The Haniwa of Ancient Japan
.
The Haniwa of
Ancient Japan
.
Mark Morin Foxsparrow
10/12/2013
The burial statuettes of the Kofun culture of ancient Japan known as Haniwa, which is Japanese for “clay cylinders,”(Noma 1960, 3) are especially significant for learning about the ancient secular life and spiritual belief systems of the time period from 200600CE. To quote Seiroku Noma, author of the introduction section of Haniwa as shown in four American museums published by The Asia Society in 1960, “Several thousand years before the arrival of Buddhism, however, the inhabitants of the Japanese islands created an art of clay in which their native sense of beauty was expressed in its purest form, free of continental influence.” (Noma 1960, 1) Throughout the course of this paper we will explore the events and influences leading up to and through the Kofun period of proto-historic Japan and the rise and decline of ritualistic practices that defined a nation for nearly 400 years. By observing the art form known as Haniwa, we will decipher the practical and religious purposes of these mysterious cryptic objects and the tombs from which they are closely associated. Through research and analysis, we will discover that the people of the Kofun period of Japanese history have a past comparable to other ancient cultures of the time, complete with spiritual beings, magically imbued objects, iconoclasm, mass human sacrifice and an abundance of mystical ritualism. A precursor to a modern Japan highly influenced by outside sources, these small artifacts from the time before Buddhism’s arrival can help us understand this ancient culture and its traditions before the infusion of outside custom and religion.
It is difficult to imagine Japanese art without Buddhist influence. Introduced to Japan in the middle 5th century (538CE) by the ruler of BaekJe, a Korean kingdom. Buddhism eventually replaced Shinto Kofun burial practices with the building of temples and popularization of
The Haniwa of
Ancient Japan
.
Mark Morin Foxsparrow
10/12/2013
The burial statuettes of the Kofun culture of ancient Japan known as Haniwa, which is Japanese for “clay cylinders,”(Noma 1960, 3) are especially significant for learning about the ancient secular life and spiritual belief systems of the time period from 200600CE. To quote Seiroku Noma, author of the introduction section of Haniwa as shown in four American museums published by The Asia Society in 1960, “Several thousand years before the arrival of Buddhism, however, the inhabitants of the Japanese islands created an art of clay in which their native sense of beauty was expressed in its purest form, free of continental influence.” (Noma 1960, 1) Throughout the course of this paper we will explore the events and influences leading up to and through the Kofun period of proto-historic Japan and the rise and decline of ritualistic practices that defined a nation for nearly 400 years. By observing the art form known as Haniwa, we will decipher the practical and religious purposes of these mysterious cryptic objects and the tombs from which they are closely associated. Through research and analysis, we will discover that the people of the Kofun period of Japanese history have a past comparable to other ancient cultures of the time, complete with spiritual beings, magically imbued objects, iconoclasm, mass human sacrifice and an abundance of mystical ritualism. A precursor to a modern Japan highly influenced by outside sources, these small artifacts from the time before Buddhism’s arrival can help us understand this ancient culture and its traditions before the infusion of outside custom and religion.
It is difficult to imagine Japanese art without Buddhist influence. Introduced to Japan in the middle 5th century (538CE) by the ruler of BaekJe, a Korean kingdom. Buddhism eventually replaced Shinto Kofun burial practices with the building of temples and popularization of
Bibliography: Mizuo, H. “Dogu and Haniwa.” Japan Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 4 (1967): 462 “Dogu and Haniwa”