A Mirror That Holds a Whole Legend
A bronze mirror barely fourteen and a half centimeters across carries an entire scene from Chinese legend on its back. Cast in the outline of an eight-petaled blossom, the Hakuga Dankin Kyō shows a robed musician seated in a bamboo grove, fingers resting on the strings of a long zither, the qin. A phoenix faces him from the opposite side. Above them, clouds drift over mountains where birds take wing; below, a lotus pond spreads across the lower field. At the very center, a small turtle crouches on a lotus leaf, forming the knob through which a cord once passed.
The mirror belongs to Dōmyōji Tenmangū, a shrine in Fujiidera, Osaka Prefecture, and it is one of Japan's National Treasures. The name says what the scene is: the musician is Bo Ya, Hakuga in Japanese, and dankin means "playing the qin."
The Friend Who Heard the Music
Bo Ya was a master of the qin in ancient China, but his name survives less for his playing than for a single listener. Zhong Ziqi heard exactly what the music meant. When Bo Ya played with high mountains in mind, Ziqi spoke of soaring peaks; when he played of rivers, Ziqi heard the rush of water. After Ziqi died, Bo Ya cut the strings of his instrument and never played again, certain that no one was left who could truly hear him.
From this story comes the word chiin, written with the characters for "knowing the tone," still used for a friend who understands you without explanation. The phoenix on the mirror belongs to the same imagination. In Chinese lore the bird alights only where music and virtue deserve it, so its presence opposite Bo Ya is part of the meaning, not mere ornament. A visitor who knows the tale reads the small bronze surface differently, watching a moment of perfect understanding cast in metal.
One of Six Relics of a Deified Scholar
The mirror is one of six objects kept at Dōmyōji Tenmangū and designated together as National Treasures. They are traditionally held to be personal effects of Sugawara no Michizane (845 to 903), the scholar and statesman later revered as Tenjin, the deity of learning. By the shrine's account, after Michizane died in exile at Dazaifu, these items were sent to his aunt Kakuju-ni, a nun at Haji-dera, the temple that preceded the present shrine. It cannot be confirmed that each piece truly belonged to him, and the attribution is best read as a cherished tradition.
What specialists can state is firmer. The set combines objects brought from Tang China with objects made in Japan in the Tang manner, and few comparable examples survive anywhere. The porcelain inkstone among them is generally taken as Tang work. The mirror is most often read as a Japanese casting of the early Heian period that copies a Tang design. Its surface points to a fumikaeshi, a mirror recast from a mold pressed against an existing one, a method that reproduces a pattern at slightly reduced size with softened detail. The object was already a National Treasure under the prewar system in 1936; it became an Important Cultural Property when the current law took effect in 1951, and was raised again to National Treasure status in 1953.
Seeing the Mirror, and the Plum Garden Around It
The six relics are not on permanent view. They appear on a limited calendar at the shrine's treasure hall, a building put up in 1902 for the thousandth anniversary of Michizane's death. Openings cluster around the first days of the New Year, certain twenty-fifth days of the month (the date long linked to Tenjin), and the plum-blossom season. The objects on display rotate, and not every treasure appears on every open day, so anyone hoping to stand before the mirror itself should confirm current dates with the shrine before traveling.
The setting rewards the season regardless. Dōmyōji Tenmangū keeps a plum garden of roughly 800 trees across some eighty varieties, counted among Osaka's noted green spaces, and Michizane's lifelong love of the plum gives the pairing real history. Late February into early March is the garden at its peak. Right next door stands Dōmyō-ji, the convent connected to Michizane's aunt, whose own National Treasure, an Eleven-Headed Kannon, is unveiled on the eighteenth and twenty-fifth of each month. The surrounding district reaches further back still: the Furuichi tombs nearby, ancient keyhole-shaped mounds inscribed by UNESCO as part of the Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group, were raised by the Haji clan, the lineage from which Michizane's family descended.
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Q&A
- What is the scene on the back of the mirror?
- It shows Bo Ya, a legendary Chinese qin player, seated in a bamboo grove with a phoenix facing him, framed by mountains, birds, and a lotus pond. The image refers to the tale of Bo Ya and Zhong Ziqi, the classic model of a friend who understands one's music completely.
- Did the mirror really belong to Sugawara no Michizane?
- Shrine tradition holds that it was among the belongings sent to his aunt after his death, but this cannot be verified. Scholars date the mirror to the early Heian period and read it as a Japanese copy of a Tang Chinese design.
- Can I see the mirror when I visit?
- Only on selected days. The treasure hall opens on a limited schedule, mainly around New Year, on certain twenty-fifth days, and during the plum festival, and the displayed objects rotate. Contact the shrine in advance to confirm and to check the admission fee.
- How do I get to Dōmyōji Tenmangū?
- It is about a three-minute walk from Dōmyōji Station on the Kintetsu Minami-Osaka Line, reachable from Osaka Abenobashi. Drivers can use the Fujiidera interchange on the Nishi-Meihan Expressway, roughly five minutes away.
- What else is worth seeing nearby?
- The adjacent Dōmyō-ji temple, the Shingon temple Fujii-dera about two kilometers away with its own National Treasure Kannon, and the Furuichi tombs, ancient mounds that form part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Basic Information
| Name | Hakuga Dankin Kyō (Mirror with Bo Ya Playing the Qin) |
|---|---|
| Location | Dōmyōji Tenmangū, 1-16-40 Dōmyōji, Fujiidera City, Osaka Prefecture |
| Designation | National Treasure (crafts) |
| Designated | Important Cultural Property, 9 June 1951; National Treasure, 31 March 1953 |
| Count and size | One mirror; diameter 14.5 cm |
| Material and form | Bronze, eight-lobed (octofoil) form; knob shaped as a turtle on a lotus leaf |
| Period | Heian period, copying a Tang Chinese model (probably a recast, fumikaeshi) |
| Owner | Dōmyōji Tenmangū |
| Viewing | Treasure hall, limited days only; confirm dates and admission with the shrine |
| Access | 3-minute walk from Dōmyōji Station (Kintetsu Minami-Osaka Line) |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/201/396
- Dōmyōji Tenmangū, official site (Treasures)
- https://www.domyojitenmangu.com/treasure.html
- Fujiidera City: Dōmyōji Tenmangū and the National Treasure Relics of Lord Sugawara
- https://www.city.fujiidera.lg.jp/soshiki/kyoikuiinkai/bunkazaihogo/fuziiderasinositeibunnkazai/kunifusiteibunkazai/1387694428536.html
- WANDER Kokuho: The Six Relics of Lord Sugawara (Dōmyōji Tenmangū)
- https://wanderkokuho.com/201-00394/
Last verified: 2026.06.12