of the five directions – North, South, West, East and Center. The central square represents China as the ‘Middle Kingdom.’ The area in between the central square and the circle represented the ‘Four Seas.’ During the Han Dynasty the ‘Four Seas’ represented territories outside China, and did not literally refer to water. The central square within the round mirror likely alludes to the ancient Chinese idea that heaven was round and earth was square. The Ts represented the concept of the ‘Four Gates of the Middle Kingdom,’ an idea present in Chinese literature. They could have also represented the idea of the four inner gates of the Han place of sacrifice, or the gates of the imperial tombs built during the Han period. The Ls possibly symbolized the marshes and swamps beyond the ‘Four Seas,’ at the ends of the earth. The bending of the Ls could possibly have served to create a rotating effect which symbolized the four seasons, which were very closely related to the cardinal directions. The nine nipples in the central square likely represented the ‘nine regions of the earth as discussed by Cammann as having come from the Shiji. The eight nipples outside of the central square were most likely a representations of the Eight Pillars, mountains that held up the canopy of heaven. The area between the inner round border and the outer rim of the mirror was often filled with swirls that represented the clouds in heaven. The game of liubo In 1947 Professor Lien-sheng Yang of Harvard University proposed that the design of TLV mirrors was related to an ancient Chinese boardgame called liubo, which was played on a square board with the same markings as seen on this type of mirror. Further evidence was presented in an additional note in 1952. An ancient rubbing of a first century Chinese bronze mirror discovered in the National Museum of China in 1980s further confirms it. See also Mandala Chinese magic mirror Toli Shinju-kyo Notes References Cammann, Schuyler. “The ‘TLV’ Pattern on Cosmic Mirrors of the Han Dynasty”, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 68.3-4 (1948), 159–167. Bulling, Anneliese. The Decoration of Mirrors of the Han Period: A Chronology. Ascona: Artibus Asiae, 1960. Yang, Lien-sheng. “An Additional Note on the Ancient Game of Liu-po”, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 15.1-2. (1952), 124–139. External links TLV mirrors at Kyoto National Museum Chinese TLV mirrors at