Yayoi Period (Yayoi Culture)

Yayoi Period (Yayoi Culture)

  

 Storage jar, Yayoi period (ca. 4th century b.c.–3rd century a.d.)
Japan
Earthenware

 

During the second century B.C., an influx of people from the continent brought the first of several waves of foreign influence that have shaped Japanese culture, initiating a more advanced cultural stage known as Yayoi. When rice cultivation and bronze and iron metallurgy were introduced, probably through Korea, the isolated and self-sufficient life of the Jomon gave way to a communal society organized to carry out the demanding agricultural cycle. Architectural styles and ornamental motifs reflect other influences from southern China and the Pacific islands stretching from Kyushu to Taiwan.

The social and aesthetic character of the transformed culture of Yayoi is vividly reflected

in its ceramic vessels. The finely articulated shape of this storage jar from the Nagoya area, with its bulbous form rising from a small, flat base to the flaring rim of its wheel-turned neck and mouth, is enhanced by the burnished surface of its warm red body. The irregular, vigorous shapes of Jomon vessels have been replaced by sturdier, more functional ones in which symmetry is of paramount interest.

 

 

 Bell (dotaku), late Yayoi period (ca. 4th century b.c.–3rd century a.d.), 1st–2nd century
Japan
Bronze

 

Produced during the late Yayoi period, the distinctive Japanese bronze bells known as dotaku are thought to derive from earlier, smaller Korean examples that adorned horses and other domesticated animals. This dotaku, one of the finest known, is now believed to have been found in 1814 at Shimogo, Mikazuki-machi, Hyogo Prefecture. The body, shaped like a truncated cone, is decorated with rows of horizontal bands divided in the center by a vertical row. The elaborate flange, filled with sawtooth designs and further enhanced by projecting spirals, extends along the sides and arches across the top.

The first recorded discovery of a dotaku occurred in 662 A.D. at a temple in Shiga Prefecture. Over 400 examples, ranging in height from four to fifty-one inches, are known today. Most are from the Kyoto-Nara area. The earliest bells, cast in sandstone molds, are small and thick. Some make a rattling sound when struck with a clapper or stick; others have clappers hanging inside. Later on, larger, thinner bells were cast in clay molds that allowed for finer detailing. There is no evidence that the large ones were functional. They are thought to have been purely ceremonial objects.

Dotaku were buried singly, in pairs, and in large groups—occasionally with bronze mirrors and weapons—in isolated locations, often on hilltops. They have not been discovered in graves or near dwellings. Their placement suggests that they were communal property rather than owned by individuals. The rationale for the burial of these bells remains unclear, although it is often suggested that they were included in rites to ensure a community's agricultural fertility.

 

 

 Storage jar, late Yayoi period (ca. 4th century b.c.–3rd century a.d.), ca. 100–200
Japan
Earthenware with incised decoration

 

A reference to an historical period and an early culture, the name Yayoi derives from the site near Tokyo University where pottery of this type was first discovered in 1884. Storage jars, cooking vessels, and footed dishes, unearthed in many sites throughout the archipelago, are the most common forms in Yayoi pottery. The storage jar shown here is from the area that encompasses present-day Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara. It was made by the coil method and the surface was smoothed and strengthened by paddling and shaving. A tiny foot supports the bulbous body of the jar. It was potted in light buff earthenware that turned red and black in spots during firing. Outlines of crescent shapes, possibly reflecting an earlier tradition of using shells to impress decoration into a clay body, are incised into the center of one side, presumably the front.