Haniwa
The Haniwa ( Japanese 埴 輪 , dt. "Clay rings") are up to 1.50 m tall Japanese grave figures made of unglazed clay, which were mostly made using the Wasumi technique (or construction technique ). This means that no potter's wheel was used to make them, but clay rolls were put on top of one another and spread over them.
Haniwa were found by archaeologists in numerous Japanese barrows, the so-called Kofun of the Kofun period (3rd to 6th centuries) named afterwards . They have been the subject of scientific and archaeological research since the Edo period , but are moved as little as possible because they are very sensitive and easily broken.
overview
A high aristocracy with military leaders developed during the Kofun period . Their cavalry wore armor and weapons, particularly iron swords, and they used advanced military techniques similar to those found in Northeast Asia. Numerous examples of this have been reproduced in the Haniwa for the tombs.
Old written sources about the Haniwa are rare. This includes the Nihon Shoki , a Japanese chronicle and collection of legends from the beginning of the 8th century. There it is alleged that an ancestor of the Sugawara suggested that the Haniwa replace previous human sacrifices locked in the burial chamber by servants. That was rejected by science.
Most of the Haniwa were found in the south of Honshū , especially in the Kinai region near Nara and in the north of Kyūshū , but also in the Kantō area.
The way they are set up is unique for the Haniwa: the vast majority were not placed in the burial chambers, but outside of them. Its purpose was in practical terms to delimit the sacred area of the tomb and in spiritual terms to protect the buried person. It is believed that the Haniwa reflected social changes that were reflected in the funeral rites. The Kofun period was accompanied by the formation of a Japanese state, the Yamato state . The legitimation of power was by no means assured in this early phase. It had to be passed on from one chief to the next through ceremonies. Haniwa were believed to be an important part of this changing burial custom.
The shape of the graves accompanying haniwa developed steadily. The oldest from the 4th to 5th centuries had a cylindrical shape ( 円 筒 埴 輪 , entō haniwa ) and were reminiscent of large ceramic vases, typically 40–50 cm in diameter and about 1 m high. Most of these "shoulder pots " ( tsubo ) were set up together with vessel stands. They were burned in small ovens right next to the tomb. Later, a form of representational Haniwa ( 形象 埴 , keishō haniwa ) also developed. These include the house-shaped haniwa and also the device haniwa.
Those depicting people and animals are usually located in the entrance area of the burial chamber of a burial mound and should be an obstacle to the profane and evil.
While the Haniwa were initially mainly placed in the corners of the burial chambers and in front of their openings, when the focus of production was relocated to Kantō at the end of the 5th century, they were mainly placed on the keyhole graves: They were placed on the heels approximately in the middle of the graves ( forming a contour line, so to speak) and lined up along the edge of the uppermost keyhole-shaped flat.
In the second half of the fifth century, haniwa first appeared in the form of animals and people, such as dogs, horses, birds, and deer. Warriors, musicians, dancers and priestesses were found under the human statues. The diversity, especially of clothing, shows the hierarchical order of this society. While the larger Haniwa figures of the more aristocratic Kinai are more static, the figures in Kantō are more lively and expressive. This reflects the prevailing social structure there consisting of a mix mainly of soldiers and common people.
In the 6th century, groups of specialized potters emerged who soon dominated manufacturing.
Originally, haniwa were painted, as were the walls of the burial chambers and even the bones. They particularly bear traces of iron oxide red , especially on the facial features of human figures. They were also decorated with white pigments made from clay and black pigments made from manganese oxide , but these have not survived to this day. Regardless of their origin, all Haniwa are hollow figures with openings instead of eyes and mouths.
Although the word Haniwa in a narrower sense denotes statues made of clay, which are by far the most numerous, the term has been extended to sculptures made of other materials: stone sculptures in the north of Kyūshū, cut from the volcanic rock of Mount Aso , represent horses ( 石 馬 , sekiba , German "stone horse "), people ( 石人 , sekijin , German "stone man") or shields. Also corresponding objects made of wood ( 木 製品 , mokuseihin ), which are very seldom found due to their poor durability, rank under the collective term Haniwa .
The arrival of Buddhism in Japan and the introduction of new forms of burial led to these statues being out of use.
literature
- Fumio Miki: Haniwa . Weatherhill, New York 1974, ISBN 0-8348-2714-X
- J. Edward Kidder: Japan: Early Art . Hirmer, Munich 1964
Individual evidence
- ^ Robert Borgen: Origins of the Sugawara . in: Monumenta Nipponica , Vol. 30 (1975), pp. 405-22
