Abstract: The inscriptions on bronze mirrors began at the end of the Warring States period, flourished in the Han Dynasty, and got new developments in the Tang Dynasty. Compared with that in the Han Dynasty, which was brief and concise, the mirror inscription in the Tang Dynasty was subtle and elegant, good at expressing the writer’s thoughts and feelings in a literary way. A comprehensive comparison of the mirror inscriptions in the Han and Tang Dynasties, with typical themes of praying for blessing, quality boasting and acacia, will not only reveal the similarities and differences in form and content between the two, but also intuitively reflect people’s different life pursuits, social psychology, religious beliefs, feelings of home and country, ideology and culture in the two dynasties.

Key words: Han and Tang Dynasties, comparison of inscriptions on mirrors, literariness, social psychology, ideology and culture.