1. For scholarship review in English, see Loewe, Michael, Ways to Paradise: The Chinese Quest for Immortality (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1979), 60–75 Google Scholar; in Japanese, see Minao, Hayashi 林巳奈夫, “Kandai no zuhyo ni san ni tsuite” 漢代の圖柄二、三に ついて, Tōhō gakuhō 東方学報 44 (1973), 1–63 Google Scholar; in Chinese, see Maolin, Huang 黃茂琳, “Tongjing, liuboju shang suowei TLV/guiju wen yu boju qudao poyi ji xiangguan wenti” 銅鏡、六博局上所謂 TLV/規矩紋與博局曲道破譯及相關問題, Yazhou wenming 亞洲文明 3 (1995), 97–102 Google Scholar.

2. Yinwan Han mu jiandu 尹灣漢墓簡牘, ed. bowuguan, Lianyungang shi 連雲港市博物館, zhongxin, Zhongguo shehui kexue yuan jianbo yanjiu 中國社會科學院簡帛研究中心, bowuguan, Donghai xian 東海縣博物館, and yanjiusuo, Zhongguo wenwu 中國文物研究所 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1997), 47, 171, 21, 125–26Google Scholar.

3. I coin the term “auspicious mentality” to refer to collective attitudes of ordinary people toward auspiciousness and its opposite, inauspiciousness. For further discussions of the use of “mentality” in historical studies, see Burke, Peter, Varieties of Cultural History (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1997), 162–82Google Scholar. The approach is comparable to David Keightley's proposition that “material culture expresses … social activity and ways of thinking,” although he credits his source of inspiration to cognitive anthropologists. See Keightley, David N., “Archaeology and Mentality: The Making of China,” Representations 18 (1987), 91–128 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For the significance of considering “representation” and “appropriation” in art historical studies, see Critical Terms for Art History, ed. Nelson, Robert S. and Shiff, Richard (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992), 3-16, 116–28Google Scholar.

4. It is difficult to trace the first use of this term, but Kaplan, Sidney M., in “On the Origin of the TLV Mirror,” Revue des Arts Asiatiques XI (1937), 21–24 Google Scholar, has mentioned that “Among the most ancient of Chinese mirror forms, is a common type known loosely as the TLV; the name being derived from the conspicuous figures on the back” (quotation on p. 21).

5. Among the eighteen TLV mirrors, seventeen are attributed to the Han dynasty while one is attributed to the Tang. See Chongxiu Xuanhe bogu tu 重修宣和博古圖, ed. Fu, Wang 王黻, compiled before 1125 (Wenyuange siku quanshu 文淵閣四庫全書 ed.; rpt. Taipei: Shangwu, 1983), 28.1–40 Google Scholar.

6. The name “shierchen jian” is given to four of the recorded TLV mirrors; “Shang Fang jian” is given to two. Originally, the term jian 鑑 refers to a particular type of bronze basin in the Eastern Zhou period; see Fenghan, Zhu 朱鳳瀚, Gudai Zhongguo qingtong qi 古代中國青銅器 (Tianjin: Nankai daxue, 1995), 142-43, 227 Google Scholar. Since people could also check their appearance from the reflection on the water contained in the basin, jian 鑑 and jing 鏡 became interchangeable in later documents. For further discussion of this issue, see Shimei, Nie 聶世美, Linghua zhaoying: Zhongguo jing wenhua 菱花照影: 中國鏡文化 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1994), 19–25 Google Scholar.

7. Another image-based name in Xuanhe bogu tu is “siling jian” 四靈鑑 (mirror decorated with the four spirits)

8. Schuyler Cammann already noticed the lack of attention to the TLV design in the Xuanhe bogu tu in his article, “The ‘TLV’ Pattern on Cosmic Mirrors of the Han Dynasty,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 68.3-4 (1948), 159–67CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

9. Xiqing gujian 西清古鑑, ed. Shizheng, Liang 梁詩正, compiled in 1749 for the Qianlong Emperor's collections (Wenyuange Siku quanshu ed.; rpt. Taipei: Shangwu, 1983), 39.40–41 Google Scholar. Six TLV mirrors are recorded in this catalogue. Two are called “Shang Fang jian,” one “shenren jian” 神人鑑 (mirror with the inscription depicting immortals), and one “shierchen jian.” The only two without inscriptions are entitled “baru jian.”

10. For example, Tingnan, Liang 梁廷柟, Tenghua ting jingpu 藤花亭鏡譜 (preface dated 1845, Shunde: Longshi zhongheyuan, 1934)Google Scholar; Jieqi, Chen 陳介祺, Fuzhai cang jing 簠齋藏鏡 (preface dated 1865, Shanghai: Tanlu, 1925)Google Scholar.

11. Zhenyu, Luo, Gujing tulu 古鏡圖錄, first published in 1916, reprinted in Congshu jicheng 叢書集成, pt. 3, vol. 31 (Taipei: Xinwenfeng, 1997)Google Scholar. Among the seventeen TLV mirrors he recorded, Luo labeled the only mirror without any inscription as “sishen jing” (Gujing tulu, 3.22)Google Scholar.

12. Kosaku, Hamada 濱田耕作 and Yoshito, Harada, Senoku Seishō 泉屋清賞 (Tokyo: Kokasha, 1921–1924), pt. 2, note for Fig. 31Google Scholar. Nakayama Heijirō 中山平次郎 discusses the TLV marks in his 1918 articles, but he does not treat these marks as a whole. See Heijirō, Nakayama, “Koshiki Shina kyōkan enkaku” 古式支那鏡鑑沿革, Kōkogaku zasshi 考古學雜誌 9.2 (1918), 145–59; 9.3 (1918), 189-96Google Scholar.

13. Kazuchika, Komai, Chūgoku kokyō no kenkyū 中國古鏡の研究 (Tokyo: Iwanami, 1953), 107 Google Scholar.

14. Minao, Hayashi, “Kandai no zuhyo ni san ni tsuite,” 9 Google Scholar.

15. Morio, Nishida, “Hōkaku kiku kyō no zumon no keifu: kokurō hakugyoku kyo fuyō no meibun motsu kyō ni tsuite” 「方格規矩鏡」の図紋の系譜—–刻婁博局去不羊の銘文もつ鏡について, Museum 427 (1986), 28–34 Google Scholar. The inscription along the circular rim reads, “The Xin has fine copper that comes from Danyang. [I have] smelted it with silver and tin, [producing this] clean and bright [mirror]. The Dragon on the left and the Tiger on the right command the four quarters. The Red Bird and the Dark Warrior conform to the yin and yang forces. Eight sons and nine grandsons govern the center. Engrave the bo board so as to expel the inauspicious. [May your] family constantly [amass] great wealth that is fit for a lord or king. [May you have] a thousand autumns and ten thousand years, and [may you have] joy without end” 新有善銅出丹陽, 和以銀錫清且明. 左龍右虎掌四彭, 朱爵玄武順陰陽. 八子九孫治中央, 刻婁博局去不羊. 家常大富宜君王, 千秋萬歲樂未央. Unless indicated otherwise, translations are mine. Judging from the rubbing, what Nishida transcribes as zhang sifang 掌四方 should be zhang sipeng 掌四彭.

16. Scholars had long speculated on the connection between the design on the mirror and that on the game board, but none could provide concrete evidence as Nishida Morio does.

17. Zheng, Zhou, “Guiju jing yinggai cheng boju jing” 規矩鏡應改稱博局鏡, Kaogu 考古 1987.12, 1116–18Google Scholar. There are two rubbings of the same TLV mirror in the Chinese History Museum. This mirror is slightly larger than the Tokyo example. The inscription along the circular rim is, however, shorter by one sentence: “新有善銅出丹陽. 和以銀錫清且明. 左龍右虎□四□, 朱爵玄武順陰陽. 八子九孫治中央, 刻婁博局去不羊.家常大富宜君王.” Zhou transcribes the verb as keju 刻具, but judging from the rubbing, it should be kelou 刻婁. Likewise, what he transcribes as □為□ should be □四□, whose complete expression is likely zhang sipeng 掌四彭 as shown by the Tokyo example. The same revision has also been made in Xiangxing, Kong 孔祥星 and Yiman, Liu 劉一曼, Zhongguo tongjing tudian 中國銅鏡圖典 (Beijing: Wenwu, 1992), 266 Google Scholar.

18. See n.2 above. The dating of the tomb is based on the coins of daquan wushi 大泉五十 found in the tomb, which were circulated under the reign of Wang Mang 王莽 (r. 9-23 C.E.).

19. This is a difficult sentence. My translation reads jian 兼 as “and,” which links two adverbs zhong 中 (at the center) and fang 方 (in the shape of a square). My translation also treats kezhi 刻治 as a verb meaning “engrave,” which is comparable to kelou 刻婁 in the aforementioned examples from Tokyo and Beijing.

20. zu, Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu bianxie 雲夢睡虎地秦墓編寫組, Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu 雲夢睡虎地秦墓 (Beijing: Wenwu, 1981), 55, pl. 24Google Scholar. For more examples of game accessories, see Seiichi, Mizuno 水野清一, “Hakuhashi hakugo hakuchin hakugyoku” 博箸博棋博鎮博局, Tōyōshi kenkyū 東洋史研究 9.5-6 (1947), 39–45 Google Scholar; Juyou, Fu 傅舉有, “Lun Qin Han shiqi de boju, boxi jianji bojuwen jing” 論秦漢時期的博具、博戲兼及博局紋鏡, Kaogu xuebao 考古學報 1986.1, 21–42 Google Scholar.

21. bowuguan, Henan sheng 河南省博物館, “Lingbao Zhangwan Han mu” 靈寶張灣漢墓, Wenwu 文物 1975.11, 75–93 Google Scholar. The pottery figurines were unearthed from Tomb No. 3, dated to the Eastern Han, probably from the late second century to the early third century. Notice that two dice are presented in this model. How dice and sticks work together in a game is unclear. Yan Zhitui 顏之推 thought that players threw sticks for the liubo game but cast dice for the xiaobo 小博 game. See Zhitui, Yan, Yanshi jiaxun jijie 顏氏家訓集解, ed. Liqi, Wang 王利器 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1981), 527–28 (“Za yi” 雜藝)Google Scholar. For more examples of figurines playing the liubo game, see Juyou, Fu, “Lun Qin Han shiqi de boju,” 25–26 Google Scholar; Hiroshi, Sofukawa 曾布川寛, “Rokuhaku no jinbutsu zazō dōchin to hakugyokumon ni tsuite” 六博の人物坐像銅鎮と博局紋について, Koshi shunjū 古史春秋 5 (1989), 27–49 Google Scholar.

22. bowuguan, Xuzhou 徐州博物館, “Lun Xuzhou Han huaxiang shi” 論徐州漢畫像石, Wenwu 1980.2, 44–55 Google Scholar. For more examples of pictorial depictions of the liubo game, see Takeshi, Watanabe 渡部武, “Kandai no gazō ni mieru rokuhaku ni tsuite” 漢代の画像に見える六博について, Shiteki 史滴 3 (1982), 7–43 Google Scholar; Juyou, Fu, “Lun Qin Han shiqi de boju,” 26–28 Google Scholar.

23. Yi, Wang, Chuci buzhu 楚辭補注, ed. Xingzu, Hong 洪興祖 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 2000), 221 (“Zhao hun” 招魂). Liu 六 means “six.”Google Scholar

24. Changjiang liuyu dierqi wenwu kaogu gongzuo renyuan xunlianban 長江流域第二期文物考古工作人員訓練班, “Hubei Jiangling Fenghuangshan Xi-Han mu fajue jianbao” 湖北江陵鳳凰山西漢墓發掘簡報, Wenwu 1974.6, 41–61 Google Scholar. The slip was unearthed from Tomb No.8.

25. bowuguan, Hubei sheng 湖北省博物館, “Yunmeng Dafentou yihao Han mu” 雲夢大墳頭一號漢墓, Wenwu ziliao congkan 文物資料叢刊 4 (1981), 1–25 Google Scholar. The tomb is dated to the Western Han, probably the second century B.C.E. The phrase “BC畫『一” written on the board refers to the painted laquer liubo game board buried in the tomb.

26. Maolin, Huang, “Tongjing,” 102–5Google Scholar.

27. Qian, Sima 司馬遷, Shi ji 史記 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1982), 126.3199 (“Guji liezhuan” 滑稽列傳)Google Scholar.

28. Shi ji, 69.2256–57 (“Su Qin liezhuan” 蘇秦列傳)Google Scholar.

29. Hebei sheng wenwu guanlichu 河北省文物管理處, “Hebei sheng Pingshan xian Zhanguo shiqi Zhongshan guo muzang fajue jianbao” 河北省平山縣戰國時期中山國墓葬發掘簡報, Wenwu 1979.1, 1–31 Google Scholar. In addition, a lacquer board dated to the first half of the fourth century B.C.E. was excavated in Hubei. This lacquer board is also far from the TLV design and similar, though not identical, to Board B (Fig. 10) from the Zhongshan state. See Hubei sheng Jingzhou diqu bowuguan 湖北省荊州地區博物館, Jiangling Yutaishan Chu mu 江陵雨台山楚墓 (Beijing: Wenwu, 1984), Fig. 80-3, pl. 63–2Google Scholar.

30. Gansu sheng wenwu kaogusuo 甘肅省文物考古所, “Gansu Tianshui Fangmatan Zhanguo Qin Han mu de fajue” 甘肅天水放馬灘戰國秦漢墓的發掘, Wenwu 1989.2, 1-11, 31 Google Scholar.

31. Liqi, Wang, Yanshi jiaxun jijie, 527–28Google Scholar.

32. Yang, Lien-sheng, “An Additional Note on the Ancient Game Liu-po ,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 15.1-2 (1952), 124–39CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

33. Xijing zaji jiaozhu 西京雜記校注, ed. Xinyang, Xiang 向新陽 and Keren, Liu 劉克任 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1991), 4.203 Google Scholar. According to Xijing zaji, the formula also reads as “張道揭畔方, 方畔揭道張. 張究屈玄高, 高玄屈究張.” The two versions differ only in the wording of the first couplet.

34. Yang, , “An Additional Note,” 137 Google Scholar.

35. Yang, , “An Additional Note,” 137 Google Scholar. I rendered Fig. 12 to make Yang's hypothesis more accessible.

36. Gan, Lao, “Liubo ji boju de yanbian” 六博及博局的演變, Zhongyang yanjiuyuan Lishi yuyan yanjiusuo jikan 中央研究院歷史語言研究所集刊 35 (1964), 15–30 Google Scholar.

37. This section is modified from Tseng, Lillian Lan-ying, “Divining from the Game Liubo: An Explanation of a Han Wooden Slip Excavated at Yinwan,” China Archaeology and Art Digest 4. 4 (2002), 55–62 Google Scholar. This article is an English revision of Lanying, Zeng 曾藍瑩, “Yinwan Han mu boju zhan mudu shijie” 尹灣漢墓《博局占》木牘試解, Wenwu 1999.8, 62–65 Google Scholar, in response to Jiemin, Li 李解民, “‘Yinwan Han mu boju zhan mudu shijie' dingbu”《 尹灣漢墓博局占木牘試解》訂補, Wenwu 2000.8, 73–74 Google Scholar.

38. Lianyungang shi bowuguan, Yinwan Han mu jiandu, 21, 125-26, 162–66Google Scholar. Four of the boards unearthed from Tomb No. 6 bear precise dates, the latest being the third year of the Yuanyan 元延 reign (10 B.C.E.). Other boards reveal the tomb occupant as a local officer named Shi Rao 師饒.

39. Yinwan Han mu jiandu, 3.

40. Xueqin, Li 李學勤, “ Boju zhan yu guiju wen”《 博局占》與規矩紋, Wenwu 1997.1, 49–51 Google Scholar.

41. Li Xueqin and the authors of Yinwan Han mu jiandu have noticed the similarity between the two.

42. From Zhouli zhengyi 周禮正義, ed. Yirang, Sun 孫詒讓 (Sibu beiyao 四部備要 ed.; Taipei: Zhonghua, 1983), 70.6bGoogle Scholar: “If there is someone who dies on the road, then have him buried and erect a post” ruoyou si yu daolu zhe, ze ling mai er zhijie yan 若有死於道路者, 則令埋而置楬焉.

43. For instance, Mount Emei was said to be the sign that marks the position of a nearby city called Quanyang 泉陽 (Emei wei Quanyang zhi jie 峨眉為泉陽之揭). See Pu, Guo 郭璞, “Jiang fu” 江賦, in Quan shanggu sandai Qin Han Sanguo Liuchao wen 全上古三代秦漢三國六朝文, ed. Kejun, Yan 嚴可均 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1958), 120.2147–48 (“Quan Jin wen” 全晉文)Google Scholar.

44. In Xunzi 荀子, for example, “chu” is used to describe “bending five fingers” chu wuzhi 詘五指. Yang Jing 楊倞 notes that “chu” is the same as “qu”. See Xunzi jijie 荀子集解, ed. Xianqian, Wang 王先謙 (“Quan xue” 勸學) (Zhuzi jicheng 諸子集成 ed.) (Shanghai: Shanghai shudian, 1990), 1.9 Google Scholar.

45. Jia Yi 賈誼 once used the metaphor of steps and a hall to illustrate the relation between subjects and their ruler. He said, “When the lian is far from the earth, the hall is high … when the lian is close to the earth, the hall is low” lian yuandi, ze tanggao … lian jindi, ze tangbei 廉遠地, 則堂高…廉近地, 則堂卑. Here, lian can be understood as either the raised angle of the steps or the height of the steps. For the latter, lian means the opposite edge of an angle. See Gu, Ban 班固, Han shu 漢書 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1990), 48.2254–55Google Scholar.

46. The formula is thus a compilation of positions, instructing moves of chessmen. No verbs or adjectives, as Yang and Lao suggest, are interwoven to make the sentences comprehensible.

47. Ling, Li 李零, “Shuo zaoqi ditu de fangxiang” 說早期地圖的方向, in his Zhongguo fangshu xukao 中國方術續考 (Beijing: Dongfang, 2000), 270–81Google Scholar.

48. Liu Lexian's article on the Yinwan diagram came out after I had delivered mine for publication by the end of 1998. As Li Jiemin has pointed out, Liu reads the diagram as a mathematical document, making the corrections as I do, but he does not penetrate the relationship between the TLV divination, the liubo game and Xu Bochang's formula. See Lexian, Liu 劉樂賢, “Yinwan Han mu chutu shushu wenxian chutan” 尹灣漢墓出土數術文獻初探, in Yinwan Han mu jiandu zonglun 尹灣漢墓簡牘綜論 (Beijing: Kexue, 1999), 175–86Google Scholar.

49. I did not include the two corrections in my 1999 article. After Liu Lexian noticed the oddity of 7 (gengwu) and 8 (xinwei), Li Jiemin proposed his remedy by moving only 8 (xinwei) to the position lian. To strictly follow the moving path of the other six groups, however, we should also rearrange 7 (gengwu) to the west of the position jie.

50. For a thorough overview of the shushu tradition, see Harper, Donald, “Warring States Natural Philosophy and Occult Thought,” in The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origin of Civilization to 221 B.C., ed. Loewe, Michael and Shaughnessy, Edward (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 831–52Google Scholar.

51. Loewe, , Ways to Paradise, 80–81 Google Scholar. The connection between the TLV mirror and the shi instrument has been loosely made in Kaplan, “On the Origin of the TLV Mirror,” 23-24.

52. Jianmin, Li, “Han dai juxi de qiyuan yu yanbian” 漢代局戲的起源與演變, Dalu zazhi 大陸雜誌 77. 3 (1988), 97–116; 77.4 (1988), 171-91Google Scholar.

53. Zheng, Wei 魏徵, Sui shu 隋書, 34.1030 (“Jingji zhi” 經籍志)Google Scholar. The author and the date for compiling this manual are unknown. Judging from the title, the manual was supposed to give instructions on how to manipulate liubo divination for military purposes.

54. Xinyang, Xiang and Keren, Liu, Xijing zaji jiaozhu, 203 Google Scholar.

55. Zheng, Wei, Sui shu, 34.1016–17Google Scholar. Except for Bosai jing, which is attributed to Shao Gang 邵綱, the authors and the dates for compilation of these guidebooks are unknown. The existence of these guidebooks in the seventh century when the Sui shu was compiled may not contradict Yan Zhitui's comment mentioned earlier (n. 21, 31). Yan Zhitui said, “In the past, [players used] six sticks for the dabo game, and two dice for the xiaobo game. At the present, there is no [player] who can understand [those rules]. What is popular now is using one dice and twelve chessmen; the shallowness in the arts of numbers is not fit for play” gu wei dabo ze liuzhu, xiaobo ze erqiong, jin wu xiaozhe. bi shi suoxing, yiqiong shierqi, shushu qianduan, buzu kewan 古為大博則六箸, 小博則二煢, 今無曉者. 必世所行, 一煢十二棋, 數術淺短, 不足可翫. For Yan, the ancient bo games were played with either six sticks or two dice, while the contemporary game was played with one dice and twelve chessmen. Except for Daxiao bofa, we do not know with which tools (sticks, dice or chessmen) the various bo games recorded in Sui shu were played.

56. Yang, Lien-sheng, “An Additional Note on the so-called TLV Mirrors and the Game Liu-po ,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 9.2 (1945), 202–6CrossRefGoogle Scholar. As some Japanese scholars point out, the inscription has also been deciphered in Kazuchika, Komai, “Kandai no rokuhaku ni tsuite” 漢代の六博に就いて, Kōkogaku zasshi 33.2 (1943), 61–70 Google Scholar.

57. Jianjin, Lei 雷建金, “Jianyang xian Guitoushan faxian bangti huaxiang shiguan” 簡陽縣鬼頭山發現榜題畫像石棺, Sichuan wenwu 四川文物 1988.6, 65 Google Scholar. For the rubbing, see Zhongguo huaxiang shiguan yishu 中國畫像石棺藝術, ed. Wen, Gao 高文 and Chenggang, Gao 高成剛 (Taiyuan: Shanxi renmin, 1996), 7 Google Scholar.

58. Chong, Wang, Lunheng jiaoshi 論衡校釋, ed. Hui, Huang 黃暉 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1995), 6.305 (“Lei xu” 雷虛)Google Scholar.

59. Nanyang Han dai huaxiang zhuan 南陽漢代畫像磚, ed. yanjiusuo, Nanyang wenwu 南陽文物研究所 (Beijing: Wenwu, 1990), pl. 180 Google Scholar; Anqiu Dongjiazhuang Han huaxiangshi mu 安丘董家莊漢畫像石墓, ed. wenhuaju, Anqiu xian 安丘縣文化局 and bowuguan, Anqiu xian 安丘縣博物館 (Ji'nan: Ji'nan, 1992), pl. 31 Google Scholar; Sichuan Han dai huaxiang zhuan 四川漢代畫像磚, ed. Wen, Gao (Shanghai: Renmin meishu, 1987), pls. 35, 115, 116 Google Scholar; Wen, Gao, Zhongguo huaxiang shiguan yishu, 25-1, 27-1, 55, 71 Google Scholar.

60. Yang, , “An Additional Note,” 138–39Google Scholar.

61. Xiang, Liu 劉向, Zhanguo ce 戰國策 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1995), 5.197 Google Scholar.

62. Han Feizi jijie 韓非子集解, ed. Xianshen, Wang 王先慎 (Shanghai: Shanghai shudian, 1990), 11.206 Google Scholar.

63. Shao, Ying 應劭, Fengsu tongyi jiaozhu 風俗通義校注, ed. Liqi, Wang 王利器 (Taipei: Mingwen, 1988), 2.68–69 (“Zheng shi” 正失)Google Scholar.

64. Xuzhou Han huaxiangshi 徐州漢畫像石, ed. bowuguan, Xuzhou shi 徐州市博物館 (Nanjing: Jiangsu meishu. 1985), Fig. 178Google Scholar. For other examples in Sichuan, see Wen, Gao, Zhongguo huaxiang shiguan yishu, 25-1, 27-1, 55 Google Scholar.

65. Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo Luoyang fajue dui 中國社會科學院考古研究所洛陽發掘隊, “Luoyang xijiao Han mu fajue baogao” 洛陽西郊漢墓發掘報告, Kaogu xuebao 1963.2, 1–58, Fig. 21-3Google Scholar. The mirror is from Tomb No. 10025, dated to the middle phase of the Eastern Han.

66. My translation with the added “may you” follows the convention established by Bernhard Karlgren and Michael Loewe. See Karlgren, Bernhard, “Early Chinese Mirror Inscriptions,” Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities 6 (1934), 9–79 Google Scholar; Loewe, Michael, Ways to Paradise, 192–203 Google Scholar.

67. Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo Luoyang fajue dui, “Luoyang xijiao Han mu fajue baogao,” Fig. 21-1, pl. 8-4. The mirror is from Tomb No. 7052, dated to the early phase of the Eastern Han.

68. For further discussion of the formulaic nature of Han mirror inscriptions, see Bernhard Karlgren, “Early Chinese Mirror Inscriptions”; Suqing, Lin 林素清, “Liang Han jingming chutan” 兩漢鏡銘初探, Zhongyang yanjiuyuan Lishi yuyan yanjiusuo jikan 63.2 (1993), 325–70Google Scholar. The two examples from Luoyang represent two major inscribed formulae that describe immortals. Variations may be found from mirror to mirror. Notice that the two formulae may not always go with TLV mirrors, and that TLV mirrors with visual representations of immortals may also match with other inscriptions.

69. Ban Gu, Han shu, “Wuxing zhi” 五行志, 27c-a.1476. For the association of the Queen Mother of the West with the belief in immortality, see Loewe, , Ways to Paradise, 86–126 Google Scholar.

70. Mu tianzi zhuan 穆天子傳 (Shanghai: Shanghai shudian, 1989), 43–44 Google Scholar. The text was found in 281 c.e. in the tomb of King Xiang of the Wei 魏襄王 (r. 318-296 B.C.E.). For further discussion of the discovery and compilation of this text, see Mathieu, Rémi, “Mu t'ien tzu chuan,” in Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide, ed. Loewe, Michael (Berkeley: The Society for the Study of Early China, 1993), 342–46Google Scholar.

71. bowuguan, Yangzhou 揚州博物館, “Yangzhou shijiao faxian liangzuo Xin-Mang shiqi mu” 揚州市郊發現兩座新莽時期墓, Kaogu 1986.11, 987–93Google Scholar. For further analysis of the iconography of Xiwangmu, see Hung, Wu, “Xiwangmu, the Queen Mother of the West,” Orientations 18.4 (1987), 24–33 Google Scholar; James, Jean M., “An Iconographic Study of Xiwangmu during the Han Dynasty,” Artibus Asiae 55.1-2 (1995), 17–41 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Song, Li 李淞, Lun Han dai yishu zhong de Xiwangmu tuxiang 論漢代藝術中的西王母圖像 (Changsha: Hunan jiaoyu, 2000)Google Scholar.

72. Zhi, Cao, “Xianren pian” 仙人篇, in Maoqian, Guo 郭茂倩, Yuefu shiji 樂府詩集 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1998), 64.923–24Google Scholar.

73. Xuanling, Fang 房玄齡, Jin shu 晉書 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1982), 11.279 (“Tianwen zhi” 天文志)Google Scholar. It is necessary to point out that the chessboard mentioned here may or may not be identical to the liubo board, but they are both of square shape.

74. Needham, Joseph and Ling, Wang, Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 3 (Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1959), 210–16Google Scholar.

75. Taiping jing hejiao 太平經合校, ed. Ming, Wang 王明 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1992), 117.660 (“Tianjiu siren rudao jie” 天咎四人辱道誡)Google Scholar.

76. Zixian, Xiao 蕭子顯, Nan-Qi shu 南齊書 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1971), 1.21 Google Scholar. Xiao Zixian's exact wording is: “Ever since the Yellow Emperor, from what was recorded in ancient documents and from what was allowed to be spoken of, no one was more esteemed than Yao and Shun. [They] were wrapped with golden ropes, holding the heavenly mirror; [they] opened jade boxes, gathering up the earthly bonds” zi Xuan Huang yijiang, fensu suoji, lüeke yanzhe, mo chonghu Yao Shun; pi jinsheng er wo tianjing, kai yuxia er zong diwei. 自軒黃以降, 墳素所紀, 略可言者, 莫崇乎堯舜. 披金繩而握天鏡, 開玉匣而總地維. Robin Yates kindly brought my attention to the divinatory documents entitled Tian jing 天鏡 (Sui shu, 34.1038) and “Tui siwei fa” 推四維法 in Quan, Li 李筌, Shenji zhidi Taibo yin jing 神機制敵太白陰經 (Shijiazhuang: Hebei renmin, 1991), 10.137 Google Scholar. I cannot judge from the context in the Nan-Qi shu if any divinatory implication is intended.

77. Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo 中國社會科學院考古研究所 and bowuguan, Guangzhou shi 廣州市博物館, Guangzhou Han mu 廣州漢墓 (Beijing: Wenwu, 1981), 153–54Google Scholar.

78. Sichuan sheng chutu tongjing 四川省出土銅鏡, ed. bowuguan, Sichuan sheng 四川省博物館 and bowuguan, Chongqing shi 重慶市博物館 (Beijing: Wenwu, 1960), 18–19 Google Scholar.

79. Yetts, W. Perceval, The Cull Chinese Bronzes (London: Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, 1939), 116–65Google Scholar.

80. Fu, Liu 劉復, “Xi-Han shidai de rigui” 西漢時代的日晷, Guoxue jikan 國學季刊 3-4 (1932), 573–610 Google Scholar, advocates that the instrument was used for measuring time. Jiancheng, Li 李鑒澄, “Guiyi: Woguo xiancun zui gulao de tianwen yiqi” 晷儀－我國現存最古老的天文儀器, in Zhongguo gudai tianwen wenwu lunji 中國古代天文文物論集, ed. Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo (Beijing: Wenwu, 1989), 145–53, argues that it was used for determining directionGoogle Scholar.

81. Ji, Sun 孫機, “Tuoketuo rigui” 托克托日晷, Zhongguo lishi bowuguan guankan 中國歷史博物館館刊 3 (1981), 74-81, 91 Google Scholar.

82. Ji, Sun, “Tuoketuo rigui,” 79, 81 Google Scholar.

83. Minao, Hayashi, “Kankyō no zuhyo ni san ni tsuite,” 12–13 Google Scholar. The two cords crossing at the center indicate north-south and east-west, while the four hooks at the corners anchor the two weft-strings indicating northeast-southwest and northwestsoutheast. See Huainan honglie jijie 淮南鴻烈集解, ed. Wendian, Liu 劉文典 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1997), 3.96 (“Tianwen xun” 天文訓)Google Scholar; Major, John S., Heaven and Earth in Early Han Thought: Chapters Three, Four and Five of the Huainanzi (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993), 83–86 Google Scholar.

84. Ling, Li, “Shitu yu Zhongguo gudai de yuzhou moshi” 式圖與中國古代的宇宙模式, Jiuzhou xuekan 九州學刊 4.1 (1991), 5-52; 4.2 (1991), 49–76, reprinted in Li Ling, Zhongguo fangshu kao, 89-176Google Scholar.

85. Jianmin, Li 李建民, “Mawangdui boshu Yuzang maibao tu jianzheng” 馬王堆帛書禹臧埋胞圖箋證, Zhongyang yanjiuyuan Lishi yuyan yanjiusuo jikan 65.4 (1994), 725–832 Google Scholar.

86. Kalinowski, Marc, “The Xingde Texts from Mawangdui,” Early China 23-24 (1998–1999), 125–202 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Songchang, Chen 陳松長, Mawangdui boshu Xing De yanjiu lungao 馬王堆帛書《刑德》研究論稿 (Taipei: Taiwan guji, 2001)Google Scholar.

87. Kalinowski, , “The Xingde Texts from Mawangdui,” 143n44Google Scholar.

88. Kalinowski, , “The Xingde Texts from Mawangdui,” 144–45Google Scholar. Kalinowski notices an intriguing representation of the game board whose design looks closer to the cordhook scheme on a glazed tile from Sichuan. Unless future archaeological finds shed new light on this issue, however, we are still unsure of whether this is an exceptional case or whether the TLV design and the cord-hook scheme are indeed interchangeable in some instances.

89. Bao, Wang, “Qingju pian” 輕舉篇, in Maoqian, Guo, Yuefu shiji, 64.923 Google Scholar.

90. Limin, Xu 徐力民, “Lun zongjiao yu woguo gudai de yansheng qian” 論宗教與我國古代的厭勝錢, Zhongyuan wenwu 中原文物 1988.3, 76–81 Google Scholar. The TLV design also appears on the back of a daquan wushi 大泉五十 coin. See Zuoxian, Li 李佐賢, Guquan hui 古泉匯 (preface dated 1859, Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1992), 4.2b–3a, (“zhen” 鎮)Google Scholar.

91. Lin'yi shi bowuguan 臨沂市博物館, “Lin'yi de Xi-Han wengguan, zhuanguan, shiguan mu” 臨沂的西漢甕棺、磚棺、石棺墓, Wenwu 1988.10, 68–75 Google Scholar; Zaozhuang shi wenwu guanli weiyuanhui 棗莊市文物管理委員會, “Shandong Zaozhuang Xiaoshan Xi-Han huaxiangshi mu” 山東棗莊小山西漢畫像石墓, Wenwu 1997.12, 34–43 Google Scholar.

92. Both Donald Harper and Marc Kalinowski notice the appearance of the cordhook scheme on the boards lining the bottom of the coffin in several late fourth century B.C.E. Chu tombs. See Harper, Donald, “Warring States Natural Philosophy and Occult Thought,” 839 Google Scholar; Kalinowski, , “The Xingde Texts from Mawangdui,” 141–42Google Scholar. If the TLV design and the cord-hook scheme are to express the earthly bonds, then their application to the coffin base may indicate the wish to be assimilated with the everlasting cosmos. Only, the connotation of the TLV designs seems richer than that of the cord-hook scheme.

93. Qinjin, Wang 王勤金, Jiuhai, Li 李久海 and Liangyu, Xu 徐良玉, “Yangzhou chutu de Han dai mingwen tongjing” 揚州出土的漢代銘文銅鏡, Wenwu 1985.10, 90–96, Fig. 22Google Scholar.

94. Yangxin, Xiang and Keren, Liu, Xijing zaji jiazhu, 1.27–28 Google Scholar.

95. Hong, Ge, Baopuzi neipian jiaoshi 抱朴子內篇校釋, ed. Ming, Wang 王明 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1996), 17.300 (“Deng she” 登涉)Google Scholar.

96. Archaeological reporters transcribe the inscription as “‘卒’ 以銀錫清而明 … 朱 ‘雀’ 玄武順陰陽 … ‘浩如’ 天地日月光 … 眾 ‘良’ 美好如玉英.” See Lianyungang shi bowuguan, Yinwan Han mu jiandu, 160–61Google Scholar. Notice that in the Han, zhujue 朱爵 was also written as zhuque 朱雀, both referring to “Red Bird.”

97. For further discussion of the cardinal guardians, see (Lillian) Tseng, Lan-ying, “Picturing Heaven: Images and Knowledge in Han China” (Ph.D. dissertation, Cambridge: Harvard University, 2001), 120-26, 137-47, 168–72Google Scholar.

98. For further discussion of the Five Phases, see Wang, Aihe, Cosmology and Political Culture in Early China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 75–128 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and for further comments on the interlocking of the yin and yang forces, the four seasons and the Five Phases, see Te-k'un, Cheng, “Yin-yang Wu-hsing and Han Art,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 20 (1957), 162–86CrossRefGoogle Scholar, reprinted in his Studies in Chinese Art (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1983), 117–35Google Scholar; (Lillian) Tseng, Lan-ying, “Picturing Heaven,” 346–61Google Scholar. In the Yinwan case, two of the cardinal guardians are considered to accord with the yin and yang forces. The four cardinal guardians as a whole are also comparable to the four seasons. The four cardinal guardians with the game board at the center further signal the Five Phases.

99. Yates, Robin D. S., “Purity and Pollution in Early China,” in Integrated Studies of Chinese Archaeology and Historiography, ed. Cheng-hwa, Tsang (Taipei: Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, 1997), 479–536 Google Scholar.

100. Poo, Mu-chou, In Search of Personal Welfare (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998), 135–46Google Scholar.

101. Whitfield, Roderick, ed., The Problem of Meaning in Early Chinese Ritual Bronzes (London: Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, 1993)Google Scholar.

102. For the evolutionary view, see Loehr, Max, “The Bronze Styles of the Anyang Period,” Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America 8 (1953), 42–53 Google Scholar. For its contestation, see Thorp, Robert L., “The Archaeology of Style at Anyang: Tomb 5 in Context,” Archives of Asian Art 41 (1988), 47–69 Google Scholar.

103. For the iconographical approach, see Panofsky, Erwin, “Iconography and Iconology: An Introduction to the Study of Renaissance Art,” in his Meaning in the Visual Arts (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982), 26–54 Google Scholar. For the semiotic approach, see Bal, Mieke and Bryson, Norman, “Semiotics and Art History,” Art Bulletin 73. 2 (1991), 174–208 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For a review on both, see Barnard, Malcolm, “Semiology, Iconology and Iconography,” in his Approaches to Understanding Visual Culture (Hampshire & New York: Palgrave, 2001), 143–67Google Scholar.

104. Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo and Hebei sheng wenwu guanlichu, Mancheng Han mu fajue baogao 滿城漢墓發掘報告 (Beijing: Wenwu, 1980), 262-66, 337 Google Scholar.

105. Takayasu, Higuchi 樋口隆康, Kokyō 古鏡 (Tokyo: Shinchyōsha, 1979), 64–67 Google Scholar. Most of the mirrors with the interlaced dragon design were unearthed from Chu tombs dated to the middle and late phases of the Warring States period. Fig. 34 shows the mirror excavated from Tomb No. 11 (d. 217 B.C.E.) at Shuihudi in Yunmeng, Hubei. See Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu bianxie zu, Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu, 45–46, Fig. 63Google Scholar.

106. Takayasu, Higuchi, Kokyō, 93–96 Google Scholar. Figs. 36 and 37 show the mirrors excavated at Gaotai 高台 in Jingzhou 荊州, Hubei, from the tombs dated to the middle phase of the Western Han. See Hubeisheng Jingzhou bowuguan 湖北省荊州博物館, Jingzhou Gaotai Qin Han mu 荊州高台秦漢墓 (Beijing: Kexue, 2000), 105-12, 267, 271 Google Scholar.

107. Hunan sheng bowuguan 湖南省博物館, “Changsha Shumuling Zhanguo mu Amiling Xi-Han mu” 長沙樹木嶺戰國墓阿彌嶺西漢墓, Kaogu 1984.9, 790–97Google Scholar. The mirror was found at Amiling in Tomb No. 7, which, comparable to Tomb No. 401 at Yangjiashan, was dated to late Western Han.

108. As mentioned in n.18, the date of Tomb No. 4 at Yinwan is based on the unearthed coins of daquan wushi 大泉五十, which were mainly circulated under the reign of Wang Mang and might have still been in use early in the reign of Emperor Guangwu (r. 25-57 C.E.).

109. The mirror was unearthed from Tomb No. 60 at Shaogou in Luoyang, Henan. It was in the company of twenty-one daquan wushi coins, and was thus dated to the reign of Wang Mang or shortly after. See Luoyang qu kaogu fajue dui 洛陽區考古發掘隊, Luoyang Shaogou Han mu 洛陽燒溝漢墓 (Beijing: Kexue, 1959), 167-68, 234 Google Scholar.

110. Luoyang chutu tongjing 洛陽出土銅鏡, ed. bowuguan, Luoyang 洛陽博物館 (Beijing: Wenwu, 1988), 5–6, Fig. 30Google Scholar. The mirror, dated to the reign of Wang Mang, was unearthed from Tomb No. 123 at Tieluzhanxian 鐵路站線 in Luoyang, Henan.

111. Yangzhou bowuguan, “Yangzhou shijiao faxian liangzuo Xin-Mang shiqi mu,” 987-93Google Scholar. The mirror was found with fifty-four daquan wushi coins in Tomb No. 5, and was thus dated to the reign of Wang Mang.

112. Hunan sheng bowuguan 湖南省博物館, “Hunan Zixing Dong-Han mu” 湖南資興東漢墓, Kaogu xuebao 1984.1, 53–120 Google Scholar. Both mirrors were unearthed from the tombs dated to the middle phase of the Eastern Han.

113. The superimposed TLV mirror ends in the first stage, but the accommodated TLV mirror continues to the third stage.