Showing posts with label - - - History. Show all posts
Showing posts with label - - - History. Show all posts

2016-02-22

Haniwa figures

- BACK to the Daruma Museum -
. ABC List of Heian Contents .
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haniwa 埴輪 / はにわ terracotta clay figures
and the clan Hajibe, Haji-Be 土師部 / 土部



The Haniwa (埴輪) are terracotta clay figures which were made for ritual use and buried with the dead as funerary objects during the Kofun period (3rd to 6th century AD) of the history of Japan.
Haniwa were created according to the wazumi technique, in which mounds of coiled clay were built up to shape the figure, layer by layer.
The Haniwa were made with water-based clay and dried into a coarse and absorbent material that stood the test of time. Their name means “circle of clay” referring to how they were arranged in a circle above the tomb. The protruding parts of the figures were made separately and then attached, while a few things were carved into them. They were smoothed out by a wooden paddle. Earth terraces were arranged to place them with a cylindrical base into the ground, where the earth would hold them in place.
- MORE in the WIKIPEDIA !


. doguu, Dogū 土偶 clay figure, clay figurine .
small humanoid and animal figurines made during the late Jōmon period (14,000 BC to 400 BC) of prehistoric Japan

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haniwa はにわ【埴輪】“clay cylinder” or “circle of clay”
clay image at ancient burial mounds
discussion on Japanese haniwa (埴輪) and the kofun (古墳) period.
..... haniwa were meant to be seen.
That is, instead of being buried deep underground with the deceased, haniwa occupied and marked the open surfaces of the colossal tombs. However, it is unlikely that they were readily visible to any person who happened to pass by since the tombs were sacred, ritualized spaces that were usually surrounded by one or more moats. As a result, close visual contact with haniwa would not have been easy for unauthorized visitors. .....
Monumental tombs and early Japan
Three periods in tomb-building practices
Evolution and placement of haniwa
Haniwa in the form of animals, people and buildings
What role did haniwa play?
Style
Closeup of the Warrior Haniwa

- source : Dr. Yoko Hsueh Shirai -

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- quote -
Haji ware (土師器 Hajiki)
is a type of plain, unglazed, reddish-brown Japanese pottery or earthenware that was produced during the Kofun, Nara, and Heian periods of Japanese history. It was used for both ritual and utilitarian purposes, and many examples have been found in Japanese tombs, where they form part of the basis of dating archaeological sites.
- History -
Haji ware evolved in the 4th century AD (during the Tumulus period) from the Yayoi ware of the preceding period. The ornate decorations of Yayoi pottery were replaced by a plain, undecorated style, and the shapes began to become standardized. Great amounts of this pottery were produced by dedicated craft workshops in what later became the provinces of Yamato and Kawachi, and spread from there throughout western Japan, eventually reaching the eastern provinces. Some Haji ware pottery has been found in the enormous tombs of the Japanese emperors. By the end of the 5th century, Haji pottery was imitating Sue ware forms.
In the Nara period,
Haji ware was often burnished and smoke-blackened by being fired in an oxygen-reduction atmosphere but at low temperatures. This sub-style is known as kokushoku-doki.
Haji ware came to an end with the development of glazes and ceramics in the late Heian period.
During a 2007 underwater archaeology survey on Ojikajima by the Asian Research Institute of Underwater Archaeology, examples of Chinese ceramics and Haji ware was recovered.



- Characteristics -
Haji ware is typically a rust-red pottery, made of clay that was built up in rings or coils, rather than being thrown on a potters wheel. The exterior and usually the interior surfaces were finished by scraping smooth with a piece of wood. It was fired at temperatures below 1000 deg C in surface fires or oxidizing fires rather than kilns.
Most of Haji ware
is undecorated and has wide rims. However, ritual and funerary objects were also made in the form of houses, boats, animals, women, hunters, musicians, and warriors, which were often placed inside tombs On occasion, these objects were placed outside the tomb to guard it. One pot that was found at an archaeological site in Hachiōji, Tokyo has a globular body, averted mouth, rounded base, solid triangular handle, painted in dark grey pigment on one side with a human face painted on the front.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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- quote -
Hajibe 土師部 / 土師氏 / 土部とも書く。
土師連(むらじ)を伴造(とものみやつこ)とし、朝廷に埴輪(はにわ haniwa)・土師器(はじき hajiki)を貢進し、葬礼をも担当したトモまたはその部民。『日本書紀』垂仁(すいにん Suinin)天皇32年条に、土部連の始祖
野見宿禰(のみのすくね Nomi no Sukune)が出雲(いずも Izumo)国(島根県)土部100人を率い殉人(じゅんにん)の代用として埴輪をつくった説話がみえる。
土師部は出雲をはじめ山城(やましろ)、摂津(せっつ)、河内(かわち)、和泉(いずみ)、遠江(とおとうみ)、武蔵(むさし)、下総(しもうさ)、常陸(ひたち)、美濃(みの)、若狭(わかさ)、丹後(たんご)、但馬(たじま)、因幡(いなば)、石見(いわみ)に設定された。雄略(ゆうりゃく)天皇17年条に贄土師部(にえのはじべ Nie no Hajibe)の貢進がみえ、のち諸陵司の伴部となった。
[前川明久]
- source : kotobank.jp -


. Hajidera 土師寺 and 道明寺天満宮 / Osaka .
Domyoji Tenmangu Shrine originates in Haji Shrine that Haji Tribe built in 3 A.D. to enshrine their ancestor Amenohohi no mikoto (the son of Amaterasu Omikami, the goddess of the sun).

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- quote -
Kofun (300 – 710 AD)
From the late 4th century AD, the dead start to get gifts in their tombs such as iron weapons and armour. These, and tomb paintings, are clear signs of contact with Korea and immigration of Korean artisans. So, next to the Suebe clay work that we have seen already in the Joumon period, these immigrants started making Hajibe clay work (darker, reddish). They made Haniwa out of this, which are little clay figures or cylindrical shapes, put on top of tomb hills. Also, there is evidence of some Japanese state being politically and militaristically involved on the Korean peninsula.
- source : ansui.wordpress.com/ -


Hajibe : Families or clans of potters (some from Korea) who, from about the fourth ... Yayoi pottery, mainly for the Yamato court; they probably also made haniwa.

- reference : haniwa hajibe clan -

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野見宿禰と大和出雲 / 池田 雅雄

. Nomi no Sukune 野見宿禰 .
and the Sumo Jinja 相撲神社
The 菅原氏 Sugawara clan is said to be descended from 天穂日命 Ameno Hohino Mikoto and the Haji clan, one of whose ancestors was Nomi no Sukune, famous as the pioneer of Sumo.

Nomi no Sukune is mythically credited with contriving the haniwa, the terracotta figurines, which were used doing the Kofun period ...
Making the first haniwa under Nomi no Sukune's supervision ...

A potter from Izumo named Nomi no Sukune declared:
"It is not good to bury living men upright at the tumulus of a prince. ... Let it be the law for future ages to substitute things of clay for living men and set them up at tumuli." ...

- reference : haniwa nomi no sukune -

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mogari もがり【殯】 funeral rites

- quote -
THE MOGARI RITE THROUGH THE HISTORY OF JAPANESE CULTURE
..... The supposed etymology is as following. Mogari - from mo (mourning) + agari (ascend to heaven, /soul/ is flying away). Araki - /temporary/mausoleum (tomb) of newly dead \whose spirit is not appeased yet/, comp.; aramitatama - "spirit unappeased", arabotoke - newly dead /before first obon/, arakuchi - first after someone's death shaman's interrogation with his spirit; kijo:shiro - castle, palace, iwaki - "rock/cave tomb", ishiki - stone tomb, okutsuki - deep tomb, imaki - new tomb.
.....
Asobi-be
In- & outside the hinkyu (esp. of a dead sovereign) mogari-no matsuri (funeral festival) took place; its purpose was to call back the soul and bring the dead back to life, to pacify his potentially dangerous spirit in order to pass it to the successor or to send it off to nether world; thus the deification of the dead began. It included mogari-no asobi (funeral "play/game") with various dancing and singing. Beside relatives and officials there were two groups of funeral ritualists called Haji-be and Asobi-be.
Haji-be were constructing hinkyu, tombs, making haniwa. Asobi-be danced chinkon/tamafuri-no mai (dances to appease the souls of the dead) and sang shokonka/chinkonka (songs to call back and pacify the souls).
Asobi-be represented the occupational group of traditional Japanese shamans who were involved not only in funeral rituals, but also in the seasonal erotic festivities kagai\utagaki, other festivals and ceremonies (including Daijosai). Ecstatic dances of Asobi-be (from Hijiki-wake clan) lately developed in nembutsu-odori performed in Buddhist sect Ji-shu: (or Yugyo-ha - School of Wanderers, "yu/asobi"); thus sect Ji-shu: derived from exorcist rituals of asobi-be. Particularly, among its followers were Nogaku actors.
- - - - - read the essay here
- source : ru-jp.org/yaponovedy_baksheev -

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細長いだるまのような踊る埴輪です
A long dancing Haniwa, like Daruma




Look at many more new-type Haniwa items - 2015 - Let's make Haniwa!
- source : kumagaya-bunkazai.jp/museum -


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- - - - - ABC List of the prefectures


............................................................................. Kyoto 京都 

. Fukakusa-yaki 深草焼 Clay Dolls from Fukakusa .
Clay Dolls from Fushimi - 伏見土人形

Fushimi Doll is a clay doll whose originator is said to be Hajibe who settled in Fukakusa
before the Nara era. 土師部 Hajibe is a tribe who was notable for their skills in making Haniwa (a clay image placed in ancient burial mounds) and earthenware.
The doll was made of clay from Mt. Inari, and was distributed widely, not only in old capital provinces but to Shikoku and Kyushu. The doll became the precursor of clay dolls that number approximately 90 types nationwide, such as Hakata Doll, Tsutsumi Doll of Sendai and Nakano Doll of Shinshu.
- source : ndl.go.jp/scenery/kansai -



............................................................................. Miyazaki 愛媛県



. haniwa ningyoo はにわ人形 Haniwa dolls .



............................................................................. Niigata 新潟県 

Kappa-type Dogu from Niigata, Itoigawa region
新潟土偶(カッパ型)from 新潟県糸魚川市長者


source : haniwadokoro.cart.fc2.com


. 河童 / かっぱ / カッパ - Kappa, the Water Goblin of Japan! .




............................................................................. Osaka 大阪 


埴輪馬 haniwa horse

. Osaka, Sakai town 堺市 .
住吉大社の諸玩具 Clay Dolls and Toys from shrine Sumiyoshi Taisha


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- Reference in Japanese 埴輪 -
- Reference in English -

. Legends - Heian Period (794 to 1185) - Introduction .

. Japanese legends and tales 伝説 民話 昔話 - Introduction .

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haniwa gangu 埴輪玩具 Haniwa toys


CLICK for more photos !

. gangu 玩具伝説, omochcha おもちゃ toy, toys .

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source : 白馬の少年

春愁や遠きいくさの埴輪武士
shunshuu ya tooki ikusa no haniwa bushi

spring melancholy -
this Haniwa soldier
of long times past


高知城 seen at the castle in Kochi

河野南畦 Kano Nankei (1913 - 1995)

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冬の日に埴輪掘りたる人死ぬか
とろ~と冬日が溶ける埴輪かな

萩原麦草

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時雨るるや手あげて埴輪夫を恋ふ
野見山朱鳥


太刀佩ける埴輪をのこに梅咲けり
福田蓼汀

愛する時獣皮のような苔の埴輪
赤尾兜子


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. Yakimono 焼物 / Setomono 瀬戸物 pottery, crockery .
- Introduction -

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2015-11-18

Ashikaga Gakko

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. ABC List of Heian Contents .
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Ashikaga Gakkoo 足利学校 Ashikaga Gakkō, The Ashikaga School,
The Ashikaga Academy


- quote -
Japan's oldest academic institution. It is located in Ashikaga city, Tochigi Prefecture, about 70 kilometres north of Tokyo.
There has been some controversy as to when it was built, but it is said that it was founded in the ninth century ca. 832 in the Heian period by the poet Ono no Takamura 小野篁
and restored in 1432 by Deputy Shogun Uesugi Norizane 上杉憲実; he imported many classical Chinese books, many of which are still kept in the school.



Many students came from all over Japan to study Confucianism, I Ching and Chinese medicine.
In the 1500s more than 3000 students came to study Confucianism, Chinese Medicine, Divination, and military studies. The famous library contains more than 12,000 volumes (mostly in Chinese) and some of Japan's oldest historical documents,
The pioneering Roman Catholic missionary, Saint Francis Xavier, noted in 1549 that the Ashikaga School was the largest and most famous university of eastern Japan.

After the Meiji Restoration, the Ashikaga School was disestablished. After 1990 several wooden buildings including the former student living quarters, classrooms and the library were restored as a National Historic Site. The re-established school is now under the direction of Ashikaga city Board of Education.

Under the Tokugawa Shogunate during the Edo period (1600 – 1868) Ashikaga town participated in the prosperity of Edo (former name of Tokyo) and two of Ashikagas specialties being soba and silk became and remained famous until modern times. Silk production made Ashikaga town with textile manufacturing one of the leading centers of Japan's industrial revolution. Even today Edo period merchant stronghouses and active textile handcrafters can be seen. In many local souvenir shops fine woven goods can be found.

- source : wikipedia -
- source : en.japantravel.com -

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There were three gates to the compound.


入徳門 Nyutoku gate. Nyutoku is derived from the Chinese characters for "enter" and "virtue". It can be interpreted to mean that by proceeding with the course of study, one enters into the Confucian way of virtue. This gate was erected in 1668.

学校門 School gate, It is known as School gate due to its framed tablet of the Chinese characters that depict "school". It was erected in 1668.

杏壇門 Kyodan gate. This building is still the original.
The name of this gate is derived from the academy where Confucius first began to teach his course of study. It was erected in 1668.



孔子廟 Confucian shrine
It is the oldest Confucian shrine still existing in Japan. The seated image of Confucius, the image of Lord Ono-no Takamura and 4 wooden memorial tablets are dedicated in this wooden structure, that the style of construction was modeled after that used in Ming Dynasty, China.

字降り松 Kanafuri matsu , pine tree shedding Kanji readings
There is an old story that a student wrote a difficult word that he didn't know how to read and couldn't understand on a piece of paper and hung it on this tree. The next morning he found the answer. And after, many people became to follow him. And it became to be called this pine tree "Kanafuri matsu".

南庭園 The Southern Park
方丈 The School building
北庭園 The Northern Park, seen best from the living quarters of the Headmaster.
- source : city.ashikaga.tochigi.jp -

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. Ono no Takamura 小野篁 / Sangi no Takamura 参議篁 .
(802 - 852) - an early Heian period scholar and poet.

Takamura was a descendant of Ono no Imoko who served as Kenzuishi, and his father was Ono no Minemori. He was the grandfather of Ono no Michikaze, one of the three famous calligraphers (三筆 sanpitsu). In 834 he was appointed to Kintōshi, but in 838 after a quarrel with the envoy, Fujiwara no Tsunetsugu, he gave up his professional duties pretending to be ill, and attracted the ire of retired Emperor Saga, who sent him to Oki Province. Within two years he regained the graces of the court and returned to the capital where he was promoted to Sangi.

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Uesugi Norizane 上杉憲実
(1410 – 1466)
was a Japanese samurai of the Uesugi clan who held a number of high government posts during the Muromachi period.



Shugo (Constable) of Awa and Kōzuke Province, he was appointed Kantō kanrei (Shogun's deputy in the Kantō region) in 1419, as an assistant to Kantō kubō Ashikaga Mochiuji. When Mochiuji rebelled against the shogunate, and attacked Norizane directly, Norizane complained to the shogunate, and fled to Kōzuke province. He returned to Kamakura in 1439, following Mochiuji's death.
Norizane, as Kantō kanrei, now controlled the Kantō in the absence of a Kantō kubō; from then on, the kanrei would be the shogun's direct deputy, the kubō serving only as an empty title.
Norizane left his post to his brother Uesugi Kiyotaka soon afterwards, and became a Buddhist monk.
Over the course of his life, he was the patron of the Ashikaga Academy and helped to expand its library.
- source : wikipedia -

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. Manase Dōsan 曲直瀬道三 Manase Dosan .
(1507 - 1594)
He studied medicine at this school.

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- Reference in Japanese -
- Reference in English -

. Legends - Heian Period (794 to 1185) - Introduction .

. Japanese legends and tales 伝説 民話 昔話 - Introduction .

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華鬘草足利学校の裏に摘む
kemansoo ashikaga gakkoo no ura ni tsumu

bleeding heart blossoms
I picked at the back
of Ashikaga school


岡本敬子 Okamoto Keiko

. kemansoo 華鬘草 "Keman flower" bleeding heart .
- - kigo for late Spring - -


source : ukon3.sblo.jp/article

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足利学校菜園に摘む貝割菜

岩上登代 Iwagami Toyo

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足利学校楷樹裸木そびえしむ

阿部ひろし Abe Hiroshi


. Utamakura 歌枕 place names used in Poetry .

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. Shizutani Gakko 閑谷学校 Shizutani Academy, Okayama .
the oldest free public school in the Japan. built by Lord Mitsumasa Ikeda, to educate the children of the commoners in the province -- not just the children of the samurai class.



Meirinkan (明倫館)
was a han school located in the Chōshū Domain of Japan. The school was one of the three major educational institutions in Japan, along with the Kōdōkan in Mito Domain and Shizutani School in Okayama Domain.
The school was established in 1718 by the 6th Chōshū Domain daimyō Mōri Yoshimoto . . .
Hagi Meirinkan (萩明倫館)
Yamaguchi Meirinkan (山口明倫館) - Kameyama Campus (亀山校地 Kameyama kōchi) in 1861
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !



. Tooju shoin 藤樹書院 Toju Private School, Toju Study - Shiga .
Nakae Tōju 中江藤樹 Nakae Toju - "the sage of Ōmi" 近江聖人.
(21 April 1608 – 11 October 1648)

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- #ashikagagakko #uesuginorizane #ononotakamura -
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2015-07-27

kinzan ginzan mines

- BACK to the Daruma Museum -
. Legends - Heian Period (794 to 1185) - Introduction .
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kinzan 金山 ginzan 銀山 - gold and silver mines and their legends


Roben prayed to the statue to help him find a gold mine for the emperor, who wanted to use gold to coat the Great Buddha under construction at the Todaiji temple in current Nara.
A gold mine was then found in the Mutsu region, in current Miyagi Prefecture.

. Genji Monogatari  源氏物語 .
- Introduction -

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The most famous gold mine is in Sado Island.

Sado bugyō 佐渡奉行
– Overseers of the island and gold mines of Sado Island.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

. The Legend of “Zipangu,” the Land of Gold .

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Hiraizumi Gold Mine 平泉
Hiraizumi's past wealth was based on its local gold mines as the Fujiwara clan attempted to build a "paradise on earth" at the beginning of the 12th century building large temples, palaces and monasteries.
Read more:
http://www.japanvisitor.com/japan-city-guides/hiraizumi-guide#ixzz3h3I0RasF



Narumi kinzan 鳴海金山 Narumi Gold Mine
in Echigo since the Heian period
越後の鳴海金山、血色の鍾乳石

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Iwami ginzan 石見銀山


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- - - - - Legends - ABC List of the prefectures :

.................................................................. Toyama Aichi 富山県 ....................................................................

大山町
好景気に酔った坑夫が炊きたての飯だけを食べ、冷や飯を谷に投げ捨てた。更に立山町横江の宮の神木を切って坑内の矢留木にした。その神木を運んだ時、後ろから醜い二人のグザ(あばた面)がついてきた。それがシキに入ると天地鳴動して銀山が崩れた。



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- Reference in Japanese -

- Reference in English -

yokai database 妖怪データベース -金山 48 entries (00)
- source : www.nichibun.ac.jp -

yokai database 妖怪データベース - 銀山
- source : www.nichibun.ac.jp -

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. Legends about Kobo Daishi Kukai - 弘法大師 空海 - 伝説 .

. minwa 民話 folktales / densetsu 伝説 Japanese Legends .
- Introduction -

- Yookai 妖怪 Yokai Monsters of Japan -
- Introduction -

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. Join the friends on Facebook ! .

- #kinzangoldmine #ginzansilvermine #goldmine -
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Kofun period

- BACK to the Daruma Museum -
. Legends - Heian Period (794 to 1185) - Introduction .
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kofun jidai 古墳時代 burial mound period - 250 to 538
kofun 古墳 burial mound, tumulus




- quote -
The Kofun period (古墳時代 Kofun jidai)
is an era in the history of Japan from around 250 to 538. It follows the Yayoi period. The word kofun is Japanese for the type of burial mounds dating from this era. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes referred to collectively as the Yamato period. The Kofun period is the oldest era of recorded history in Japan; as the chronology of its historical sources tends to be very distorted, studies of this period require deliberate criticism and the aid of archaeology.

The Kofun period is divided from the Asuka period by its cultural differences. The Kofun period is characterized by a Shinto culture which existed[citation needed] prior to the introduction of Buddhism. Politically, the leader of a powerful clan won control over much of west Honshū and the northern half of Kyūshū and eventually established the Imperial House of Japan. Kofun burial mounds on Tanegashima and two very old Shinto shrines on Yakushima suggest that these islands were the southern boundaries of the Yamato state, while its northernmost extent was as far north as Tainai in the modern Niigata Prefecture, where mounds have been excavated associated with a person with close links to the Yamato kingdom.
- More
- source : wikipedia -


2019 - May 15
UNESCO panel recommends adding Japan’s Mozu-Furuichi tombs to World Heritage List

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Daisen Kofun 大仙古墳 - Introduction
The Imerial Lineage / The Emperor / Mozu Kofungun
in Sakai, Osaka
- source : ...daisenkofun/home... -


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The Kitora Tomb キトラ古墳 Kitora Kofun
an ancient tumulus (kofun in Japanese) located in the village of Asuka, Nara Prefecture, Japan. The tomb is believed to have been constructed some time between the 7th and early 8th centuries, but was only discovered in 1983.
- source : wikipedia -

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. Anafudoo Kofun 穴不動古墳 Anafudo Kofun Mound . - Tokushima

. Anayakushi Kofun 穴薬師古墳 (Yakushi Nyorai) . - Ibaraki

. Bontenyama Kofun Gun 梵天山古墳群 . - 常陸太田市 Ibaraki, Hitachi-Ota

. Gishiki no Iwaya 魏石鬼の岩屋 "Cave of the Gishiki Demon" . - Nagano

. Hashihaka Kofun 箸墓古墳 . - Nara
Princess Himiko or Pimiko (卑弥呼, 卑彌呼 d. ca. 248)

. Nekozuka Kofun 猫塚古墳 for a cat . - Miyagi

. Osaka Kofun Group 大阪古墳群 .
Mozu kofungun (百舌鳥古墳群) // Furuichi kofungun (古市古墳群)

. Otome Kanzawa Kofun 乙女寒沢古墳 .
Ibaraki, Oyama 栃木県小山市乙女947

. Tamagawadai kofun 玉川台古墳群 / 多摩川台 . - Ota, Tokyo

. Tengudani Kofun 天狗谷古墳 . - Ehime

. Tokyo - kofun 古墳 burial mounds in Tokyo .
- Musashi Fuchu Kumano Jinja Kofun 武蔵府中熊野神社古墳
- Ootsuka 大塚 Otsuka "big mound"
- Shiba Maruyama Kofun 芝丸山古墳

. Ushiishi Kofun 牛石古墳 Ushiishi burial mound, Osaka .

. Yakushido Hall Kofun mound 薬師堂古墳 Sabae, Fukui .

. Yamanokami kofun 山の神古墳 in Japan .


- - - - - Some legends relate to the
. kinkei 金鶏と伝説 Legends about the golden rooster .


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- - - - - Kofun Legends - ABC List of the prefectures :

.................................................................. Hyogo 兵庫県 ....................................................................
加東郡 Kato district

. kinkei 金鶏と伝説 Legends about the golden rooster .
Harima no Kinkei Legends - 播磨の金鶏埋宝伝説


.................................................................. Kyoto 京都府 ....................................................................
亀岡市 Kameoka 千歳町 Chitose

oogon no niwatori 黄金の鶏 the golden rooster
At the Kofun called 車塚 Kurumazuka there was a golden rooster burried among other things. Some people hear his call on the New Year's morning and they are said to be successfull later in life.


.................................................................. Nara 奈良県 ....................................................................
大柳生町 Oyagyucho

ケチ山 Kechiyama
The Kinkei Kofun 金鶏古墳 is said to be on Kechiyama. If people cut trees there, they will be cursed and doomed.

(Other sources place this Kofun in Hiroshima, Mie ...)

金鶏塚古墳(岡山) Kinkeizuka Kofun Okayama



.................................................................. Okayama 岡山県 ....................................................................

- 鼻ぐり塚 Hanagurizuka, Hanaguri tsuka -
備前一之宮・吉備津彦神社と備中一之宮・吉備津神社を結ぶ古道のちょうど中間あたりにあるのが、福田海本部である。
そこに畜霊供養の鼻ぐり塚がある。




.................................................................. Yamanashi 山梨県 ....................................................................
韮崎市 Nirasaki

赤染衛門の古墳 Kofun of Akazome Emon

天明年中の事。ある寺の本堂脇に苔むした古墳があった。中門を建立するためにこの古墳を取り払おうとした所、住僧の夢に夫人が現われ古墳を取り壊す事を嘆き、短冊を残した。目が覚めるとその短冊が枕元にあった。それは赤染衛門の筆であった。
.
韮崎の近くにある某寺に古墓があったのを取り払おうとすると、僧の夢に貴女が現れ、「なき跡のしるしとなれば其ままに問はれずとても有りてしもがな」という歌を書いた短冊を残して去ったという話がある。後の鑑定でこの短冊は赤染右衛門の筆跡であるとされた。

Akazome Emon 赤染衛門 (956–1041) was a Japanese waka poet and early historian who lived in the mid-Heian period. She is a member both of the Thirty Six Elder Poetic Sages (中古三十六歌仙 Chūko Sanjūrokkasen) and the Thirty Six Female Poetic Sages (女房三十六歌仙 Nyōbō Sanjūrokkasen).
Emon is thought to be the daughter of Akazome Tokimochi, but her biological father was likely her mother's first husband, Taira Kanemori. Emon was born before her mother's marriage to Tokimochi in the Akazome family. Her husband Ōe no Masahira was a famous literary scholar, and the couple were considered to be "lovebirds" (おしどり夫婦 oshidori fūfu).
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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平景清の古墳 . . .
- source : nichibun yokai database -
- 28 entries (02)
- Akazome Emon / Kinkei


- Reference in Japanese -
- Reference in English -


. Japan Mystery com -- long list .
"古墳" の検索結果

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. minwa 民話 folktales / densetsu 伝説 Japanese Legends .
- Introduction -

- Yookai 妖怪 Yokai Monsters of Japan -
- Introduction -

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2015-07-13

Matsuo Basho footsteps

- BACK to the Daruma Museum -
. ABC List of Contents .
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Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 

Matsuo Basho visited many places of interest since the Heian period, especially on his travels written down in
Oku no Hosomichi.

. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 .
- Introduction -

Trying to collect them here.
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Oku no Hosomichi - 奥の細道 - おくのほそ道


. - - - Station 10 - Shirakawa no Seki 白川の関 - - - .
Waka by Fujiwara no Suemichi 藤原 季通 (Heian period, around 1158)


. - - - Station 13 - Shinobu no Sato 忍ぶの里 / 信夫 - - - .
Three seemingly unconnected objects - a large, moss-dappled rock, the Michinoku (Tohoku) kimono design of mottled ferns made famous in the Heian period (794 - 1185), and an impossible love story


. - - - Station 16 - Kasajima 笠嶋 - - - .
in memory of Toono chuujoo Sanekata 藤中将実方 Tono Chujo Sanekata
Fujiwara no Sanekata 藤原実方



. - - - Station 20 - Shiogama 塩釜 - - - .
Sue no matsuyama 末の松山
This is also an Uta makura. Among the Azuma Uta of the Kokinshu is: -- Another poem from Goshuishu by Kiyohara no Motosuke (One of the 36 poetic geniuses of the Heian period, he was also a skilled player of the koto. He was editor of the Gosen Waka Shu ((909-990)): --
Izumi no Saburo 泉三郎
Izumi no Saburo was the third son of Fujiwara no Hidehira (?-1187) who built the powerful Fujiwara presence at Hiraizumi in the late Heian period.
and Saigyo  西行法師 
visiting the grave of Fujiwara Sanekata, a Heian period poet who was exiled in the North:



. - - - Station 23 - Hiraizumi 平泉  - - - .
It was the home of the Hiraizumi Fujiwaras for about 100 years in the late Heian era.
The Golden Hall 光堂 at Chūson-ji 中尊寺 Chuson-Ji.



. - - - Station 25 - Obanazawa 尾花沢 - - - .
鈴木清風 Suzuki Seifu / (1651 - 1721) . Suzuki Michiyuu 鈴木道祐
残月軒清風
He was a dealer in safflowers (benibana), a speciality of the region. Their extract was an important ingredient in cosmetics and for dying cloths since the Heian period.



. - - - Station 37 - Natadera 那谷寺
and Yamanaka Onsen 山中温泉 Yamanaka Hot Spring - - - .

The name was changed to Natadera by the emperor Kazan, who ruled during the Heian Period. In his later years, Kazan often stayed at the temple, and designed the gardens to resemble the Fudaraku mountain of the Pure Land on which lives Kannon Bosatsu.


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. Dōsojin 道祖神 Dosojin - Roadside Gods .
In the famous “Narrow Road to the North”Oku no Hosomichi 奥の細道, Matsuo Basho writes about the stone statues of the wayside gods.



. Genji Monogatari 源氏物語 Tale of Genji .
Songs in the Garden: Poetry and Gardens in Ancient Japan



. hanagokoro, hana gokoro 花心 "flower-heart" .
that expression seems already been used in Heian poetry ... the heart of a lady in love, but also the heart changing as fast as cherry blossoms fall ...



. - hanami 花見 cherry-blossom viewing - .
Hanagaki Jinja 花垣神社 Hanagaki Shrine in Yono, Mie prefecture.
One day, Shoshi, a princess in the Heian period (794-1192) went through Hanagaki-jinja shrine.
一里はみな花守の子孫かや 
hitozato wa mina hanamori no shison kana
- - - Written in 1690 元禄3年春 at Hanagaki no sho 花垣の庄 in Mie, Yono. Basho age 47.




. - hototogisu 郭公 / ほととぎす - .
This is one of the classical season words, used in the poetry of the Heian period.
Basho sometimes uses the word and adds a new twist, closer to the normal life of the normal people of his Edo.
Basho uses the Chinese characters 郭公, which was common during the Heian period.



. - kami 神 Shinto deities - .
我も神のひさうや仰ぐ梅の花
ware mo kami no hisoo ya aogu ume no hana
- - - Kanke Kooshuu 菅家後集 Kanke Kōshū from the Heian period, about 903,
with poems of Sugawara no Michizane 菅原道真.



. Kigo and kidai 松尾芭蕉と季語(季題)- Jahreszeitenworte -.
Seasonal references were very important in the poetry of Japan since the Heian period. Manuals with collections of seasonal words grew as composing poetry moved on from the aristocracy to the townspeople of the Edo period.



. kiku 菊 and the Chrysanthemum Festival .
"When I left Nara it was time for the Chrysanthemums, but now as I reach Naniwa, it is time for the beginning of the autum moon."
During the night of yoizukiyo, on the second or third day of the full moon cycle, the sickle moon is out only for a short while in the early evening. Thus it was well loved by poets since the Heian period.
Basho had left Nara on the 9th day of the 9th lunar month (the Chrysanthemum Festival) (Now about October 23 / 24).
He passed the Kuragoshi Pass and the Ikoma Mountain range and arrived in Naniwa/Osaka at the Ikutama shrine 生玉神社 on the 10th day and the roads where still full of the fragrance of chrysanthemums.



. - Kiso 木曽 / 木曾 in Nagano - .
桟やまづ思ひ出づ馬迎へ
The Hanging Bridge at Kiso 木曽の架け橋 / 木曽のかけはし Kiso no Kakehashi
kakehashi ya mazu omoi-izu uma mukae
- - - This is an old custom since the Heian period, on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month.
An official from the court comes to pick up the horses (mukae, mukai) at Kirihara, from the various horse breeding regions. He comes up to this bridge to meet the horses and has them handed over to bring to the court.



. - Nara 奈良 ancient capital of Japan - .
There is also a waka by Ise no Oosuke - Taifu 伊勢大輔 a poet of the Heian period.


. - Nenbutsu 念仏 Amida Prayer - .
Basho wrote a haiku at the grave of
Minamoto no Tomonaga (源朝長) (1144–1160), a Minamoto clan samurai of the late Heian period.



. Ochazuke and Naracha 奈良茶 .
The origins of Ochazuke is still unknown. However, in Heian era, there was a meal called "yuzuke", which is a bowl of rice and hot water poured on top.


. Ono no Komachi 小野 小町 .
. meigetsu ya umi ni mukaeba nana Komachi .



. Saigyo 芭蕉と西行法師 Basho and Saigyo .


. Sayo no Nakayama 佐夜の中山 and Kinome tooge 木目峠 / 木ノ芽峠 Kinome Toge pass .
This pass had been crossed by many famous people since the Heian period., for example
西行 Saigyo, Taira no Koremori 平惟盛、Kiso Yoshinaka 木曽義仲、Shinran, 親鸞、Dogen 道元, Nitta Yoshisada 新田義貞, monk Rennyo 蓮如, the Asakura clan 朝倉一族, Oda Nobunaga 織田信長, Toyotomi Hideyoshi 豊臣秀吉 and many more.



. Taira no Atsumori 平敦盛 (1169 - 1184) .
Atsumori was famous for his flute playing. And a haiku by Matsuo Basho.




source : andante.blog92.fc2
Komachi Tanabata Festival at Yuzawa Town

. - Tanabata 七夕 Star Festival - .
It has been celebrated since the Heian period in Japan, with the wish that young girls would become proficient in weaving and keeping a good home.



. - ume ga ka 梅が香 plum fragrance - .
ume, sometimes spelled mume むめ, as it was called in the Heian period.
Basho makes use of both spellings.
Prunus mume, a kind of apricot tree.



. - utabukuro, uta fukuro 歌袋 song-pouch, bag to keep poetry - .
utabukuro are made of strong Japanese paper (danshi 檀紙), or cotton or other material.
Often called michinokugami 陸奥紙 because it was produced in Michinoku area (part of modern day Tohoku 東北) during the Heian period.




. - Yamashiro 山城 and Ide 井出 / 井手 - .
“Yamashiro” was formerly written with the characters meaning “mountain” (山) and “area” (代); in the 7th century, there were things built listing the name of the province with the characters for “mountain” and “ridge”/“back” (山背国). On 4 December 794 (8 Shimotsuki, 13th year of Enryaku), at the time of the christening of Heian-kyō, because of the resultant scenic beauty when Emperor Kammu made his castle utilizing the natural surroundings, the shiro was finally changed to “castle” (山城国).



. - yume 夢 dream - .
夢よりも現の鷹ぞ頼もしき 
yume yori mo utsutsu no taka zo tanomoshiki
- - - Basho is writing with respect to a waka in the Kokinshu poetry almanach of the Heian period.



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- quote -
Kazan Tennō 花山天皇 Kazan Tenno, Emperor Kazan
(January 26, 967 – February 8, 1008) was the 65th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.
Kazan's reign spanned the years from 984 through 986.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !



月岡芳年 Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 「花山寺の月」


- quote -
In 984 Enyu Tenno abdicated in favor of Kazan Tenno and the next heir designated was one of Kaneie's grandsons. Kazan was the grandson of the deceased Fujiwara Koretada. Yoritada continued as regent. The change of ruler benefited Koretada's son Yoshichika, who now joined the rapid-promotion track. It may be easily seen that political struggles between the Fujiwara and others had all but ceased and now the competition was among the steadily increasing number of active Fujiwara lineages.

Kazan Tenno's favorite wife died in an advanced stage of pregnancy in 986 and the emperor became distraught and started to talk of abdicating and becoming a Buddhist monk.
. Japanese History / The Middle Heian Period .

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. Reference - Matsuo Basho Archives .

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. Join the friends on Facebook ! .

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2015-06-23

Silk Road Asian Highway

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. ABC List of Contents .
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Silk Road シルクロード - Asian Highway アジアンハイウェイ
Maritime Silk Road 海のシルクロード


. kinu 絹 silk in Japanese culture .
- Introduction -

. Dunhuang 敦煌 Tonko Oasis and Buddhism .

A lot has been written about the importance of the Silk Road and Japanese culture.
Here I will concentrate on the Heian period . . . and the latest developments since 2015.

- quote -
The Silk Road or Silk Route - Seidenstrasse -



is a network of trade and cultural transmission routes that were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting the West and East by merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads, and urban dwellers from China and India to the Mediterranean Sea during various periods of time.
- source : wikipedia -


- quote -
The Asian Highway (AH) project, also known as the Great Asian Highway,



is a cooperative project among countries in Asia and Europe and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), to improve the highway systems in Asia. It is one of the three pillars of the Asian Land Transport Infrastructure Development (ALTID) project, endorsed by the ESCAP commission at its 48th session in 1992, comprising Asian Highway, Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) and facilitation of land transport projects.
- source : wikipedia -


China’s New Silk Road initiative
- source : Japan Times, June 2015 - (fb)

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- quote -
One Belt, One Road (Chinese: 一带一路 also known as the Belt and Road Initiative; abbreviated OBOR)
is a development strategy and framework, proposed by People's Republic of China that focuses on connectivity and cooperation among countries primarily in Eurasia, which consists of two main components, the land-based "Silk Road Economic Belt" (SREB) and oceangoing "Maritime Silk Road" (MSR). The strategy underlines China's push to take a bigger role in global affairs, and its need to export China's production capacity in areas of overproduction such as steel manufacturing.
- source : wikipedia -


- quote - Japan Times Jun 23, 2015 -
China's Indian Ocean strategy
Brahma Chellaney
NEW DELHI –
What are Chinese attack submarines doing in the Indian Ocean, far from China’s maritime backyard, in what is the furthest deployment of the Chinese Navy in 600 years? Two Chinese subs docked last fall at the new Chinese-built and -owned container terminal in Colombo, Sri Lanka. And recently a Chinese Yuan-class sub showed up at the Pakistani port city of Karachi.
The assertive way
China has gone about staking its territorial claims in the South and East China seas has obscured its growing interest in the Indian Ocean. This ocean has become the new global center of trade and energy flows, accounting for half the world’s container traffic and 70 percent of its petroleum shipments.
China’s newly released defense white paper, while outlining regional hegemony aspirations, has emphasized a greater focus on the seas, including an expanded naval role beyond its maritime backyard. The white paper says that, as part of China’s effort to establish itself as a major maritime power, its navy will shift focus from “offshore waters defense” to “open seas protection” — a move that helps explain its new focus on the Indian Ocean, with the Maritime Silk Road initiative at the vanguard of the Chinese grand strategy. To create a blue water force and expand its naval role, China is investing heavily in submarines and warships, and working on a second aircraft carrier.
President Xi Jinping’s pet project
is about expanding and securing maritime routes to the Middle East and beyond through the Indian Ocean, which is the bridge between Asia and Europe. Xi’s dual Silk Road initiatives — officially labeled the “One Belt, One Road” — constitute a westward strategic push to expand China’s power reach. Indeed, Xi’s Indian Ocean plans draw strength from his more assertive push for Chinese dominance in the South and East China seas.
The Chinese
maneuvering in the Indian Ocean — part of China’s larger plan to project power in the Middle East, Africa and Europe — aims to challenge America’s sway and chip away at India’s natural-geographic advantage. Xi has sought to carve out an important role for China in the Indian Ocean through his Maritime Silk Road initiative, while his overland Silk Road is designed to connect China with Central Asia, the Caspian Sea basin and Europe.
The common link
between the two mega Silk Road projects is Pakistan, which stands out for simultaneously being a client state of China, Saudi Arabia and the United States — a unique status.
During a visit to Pakistan in April,
Xi officially launched the project to connect China’s restive Xinjiang region with the warm waters of the Arabian Sea through a 3,000 km overland transportation corridor extending to the Chinese-built Pakistani port of Gwadar. This project makes Pakistan the central link between the maritime and overland Silk Roads. The Xi-launched corridor to Gwadar through Pakistan-held Kashmir — running in parallel to India’s Japanese-financed New Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor — will hook up the two Silk Roads.
Indeed,
a stable Pakistan has become so critical to the ever-increasing Chinese strategic investments in that country that Beijing has started brokering peace talks between the Pakistan-backed Afghan Taliban and Kabul. This effort has been undertaken with the backing not just of Pakistan but also of the U.S., thus underscoring the growing convergence of Chinese and American interests in the Afghanistan-Pakistan belt.
snip
The Maritime Silk Road initiative, with its emphasis on high-visibility infrastructure projects, targets key littoral states located along the great trade arteries. At a time of slowing economic growth in China, infrastructure exports are also designed to address the problem of overproduction at home.

By presenting commercial penetration as benevolent investment and credit as aid, Beijing is winning lucrative overseas contracts for its state-run companies, with the aim of turning economic weight into strategic clout. Through its Maritime Silk Road — a catchy new name for its “string of pearls” strategy — China is already challenging the existing balance of power in the Indian Ocean.
Beijing,
while seeking to co-opt strategically located states in an economic and security alliance led by it, is working specifically to acquire naval-access outposts through agreements for refueling, replenishment, crew rest and maintenance. Its efforts also involve gaining port projects along vital sea lanes of communication, securing new supplies of natural resources, and building energy and transportation corridors to China through Myanmar and Pakistan.
One example
of how China has sought to win influence in the Indian Ocean Rim is Sri Lanka. It signed major contracts with Sri Lanka’s now-ousted president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, to turn that country — located along major shipping lanes — into a major stop on the Chinese nautical “road.” The country’s new president, Maithripala Sirisena, said on the election-campaign trail earlier this year that the Chinese projects were ensnaring Sri Lanka in a debt tap, with the risk that “our country would become a colony and we would become slaves.”
- snip -
Beijing is also interested in leasing one of the 1,200 islands of the politically torn Maldives. Xi has toured several of the key countries in the Indian Ocean Rim that China is seeking to court, including the Maldives, Tanzania and Sri Lanka.
From China’s artificially created islands in the South China Sea
to its ongoing negotiations for a naval base in Djibouti, the maritime domain has become central to Xi’s great-power ambitions. Yet it is far from certain that he will be able to realize his strategic aims in the Indian Ocean Rim, given the lurking suspicions about China’s motives and the precarious security situation in some regional states.

One thing is clear though: China wants to be the leader, with its own alliances and multilateral institutions, not a “responsible stakeholder” in the U.S.-created architecture of global governance. It is building naval power to assert sovereignty over disputed areas and to project power in distant lands. Determined to take the sea route to secure global power status and challenge the U.S.-led order, China is likely to step up its strategic role in the Indian Ocean — the world’s new center of geopolitical gravity.
- source : Japan Times -

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The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
by Peter Frankopan (Author)


It was on the Silk Roads that East and West first encountered each other through trade and conquest, leading to the spread of ideas, cultures and religions. From the rise and fall of empires to the spread of Buddhism and the advent of Christianity and Islam, right up to the great wars of the twentieth century—this book shows how the fate of the West has always been inextricably linked to the East.

Peter Frankopan realigns our understanding of the world, pointing us eastward. He vividly re-creates the emergence of the first cities in Mesopotamia and the birth of empires in Persia, Rome and Constantinople, as well as the depredations by the Mongols, the transmission of the Black Death and the violent struggles over Western imperialism. Throughout the millennia, it was the appetite for foreign goods that brought East and West together, driving economies and the growth of nations.

From the Middle East and its political instability to China and its economic rise, the vast region stretching eastward from the Balkans across the steppe and South Asia has been thrust into the global spotlight in recent years. Frankopan teaches us that to understand what is at stake for the cities and nations built on these intricate trade routes, we must first understand their astounding pasts. Far more than a history of the Silk Roads, this book is truly a revelatory new history of the world, promising to destabilize notions of where we come from and where we are headed next.
- source : amazon com -

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Digital Silk Road Project
ディジタルシルクロード(DSR)プロジェクト
blog on Japan and Korea through the Silk Road music culture




日本と朝鮮に及んだシルクロード音楽文化
の正倉院」としての日本雅楽
- source : dsr.nii.ac.jp - - japankorea -

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Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ


Ser Marco Polo(マルコ=ポーロ卿)
- The main Index is here
- source : dsr.nii.ac.jp - - toyobunko -

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- Reference in Japanese -

- Reference in English - silk road Japan -

- Reference in English - maritime road -


. silk 絹 kinu and related legends .

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. Join the friends on Facebook ! .

- #heiansilkroad #silkroad #asianhighway-
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2015-06-22

Symbols and Art Motives

- BACK to the Daruma Museum -
. ABC List of Contents .
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Symbols and Art Motives of the Heian Period

Auspicious symbols were used as art motives, many coming from China.

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- quote -
Decorative Motifs in Japanese Art
Dr. Ilana Singer

In the Jomon period (ca.12,500-200 BCE) ceramic vessels were decorated with impressed motifs, usually rope patterns (whence the term "Jomon" - "rope pattern").
In the Yayoi period (200 BCE-ca. 250 CE), the art of throwing pottery on the wheel reached Japan from China via Korea, and new designs appeared - zigzags, triangles in saw-tooth patterns (tasuki), whirlpools, and complex abstract linear designs. In the Kofun period (250-552) metal wares were embellished with motifs that had also come to Japan from China, such as dragons, or the four deities representing the four winds of heaven - the green tiger of the East, the white tiger of the West, the red phoenix of the South, and the black tortoise-snake of the North. Other motifs included people, horses, wagons, jewels (magatama; semi-precious comma-shaped stones), animals and birds.

As of the 6th century CE, decorative motifs from East Asia, especially of the Chinese Tang era (618-907) appeared. Through China, by way of Korea, there arrived motifs from the Buddhist art of India, from Persia, and from Rome's Eastern Empire, as well as from Central Asia along the Silk Road. Influenced by Chinese paintings of the Tang period, designs incorporated sacred sites (alamkara), such as the buildings and gardens of the "Western Paradise" of Buddha Amida, as described in the Buddhist sutras. In the Asuka period (552-645), the flowering honeysuckle (nindo) was frequently represented as an arabesque (karakusa; "Chinese grass"), a rhythmic decoration with many variations, seen on the haloes of Buddhist sculptures, or embellishing roof-tiles. This motif apparently came to the East from Greece. Also during the Asuka period, other decorative motifs reached Japan from the mainland - such as the lotus flower, clouds, and four-petalled blossoms.

During the Nara period (645-794), contacts with the mainland increased. With China there was direct contact, and the capital city of Nara was modelled on the Chinese capital, Chang-an. In 756, after the death of the Emperor Shomu, his widow transferred more than 600 items he had collected to the Shosoin Treasure House in the Todaiji Temple, together with a detailed catalogue. Many of the items in this collection were brought to Japan from China and Persia, and some were made by Chinese and Korean artisans who had come to Japan, or by local artists. Even though the Chinese influence is evident in the Japanese works, there is also a dynamic integration of decorative elements from the mainland and from Japan itself.
(For additional information, see Decorative Motifs during the Nara period)



At the beginning of the Heian period (794-1185) the Nara motifs derived from the decorative arts of China were still very prevalent in Japan. However, long-tailed birds, the moon, the sun, and landscapes, all ornamented with gold and/or silver also appeared. Artists began applying gold leaf (kirikane) to surfaces, such as clouds floating the sky, and the style became more painterly. They also used inlays of various materials such as mother-of-pearl and precious metals. The use of lacquer as ornament also increased. At this time the Phoenix Hall in the Byodoin Temple was embellished with colourful representations of imaginary flowers, from floor to ceiling. Here, designs of hosoge karakusa and lotus flowers are painted in rhythmic sequences or in random patterns that appear to be almost symmetrical.
These decorations are very colourful, applied in gradations of colour (ungen saishiki) that had already been seen in the Asoka period, lending the two-dimensional designs a sense of depth. Ishi-datami (tile patterns) were still very prevalent in the Heian period, but at the end of the Chinese Tang era official contacts between Japan and China ceased until the 15th century. So that decorative motifs with local character were developed in Japan.
The patrons of art at that time were the aristocrats who lived in Kyoto, the capital, and the artists decorated practical items (tsukurimono), intended for the festivities of the cultural elite, with great elegance and finesse (furyu). It is apparent from these works that the nobility preferred naive motifs derived from nature, such as birds flying over a field.
As a rule, these scenes embellish inlaid lacquer wares. Another popular design of the era was the wheels of a wagon floating amid waves, derived from the custom of soaking the wheels in water to prevent the wood from drying out. This motif often appeared on paper for writing poetry, for fans, or for copying sutras.

The designers of the Heian period certainly loved painting creatures (butterflies, dragonflies, birds, hares) and plants (wisteria, pampas, maple, plum, cherry), as well as motifs from earlier times. The aristocracy were fascinated by the changing seasons of the year, and seasonal plants were used for decoration - chrysanthemum, akigusa (autumn flowers and foliage), reeds, willow fronds, bamboo or melons. Lions or phoenixes were painted inside medallions, and waves or misty effects were created with powdered silver or gold (sunagashi), rows of kikko (rows of hexagons like tortoise-shell), lozenges, and marbling effects were created by spraying ink onto wet paper (suminagashi).
At the beginning of the 12th century, new motifs appeared - the tomoe (comma), miru (seaweed), and maple leaves (kaede). A modified form of the medallion (ban-e) was used mainly on textiles and furniture, incorporating a lion inside a circle, and was also the basis for family crests , developed later. Textiles with diagonal stripes were preferred to Chinese embroidery.

A new art movement arose in China during the Sung Dynasty (960-1279), the artists and the educated elite wanting to depict truth (in Japanese: shin) in artistic creations. They adopted calligraphy and ink painting as means of personal expression, and the decorative arts declined in popularity. In the Chinese text "Abstract from the Xuanhe Period" (1120), a catalogue of art works from the Emperor Huizong's collection (Huizong: 1082-1135), there is the following note about Japanese screen paintings:
"In Japan there are paintings, but we do not know the names of the artists who painted them. These works depict the landscape and natural scenes of their homeland. They use thick layers of pigment, and much use is made of gold and primary colours. They do not portray true reality, but are paintings full of colour, dazzling to the eye in their glowing beauty".

At the end of the 12th century, the political power of the aristocracy was superseded by the Japanese Army, and the seat of government was transferred to Kamakura in the east of the country. The emperor and his court remained in the Heian capital (today Kyoto), the centre of culture.

- Continue reading :
. Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art - 2003 .

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A Case Study of Heian Japan through Art:
Japan's Four Great Emaki


This module focuses on the Heian period, 794-1185. Access the Heian Japan materials here:

“Heian Japan: An Introductory Essay,” by Ethan Segal, Michigan State University
“A Case Study of Heian Japan Through Art: Japan’s Four Great Emaki” (lesson plan), by Jaye Zola, retired teacher and librarian, Boulder Valley Schools
Print the Entire Lesson Module (pdf)

2008 Program for Teaching East Asia, University of Colorado.
- source : www.colorado.edu -

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Since the Heian period gilded bronze was often used.
... iconography of two Kalavinkas facing each other on a ground of floral tendrils ...

. keman 華鬘 flower garlands, flower hangers .

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matsukuwaezuru 松くわえ鶴 crane holding a pine branch



An auspicious motive bringing long life and good luck, often used for New Year dishes.
Also used on paper for fusuma sliding doors.


. tsuru 鶴 The Crane in Japanese Poetry .
Shunzei (1114-1204) and his son, Fujiwara no Teika (1162-1241)

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- Reference in English -

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. Symbols and Motives in Asian Art .


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