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Yayoi Period › Ancient History
Definition and Origins
The Yayoi Period is one of the oldest historical periods of Japan spanning from c. 300 BCE to c. 250 CE, preceded by the Jomon Period and followed by the Kofun Period. The name Yayoi comes from the district in Tokyo where the first artifacts associated with the period were found in 1884 CE. During this time period rice farming and metalworking advance following their introduction at the end of the Jomon Period.
AGRICULTURAL & TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION
Even though metalworking was introduced at the end of the Jomon Period, the Yayoi people continued to use stone tools and objects at first. However, with the ability to work with metal, stone tools were eventually phased out and replaced with weapons, armor, and trinkets made of bronze and iron. With the introduction of rice farming, the proper tools also had to be developed; hoes and spades that had stone blades and heads were replaced with metal. Irrigation techniques were developed during this time for the rice paddies and other crop fields.
With the introduction of farming, the diet and lifestyle of the Yayoi people drastically changed since they were now permanently settled and most of their food - rice, millet, beans, and gourds - was grown locally, with any hunting and gathering that occurred acting more as a supplement. Communal granaries and wells to store food and acquire water were constructed near rice paddies. Due to the agricultural revolution, the population grew steadily during this period, reaching its peak at around 2,000,000. Towns and villages, at first, would consist of pit houses, similar to the previous Jomon housing, with thatched roofs and earthen floors, but gradually developing into wooden structures raised above the ground using wooden supports.
Yayoi Pottery
Like the pottery made during the Jomon Period, Yayoi pottery was also made by coiling clay, smoothing out the inside and outside, and then firing it, but the similarities end there since Yayoi pottery was more functional and made less porous.However, Yayoi pottery was also less decorated than Jomon pottery. The main pottery shapes for this time were long-necked jars, wide-mouthed pots, deep basins, and pedestal bowls.
Although there was some contact between groups during the Jomon Period, trade was not a major concern or priority. In the Yayoi Period, however, trade flourished with cities holding precious resources and trading centers becoming the largest settlements. The largest Yayoi settlement found was a trading center named Asahi, in modern-day Aichi Prefecture, which covered 200 acres (c. 0.8 km²).
SOCIETY
METAL ORE SUPPLY WAS QUITE LIMITED IN JAPAN AT THE TIME, AND SO HAVING METAL ITEMS WAS INDICATIVE OF HIGHER STATUS.
It was in the Yayoi that a class system based society appeared with around 100 clans forming by 100 CE. These would fight each other for dominance throughout the rest of the period. Though the clans were fighting one another, there would occasionally be alliances which would form small kingdoms for the purpose of military power or mutual economic success.This shows a growing political system that the earlier Jomon did not have. Under the rule of the various clans, taxes were collected and a system of punishment was implemented.
Unfortunately, metal ore supply was quite limited in Japan at the time, and so having metal items was indicative of higher status. Other materials that signified higher status were silk and glass which was produced in Kyushu, the southernmost island in Japan. Men of high status usually had more wives than those of lower rank. During this period, it became customary for lower-ranking men to step off the side of the road and give way to their social superiors, a custom that would survive until the 19th century CE.
BELIEFS
The beliefs of the Yayoi were quite different from those of the Jomon since, based on the evidence that has been found, they worshipped various gods and held festivals in their honor. Bronze items such as bells, mirrors, and weapons seem to have been used exclusively for ceremonial purposes. Graves were generally split between the general public and the elite, with regular people buried closer together with few, if any, items buried with them while members of the elite were buried in a separate area with their graves more lavishly filled with ceremonial goods. Sometimes, after a person was buried and decayed down to the bones, people would exhume the bones, wash them, and then paint them with red ocher before putting them in jars and burying them again in large pits which sometimes had a moat.
Yayoi Bells
CONTACT WITH CHINA
Much of the information about later Yayoi culture actually comes from China during the Han and later dynasties. The first mention of Japan in Chinese records was in the Han Shu, a history of the Han Dynasty, which was completed in 82 CE.Japan is there referred to as Wa, which meant "The Land of Dwarves", which had one hundred kingdoms and regularly brought tribute to China through a base in Korea. A more detailed record was made in the Wei Zhi, a history of the Wei Kingdom of China, which was written in 297 CE. One entry in the record was from 240 CE, which recounts a visit to Japan by some Wei Chinese and the description of what they said was the most powerful kingdom or clan, the Yamato, and its queen, Himiko, who was described as a Shaman, practiced magic in her spare time, and came to power through many years of warand conquest. In 238 CE, it is said that Queen Himiko sent a delegation carrying tributes to the Emperor of China and had her regal status recognized like the other rulers of Japan, but unlike them, her status was Queen of all of Japan. According to the Wei Zhi, Queen Himiko died in 248 CE at the age of 65, which caused a period of turmoil since an unpopular king took power and events only calmed down when one of the former queen's relatives, a girl named Iyo, took control.
LEGACY
The Yayoi would mark the transition of Japanese society from bands of hunter-gatherers with little contact with others to an agrarian, metalworking, political, and militarized society. The Yayoi set the foundations for what would now be known as medieval Japan with the introduction of rice-growing and metalworking, which allowed for a population expansion and increase in weapons and armor production for military purposes. The development of clans and kingdoms as well as the class system would eventually lead to the system of daimyo, samurai, and the Chrysanthemum Throne with a line of emperors that would remain unbroken to this day.
Kofun › Ancient History
Definition and Origins
Kofun (old tumuli) are large artificial mound tombs built in ancient Japan for the ruling elite between the 3rd and 7th century CE. Many measure several hundred metres across, are surrounded by a moat, and, besides containing valuable bronze and iron goods, they were protected by terracotta figurines called haniwa. The goods within the tombs illustrate the increasing prosperity of ancient Japan as the rulers of Yamato traded both materials and ideas with neighbouring states. The mounds have given their name to the Kofun Period of Japanese history which covers c. 250 to 538 CE.
LOCATION
Kofun tombs are spread over the Kinai region of Japan which includes the important sites of Nara, Kyoto, and Osaka. The idea of large burial mounds probably spread from contemporary China and Korea where they were also built for burying elite members of society. The earliest mounds were built in the southern plain of Nara, then they appear on the western slopes of the hills above Nara, and finally, they are concentrated on the eastern shores facing the Inland Sea (Sea of Japan). The practice of building kofun eventually spread throughout Japan so that the islands boast some 20,000 burial mounds known today.
DESIGN
Many early kofun were constructed to include natural mounds which were then developed to increase their size. From the 5th century CE, it was more common for kofun to be constructed on flat ground. The earlier examples, from c. 250 CE, are circular but later kofun follow a pattern and have a keyhole form design. Inside the earth mound is a stone-lined chamber in which was placed the body of the deceased. Many tombs are surrounded by a moat or shallow canal.
ONE GIANT KOFUN IS THAT OF EMPEROR OJIN (R. 270-310 CE) WHICH IS 415 METRES LONG & STANDS 35 METRES TALL.
The smallest kofun are around 15 metres in diameter, many of the 140 in the Kibi area are over 27 metres high and 335 metres long, while the largest of all kofun can cover over 80 acres. One giant kofun is that of Emperor Ojin (r. 270-310 CE) which is 415 metres long and stands 35 metres tall. Another of the biggest tombs is that of Emperor Nintoku, Ojin's successor, which is also located in the modern Osaka Prefecture. It is 823 metres long and is surrounded by three moats. Nintoku traditionally reigned in the 4th century CE (313-399 CE) and his kofun is said to have taken 20 years to complete, but the mound has never been excavated.
The largest interior tomb belongs to the Miyajidake kofun which is believed to contain the remains of Munakata no kimi Tokuzen. The chamber measures over 22 metres in length and is built of stone slabs which are 4.8 metres tall.
Shionjiyama Kofun Model
Another construction technique for the interior chamber is seen in the 3rd-century CE Nakayam Otsuka kofun near Kurozuka.This chamber is 7.5 metres long and 1.4 metres wide with 1.5 metre thick walls built up of small concave andesite stones. The walls rise vertically to a height of half a metre and then the stones overlap progressively inwards to create a corbelled roof two metres high. The floor is of hardened clay (in other mounds it is made from pebbles) and the deceased was placed inside a wooden coffin which had largely disintegrated by the time of excavation. The chamber was covered in alternating layers of sandy and clay soil and then covered in a layer of hemp cloth which was dyed with bands of red and black. This inner mound was then covered with more earth to create an even larger mound. As with many other tombs, the slopes of the outer earth mound contained an almost one-metre-thick layer of stones, perhaps to better provide drainage and protect the interior chamber from the elements.
The prodigious labour needed to construct kofun and the finds within them suggest that they were the burial mounds of the societal elite, perhaps at first only the chiefs and their immediate family. That the individuals thus honoured included non-chiefs is suggested by the smaller scale of kofun built from the 6th century CE. Kofun disappear from the 7th century CE, perhaps indicating the increased influence of Buddhism and the practice of cremation rather than burial. Kofun had been an easily visible display of power and wealth, but this function was now served by the elite funding the construction and upkeep of Buddhist temples.
Haniwa Warrior
ARTEFACTS
The tombs contained valuable grave goods such as bronze weapons (swords, spears, and arrowheads) and mirrors. Also common are magatama, the comma-shaped jewels or polished precious stones, common to both Japan and Korea, which may symbolise life and fertility. From the 5th century CE, there are iron goods - weapons, armour, agricultural tools - saddles and horse-trappings such as ornate bridles and horse masks, which indicate a culture where warrior horse riders may have dominated society. Pottery and gilt-bronze crowns, gilt-bronze shoes, gold and silver ornaments, and jewellery all display an influence from ancient Korea and China, and the greater prosperity of rulers following Japan's increased contact and trade with their East Asian neighbours. One tomb at Takamatsuzuka, south of Nara plain, has wall -paintings similar to those found in Korean tumuli.
Placed on top of the tombs in rows and around their perimeters were ceramic figurines known as haniwa. These are made of terracotta and may take the form of humans, animals, houses, and simple plain cylinders. They measure anywhere from 1 to 1.5 metres in height. Their function is not known, but a role as guardians of the kofun - either for the spirit of the interred or to protect the living from that same spirit seems likely. Visible from a great distance they may have simply marked the territory of the tomb as sacred.
This article was made possible with generous support from the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.
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Article based on information obtained from these sources:with permission from the Website Ancient History Encyclopedia
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