Black tortoise-snake in the north

Mirror with Geometric Patterns and the Four Spirits

(Kyoto National Museum)

This Mirror with Geometric Patterns and the Four Spirits is an example of a type of mirror that was made in great numbers in China from the end of the Early Han Dynasty to the Late Han Dynasty (from about the 1st Century B.C. to the 2nd Century A.D.), which corresponds to the Japanese Yayoi Period. Many of these mirrors were brought into Japan by way of Korea.

The blue dragon represents constellations in the east, the white tiger in the west, the red bird in the south and the black tortoise-snake in the north (at top of picture).

http://www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/dictio/data/kouko/houkaku.htm

Copyright Kyoto National Museum. Kyoto, Japan.