao Rui sent 100 mirrors with the Ambassador. But according to another source, Cao Rui sent these mirrors to Himiko’s successor, Iyo. Iyo was also a queen withhold sorcery.
Some years ago there was great excitement because a cache of 33 mirrors was found in the Yamato area that was thought to have been part of the Chinese gift. However, large amounts of mirrors have also been found in Kyushu, another possible site for Yamato. It’s a fascinating subject!