Octafoil-shaped Mirror Featuring Ci Fei, the Dragon Slayer

Description

The mythical hero Ci Fei and his victory during his travel through the Yangzi River is depicted on this eight-lobbed 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 currently thought to be a Chinese work dating to the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234). Recently published excavation reports, however, reveal that this particular type was exclusively unearthed from Korean tombs of the Goryeo period. Some Korean scholars speculate that this Chinese epic was appropriated to celebrate the Goryeo ruling house’s heroic ancestry and this type of mirror was widely distributed as a token of power among Goryeo elite class members.

Provenance

Drs. Thomas and Martha Carter, Madison, WI, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art (?-1995); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1995-)

Octafoil-shaped Mirror Featuring Ci Fei, the Dragon Slayer

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900s–1300s

Accession Number

1995.376

Medium

bronze

Dimensions

Diameter: 17.2 cm (6 3/4 in.); Overall: 1.1 cm (7/16 in.); Rim: 0.5 cm (3/16 in.)

Classification

Metalwork

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Gift of Drs. Thomas and Martha Carter in Honor of Sherman E. Lee