鏡(三角縁神獣鏡など)
鏡は、自然環境に宿る神を崇拝する日本固有の宗教・神道の重要な象徴です。日本神話では、太陽神・天照大神が隠れていた洞穴から彼女を外に出すために使われ、世界に光を取り戻しました。今日、神社に行くと、祭壇の上に銅鏡が置かれているのを見ることでしょう。
剣やコンマの形をした数珠玉(「宝石」と表現されることも多い勾玉)とともに4世紀の銅鏡が沖ノ島の最古の祭場で多数発見されました。日本最古の歴史書に記録されている創造神話によると、太陽神・天照大神は孫息子・瓊瓊杵尊を地上に遣わした際、これらの三種の神器を彼に授けました。彼は皇室の始祖となり、三種の神器(鏡・勾玉・剣)は皇室の神性の象徴として崇められています。
鏡は中国起源のものと考えられており、後に日本で同様の様式で作られたものもあります。最も有名で保存状態のよい例は三角縁神獣鏡で、聖なる獣に囲まれた中国神話の二神の西王母と東王父など漢(紀元前206年-紀元220年)時代に流行したデザインが描かれています。
Mirrors
The mirror is an important symbol in Shinto, Japan’s indigenous religion that revolves around the worship of deities that dwell in the natural environment. In Japanese mythology, a mirror was used to coax the sun goddess, Amaterasu Omikami, out from a cave where she had been hiding, restoring light to the world. Visit a shrine today and you will likely see a bronze mirror sitting atop its altar.
Many bronze mirrors dating to the fourth century were found at the oldest ritual sites on Okinoshima, alongside swords and comma-shaped stone beads (magatama, often described as “jewels”). According to the creation myths recorded in Japan’s oldest historical chronicles, Amaterasu Omikami gave these Three Sacred Treasures to her grandson, Ninigi no Mikoto, when she sent him to earth. He became the founding ancestor of Japan’s imperial line, and the Three Sacred Treasures (the mirror, the jewel, and the sword) are revered as symbols of the emperor’s divinity.
The mirrors are thought to be of Chinese origin, with some later made in a similar style in Japan. The most prominent and well-preserved example is a triangular-edged mirror, bearing the designs of Queen Mother of the West and King Father of the East—two gods of Chinese mythology that were popular during the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE)—surrounded by holy beasts.
