Central production and local casting: some new perspectives on the mirror industry of the Tang Dynasty from the bronze mirrors excavated in Xi’an city, Shaanxi province, central China

The Tang Dynasty was the final high point in the history of Chinese bronze mirrors, but little is known about the face of the mirror industry. The existence of private workshops as opposed to official institutions was a matter of uncertainty. In this paper, five bronze mirrors excavated in Xi’an city (the capital of Tang Dynasty) were analyzed using the methods OM, SEM–EDS, and MC-ICP-MS, and offer some new perspectives on the subject. The results show that the alloy ratios and process characteristics of these bronze mirrors are very similar to those of the Han mirrors. In addition, highly radiogenic lead has been detected for the first time in excavated Tang Dynasty artifacts belongs to an imitated Han mirror. It may have been a private adaptation at that time, and the social background and motivation for imitating the Han mirror are also discussed. This is, of course, the first confirmation of the Tang Dynasty imitation mirror in terms of scientific data beyond visual inspection.