Octafoil-shaped Mirror Featuring Ci Fei, the Dragon Slayer, 900s-1300s, Cleveland Museum of Art: Chi
Octafoil-shaped Mirror Featuring Ci Fei, the Dragon Slayer, 900s-1300s, Cleveland Museum of Art: Chinese ArtThe mythical hero Ci Fei and his victory in the Yangzi River delta is depicted on this eight-lobed mirror. He raises his sword in order to attack sea monsters. On the top, a large inscription in seal script reads “Great and Resplendent is the Heaven.” The mirror is thought to be a Chinese work dating to the Jin dynasty (1115–1234). Recent excavation reports, however, reveal that this particular type was exclusively unearthed from Goryeo period Korean tombs. Scholars speculate that this Chinese epic was appropriated to celebrate the heroic ancestry of the Goryeo ruling house; this type of mirror was widely distributed as a token of power among the Goryeo elite.Size: Diameter: 17.2 cm (6 ¾ in.); Overall: 1.1 cm (7/16 in.); Rim: 0.5 cm (3/16 in.)Medium: bronzehttps://clevelandart.org/art/1995.376 -- source link
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