Bronze mirror with Khitan inscriptions from Liao Dynasty

The reverse of this Liao Dynasty (916-1125) octagonal bronze mirror features a five-line inscription in small Khitan script, along with the official Jurchen Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) title “Jizhou Recorder Wanyan Tong” (reading in Chinese as “Jizhou Lushi Wanyan Tong”) written in both Khitan and Han Chinese, making it the largest-sized bronze mirror with the largest number of Khitan characters found in China.

Symmetrical interlocking flower motifs commonly seen on the Central Plain are also engraved around the inscriptions, highlighting the cultural exchanges which took place between the Han and Khitan peoples.

Unearthed in 1971 at a Jin Dynasty site in Da’an county, Baicheng city, Jilin province, the bronze mirror is a prized treasure of the Jilin Provincial Museum.