Fig. I. Jōmon-doki Pottery
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
A great number of interesting examples found in prehistoric sites all over Japan are collected in the Tokyo Imperial Household Museum; the Institute of Anthropology, Tokyo Imperial University; the Institute of Archaeology, Kyoto Imperial University; and in the Prince Ōyama Institute of Prehistoric Investigation, Tokyo.
2. PREHISTORIC BRONZE IMPLEMENTS
The Bronze Age in Japan was short. Its area was limited to Yamato, Izumo, to the neighboring districts of both these provinces, and to the northern part of Kyushu. The bronze implements found in these areas are arrowheads, bells called dōtaku, halberds and cris-formed daggers. Though insignificant in number, they are amply deserving of notice in point of quality, because they reveal to us the intermediate stage between the art of the New Stone Age and that of the Protohistoric Period. A number of fine examples of such bronze implements are collected in the Tokyo Imperial Household Museum.
Fig. 2. Yayoi-shiki Pottery
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
Among them the most interesting relics are the bronze bells (dōtaku) which are entirely different from any temple bell of the historic period. (Fig. 3) They have an oval section and a fin-like border running down the side. The fin-like border often carries decorative knobs of circular shape. The bells vary in size from five or six inches to four feet and six inches. According to Professor Chikashige's chemical analysis, the alloy of the dōtaku bell is composed of the following elements.
Copper 68.96 Iron 0.04
Tin 15.45 Nickel 1.35
Lead 5.63 Arsenic a trace
Antimony 8.32
Fig 3. Dōtaku-bell
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
The art of casting the dōtaku bell may have been learned from China; but the designing has been ascertained to be original to Japan, because no prototype that served as a model for Japanese copyists has been found in China or Korea. Therefore the Japanese archaeologists regard the dōtaku bell as a unique development peculiar to the Japanese. It is unearthed by itself, but sometimes as many as ten or more bells are found at a single excavation. The largest number have been discovered in the Yamato district, the central sphere of early Japanese culture.
Primitive pictures presented in relief on dōtaku bells are valuable as affording glimpses of contemporary life. In one picture a man with a bow is aiming at a deer, and in the other a wild boar is hemmed in by five dogs, and their master armed with a bow is standing by. From these pictures, it seems that ancient Japanese hunters used bows and dogs. In the third picture there is a multitude of deer, symbolizing abundance of forest wealth. In the fourth is a string offish, suggesting the importance of this foodstuff to primitives. In the fifth are represented three boats, one of which is distinct enough to show a bow and a stern rising like those of a gondola. The sixth concerns agricultural activity. Two men are using a pestle with a mortar between them. The seventh represents a dwelling house which gives a good idea of the architectural style in the age of the bronze bell. The house is of wood and is extremely high-floored, having a perched-up appearance; and a ladder is provided for ascending to the elevated floor. Such are the fragments of information squeezed out of the bronze bells; but they illustrate a graphic art of hoary antiquity in Japan. In Fig. 4 we have reproduced an example of the pictures of a hunting scene on a dōtaku bell.
Fig. 4. Design of a Dōtaku-bell
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
3. GENERAL SURVEY OF THE PROTOHISTORIC ART
After a short Bronze Age, Japan ushered in the Iron Age, the third stage of culture. The protohistoric age covers from the earliest time when the Japanese nation was consolidated in Yamato, down to the thirteenth year of the reign of the Emperor Kimmei (552 A.D.), when Buddhism was first introduced into the court.
In this period there was no organized religion peculiar to Japan except Shinto, the cult of ancestor worship. The Japanese nation was then an assemblage of families descended from the same parent stock represented by the Imperial Family. Thus the Japanese race, which constitutes one large family, boasts descent from common blood; it speaks a common language, and worships the same ancestral divine spirits. It is ruled by the Imperial House, which is invested with supreme power by virtue of divine and patriarchal right. So from the first the national polity assumed a patriarchal form.
The principal pursuit of the people was agriculture. However, as in the manufacturing industries, a division of labor was practised.
There were spinners and weavers of cotton and silk, polishers of gems, workers in gold, silver, copper, and iron, forgers of arms and armor, makers of earthenware and dressers of leather, all forming themselves into guilds (be), each of which carried on its own industry from generation to generation.
Almost all the relics from this period are found in burial mounds. The burial mounds have various constructions and shapes. Some are merely heaps of earth over coffins; but those built for Emperors, chiefs, and nobles are large mounds with several stone chambers, and the outside is encircled with a moat.
On evidence furnished by objects discovered in the burial mounds, we find that, after passing out of the bronze age, the race became skilled in the working of iron, with which they made arms and armor which they decorated with gilded and incised patterns. In the art of pottery they seem also to have been so advanced as to use the wheel for moulding the shape of the ware. In the art of casting and gilding bronze, also, they show a wonderful workmanship, producing mirrors, horse furniture, and personal ornaments. In precious stones also, their workmanship was excellent and they produced beautiful necklaces; and in the later years of the period, they were able even to produce white and blue glass. The largest collection of the protohistoric art is owned by Imperial Household Museum, Tokyo.
4. PROTOHISTORIC POTTERY
All the burial mounds have yielded a considerable amount of pottery. The vessels are most numerous and they are burned more or less hard.They are usually of a gray color, never glazed or painted; and almost invariably made either partially or entirely on the potter's wheel.
The decoration of this pottery is of a very simple and rude character, and is generally confined to arrangements of straight or curved lines scratched in the clay when soft with a single pointed tool or with combs having a varying number of teeth. More rarely figures of men, animals, and birds are modeled rudely on the shoulders of vases (Fig. 5)
Fig. 5. Mortuary Pottery
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
In the art of pottery, another important feature is the clay figures which were set up on the burial mounds at the funeral ceremonies. Figures representing men and women are most numerous. (Fig. 6) They are all of coarse red terra-cotta. But they are illustrative of the contemporary customs and manners. Terra-cotta figures of horses also were set up frequently along with human figures. Some other animals, birds, and houses are found also. They are all intended for the services of the dead in a future life. Some of the sarcophagi are made of similar terracotta, but except for very rare specimens, they show hardly any artistic merit.
Fig. 6. Armed Clay Figure
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
5. PROTOHISTORIC ARMS AND ARMOR
Swords, helmets and armor are among the most important objects from the burial mounds.
It is important to note that the swords have only one cutting edge, and especially that they all have a perfectly straight back. Thus they are distinguished from the swords of later times, all of which have a slight curvature. These swords are of two kinds, long and short, the former being most numerous. The length of the long blades, from guard to point, varies generally from 2 feet 6 inches to 3 feet, and that of the short from 1 foot and a half to 2 feet. Some swords are remarkable for their richness of ornament. In some cases, the handle is of wood enclosed in plate copper, coated with gold, and decorated with fine punched scrollwork. The pommel is of a curious form, and consists of the same metal exp
anded into a large bulb-like head. The guard is also of copper coated with gold, and is generally pierced with trapezoidal apertures. Three broad bands and two rings encircle the wooden scabbard, the latter having loops for the attachment of the cords by which the sword was suspended. In some other swords, the greater part of the body of their scab-bards is sheathed with gilt copper, which is beautifully ornamented with bosses in repoussé work. In the Imperial Household Museum, there are several fine examples of such swords. The picture reproduced in Fig. 7 shows a protohistoric armed man carrying such a sword. In some other cases, the pommel of the sword is modeled into a ring, and in the ring is the head of a phoenix, or there are two heads of conventional dragons with a ball between them. Such pommels are all made of gilded bronze. Our illustration in Fig. 8 shows excellent workmanship. Its artistic expression is full of life. The imagination has created beautiful form and color.
Fig. 7. Protohistoric Armed Man
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
Armor is by no means of common occurrence. When found, it is usually made of iron; very rarely, of bronze. It is entirely different in form and construction from that of historical times, but it agrees very closely with the armor represented on the terra-cotta figures set up on the burial mounds. The cuirasses are formed chiefly of horizontal plates of iron, very skillfully forged. Their shape is of a solid corselet, the right front of which opens on a hinge to admit the body of the wearer. Several fine examples are on view in the Tokyo Imperial Household Museum. The reproduction in Fig. 9 is one of them. There is another kind of armor also found in burial mounds. It is a scale armor, called keikō or kakeyoroi in Japanese, consisting of small scales, presumably attached to a cloth foundation in the fashion of the European jazerant.
Fig. 8. Gilt Bronze Pommel
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
The helmets are also formed of iron or bronze plates riveted in the same way as in cuirasses. They are, however, quite rare; those made of bronze, extremely rare, They are of two kinds in shape; one round, and the other pointed in the crown toward the front.
The most excellent specimen (Fig. 10) of round helmets ever found in burial mounds was exhumed at Kiyokawamura in the province of Kazusa, and is now possessed by the Tokyo Imperial Household Museum. The helmet consists of many small gilt bronze scales riveted to form its shape. The gilded bronze belt encircling the middle of the vessel has the eleven signs of the zodiac in fine chiseled work. A gilt bronze poll projects from the middle of the crown, having tiny holes at the point as if it had once a plume. The visor also is made of gilded bronze with a perforated design representing a cloud.
6. PROTOHISTORIC HORSE FURNITURE
Horse trappings are among the most important relics of metal work that are artistic in shape and decoration. They are made of iron or bronze. Some of them are gilded, coated with gold, or decorated with inlaid design.
The most artistic workmanship is applied to bit cheek-pieces or kagami-ita and harness pendants or gyō-yō. Although quite rare, stirrups, saddles, bosses, and buckle-shaped ornaments are exhumed.
Fig. 9 Iron Cuirass
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
Some bit cheek-pieces are flat plates with a beautiful curved outline, and are of a unique construction in metal work. Each consists of a plate of hammered iron, to the exterior of which, in order to protect it from oxidation and for purposes of display, a thin sheet of copper coated with gold is attached by means of studs running round its margin. There are several other forms of these cheek-plates that are more or less decorated, some of which have small circular bronze bells attached to their rims.
Fig. 10. Gilt-bronze Helmet
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
Here we have an excellent specimen of a bit cheek-plate made of gilt bronze backed with an iron plate. On its surface is a graceful foliage design in open work (Fig. 11). This was exhumed from a burial mound at Mikoya in the province of Tōtōmi and is now on view in the Tokyo Imperial Household Museum. A harness pendant of gilded bronze, no less beautiful than the above cheek-plate, with similar technical excellence, was found in the same burial mound and also can be seen in the same museum. (Fig. 11) We have here a picture illustrating an ornamented horse of this age, inferred by Mr. Morikazu Gotō of the Tokyo Imperial Household Museum, through archaeological evidence gathered in the museum. (Fig. 12)
7. PROTOHISTORIC BRONZE MIRRORS
The bronze mirrors from the Japanese sepulchers give the clearest evidence that the protohistoric Japanese were indebted to the Chinese for models of advanced art. They are all circular mirrors, many of them ornamented with elaborate designs in relief. Their designs, though so peculiar as sometimes to be fantastic to the highest degree, reveal to us, each on its own part, some phase of ancient ways of thinking. They are a unique, though unwritten, record of Chinese mythology, philosophy, folklore, and religion.
Fig. 11. Bit Cheek-plate and Harness Pendant
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
The general arrangement of design is made by concentric bands of various widths. In the outer bands are generally a zigzag or other geometrical designs. The principal design is found on the broadest band of the inner sections.
In the Tokyo Imperial Household Museum are collected numerous examples of the Han mirrors found in Japanese burial mounds. The mirror reproduced in Fig. 13 is one of the finest among them. This mirror was discovered at Samita in the province of Yamato. It measures about 8 inches in diameter. The design is composed of deities and animals around the center. The deities are represented in two groups, each group forming a triune figure. Between the two groups of deities are interposed two fabulous animals and a carriage drawn by animals.
In the designs of all such mirrors, the deities and animals play a principal role. The animals are usually fabulous and mythical. The four sacred animals of the four cardinal points are often represented. They are the Dragon on the East, the Tiger on the West, the Bird on the South, and the Tortoise, entwined with a snake, on the North. The signs of the zodiac are also sometimes represented. Among the deities, some are undoubtedly meant to represent Si Wang Mu, the Mother of the West, and Tung Wang Fu, the Father of the East. Rarely, the symbol of P'ênglai shan, the Everlasting Land of Happiness, is represented. So the design on the mirrors is of a highly religious nature. In Fig. 14 we have a typical example of a triune deity which is often met with on such mirrors; and in Fig. 15 we have an example of a fantastic animal design in which we see much imagination.
Fig. 12. Ornamented Horse showing Protohistoric Horse Trappings
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
Some of the bronze mirrors have inscriptions in Chinese ideographs, which are generally composed of lucky phrases. They are, therefore, not so valuable as later inscriptions, which record historical facts.
These designs and inscriptions bear strongly the marks of the Chinese Han bronze mirror. Many of them seem to be from exactly the same mould as was used in China. Such a fact leads us to suppose that many Han bronze mirrors were imported into Japan in the Protohistoric Period. Many, like the Han mirror, were certainly cast in Japan, and quite a large number of such specimens copied in Japan from Chinese mirrors are exhumed from the tumuli. In the later years of the Protohistoric Period the fine design of Han mirrors degenerated very much, and the style of the Six Dynasties mirror came in.
Fig. 13. Bronze Mirror
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
At any rate, Japanese bronze mirrors from burial mounds, usually represent Chinese bronze mirrors of the Han and Six Dynasties. But on the other hand, a new style developed, which is peculiar to the Japanese. It is called "bell-mirror" or rei-kyo. This mirror is decorated with five or six bells set along its brim. After all, the mirrors from the burial mounds are entirely different from the mirrors of the T'ang Dynasty which were introduced to Japan in the eighth century.
Fig. 14. Deity on the back of a Bronze Mirror
Fig. 15. Fabulous Animal on the back of
a Bronze Mirror
The bronze alloy used in making such mirrors includes tin and copper as its principal constituents, in the proportion from 25% to 27% of tin, and 60% to 70% of copper. The reflection of the bronze mirrors was effected only by polishing them without applying any mercury on the coarse surfaces as was done with later metal or glass mirrors.
The shining surface of the mirrors, which once reflected the faces of our protohistoric people, is now almost gone, but the designs on their backs still reflect the life and thought of the people who used them.
8. PROTOHISTORIC PERSONAL ORNAMENTS
Personal ornaments consist mainly of beads of stone and glass, and rings and fillets of metal.
There are various kinds of beads; but "tube-beads" or kuda-tama and "curved-beads" or maga-tama are most common. The tube-beads are well-cut and polished cylinders of jasper of a fine green color, about one inch in length. They are pierced from end to end with a carefully drilled hole. The curved-beads are the most important of the ancient stone ornaments. Their shape is that of a comma with a thickened tail. A hole is pierced through the head, so that they may be strung with cylindrical or other beads to form a necklace. Ordinarily they are from about half an inch to one inch and a half in length. The stones of which they are made are rock crystal, steatite, jasper, agate, and nephrite.
A History of Japanese Art Page 5
