TY - JOUR
AU1 - Brashier, K.E.
AB -  LONGEVITY LIKE, METAL AND STONE: THE ROLE OF THE MIRROR IN HAN BURIALS BY K.E. BRASHIER Harvard University When debating the significance of jade objects unearthed in early Chinese burials, most scholars look beyond the object's shape to also probe the ritual meaning of its medium - the jade it- self. The classics have invested jade with many virtues such as 'smoothness like benevolence' and 'durability like intelligence', 1 and when archaeology yields jade suits, jade disks or jade tubes, scholars rightly take this physical material into account. Yet while there exist many theories as to the presence of mirrors in, Han burials, to my knowledge none regards the significance of the mirror's metallic medium. Like jade, metal was a benchmark of longevity, the trait most desired in considerations of the after- life. At least as early as the Ming Dynasty, scholars have regarded the number of mirrors recovered from early tombs as noteworthy. The scholar Xie Zhadzhe M*i$l (fl. 1592-1607) in his Wu zazu 3£Wffl considered their great number unusual: In the regions east of the mountains, south of the Yellow River and within the passes, whenever the earth is excavated and an an- cient grave is 
TI - Longevity Like, Metal and Stone: the Role of the Mirror in Han Burials
JF - T'oung Pao
DO - 10.1163/156853295X00088
DA - 1995-01-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/brill/longevity-like-metal-and-stone-the-role-of-the-mirror-in-han-burials-MpVDkq7li2
SP - 201
EP - 229
VL - 81
IS - 4
DP - DeepDyve
ER -