English version

ОБЪЕКТИВНАЯ ИСТОРИЯСИСТЕМА ДРЕВНИХ МОНУМЕНТАЛЬНЫХ СООРУЖЕНИЙ

О ПРОЕКТЕ

ПУБЛИКАЦИИ

АФРИКА

АЗИЯ

ЕВРОПА

РОССИЯ

СЕВЕРНАЯ АМЕРИКА

ЮЖНАЯ АМЕРИКА

АВСТРАЛИЯ

ИНДИЙСКИЙ ОКЕАН

АТЛАНТИЧЕСКИЙ ОКЕАН

ТИХИЙ ОКЕАН

ФОТО ИСТОРИЧЕСКИЙ МУЗЕЙ АЗУКА

ИСТОРИЧЕСКИЙ МУЗЕЙ АЗУКА / ASUKA HISTORICAL MUSEUM

ASUKA STONES ? ASUKA TEMPLE ? MARUYAMA KOFUN ? MASUDA NO IWAFUNE ? MONJUIN NISHl-KOFUN ? Takamatsu Zuka Kofun ? SARU-ISHl ? ONI NO KAWAYA & MANAITA ? KAME-ISHI ("Tortoise Stone") ? NIMEN-SEKI ? ISHIBUTAI KOFUN ? ASUKADERA ? Asuka sluice ? SAKAFUNE-ISHI ? MALE-FEMALE STONE ? FUJIWARA-NO-MIYA ?

PHOTO

INFORMATION

In various parts of the Asuka region are to be found unusually shaped granite stones and stone-carved figures. Apart from the Shumisen-seki (a garden fixture carved to suggest Mount Sumeru of Buddhist mythology) or the male-female stone carving which likewise was designed as a fountain, the purposes originally associated with the other worked stones, bearing such names as Masuda no iwafune, Sakafune-ishi, Kame-ishi, Miroku-ishi, Nimen-seki, etc., have been for the most part for-gotten. The male-female stone carving. the Nimen-seki, the Saru-ishi ("monkey stones"),etc.,are different from the haniwa and other stone human figures made during the former Kofun (Tumulous) Period. Brimming with a droll sort of sturdiness, they display what is also a completely different quality from that of the later Buddhist sculptures.

It is thought that Buddhism was first publicly introduced In our country in the year 538 (seventh year of Emperor Kinmei's reign), when King Songmyong of the south-western Korean state of Paekche (Japanese pronunciation: Kudara) presented Buddhist images and sutras to the Japanese court. The Soga clan, possessed of wealth and influence at that time, gave its positive support to the new religion,and Buddhism gradually spread among the imperial house and other influential families. Construction of Japan's first full-scale temple, the Asukadera, was begun in 588 (first year of Emperor Sushun's reign), a half-century after Buddhism's first arrival. Construction of the Asukadera was sponsored by the Soga clan, which had one year previously (in 587) defeated the Mononobe clan in an armed encounter and thus established its own political power more firmly

This is the largest of the zenpo-hoenfun (keyhole-shaped tumult) in Nara prefecture. 318 meters in length, it is the sixth largest kofun in the country as a whole, and is said to be the largest built during the 6th century. It boasts a stone crypt which is longer (26 meters, including the lateral entrance passageway) than any other in Japan. There are two stone coffins. in earlier times it was mistakenly thought to be the jointly occupied mausoleum of Emperor Tenmu and Empress Jito, who reigned at the end of the 7th century.

MASUDA NO IWAFUNE

This is a large stone structure approximately 11 meters in length, 8 meters in width, and 4.7 meters In height. The upper surface is flat, with a shallow trough and two square holes. Attempted explanations are various for example, that it was a monument to commemorate the missionary and social activist Kobo Daishi who undertook the work of constructing the Masuda Pond; that it was an ancient tomb; or that it was a platform for star divination but its actual purpose remains a mystery. At present, the stone bears lattice-shaped indentations around its base which testify to the process used in flattening the outer surfaces.

MONJUIN NISHl-KOFUN

The walls of the stone crypt are constructed of cut stones neatly emplaced in layers, each showing a different interface alignment. In three places, special pains were taken to give the impression that two stones were used when in reality a single stone was divided in the center by a vertical indentation to give the appearance of an interface. The ceiling is constructed of a single slab of stone, and the inner walls were designed to taper slightly inward toward the top. Influences from Korean kofun are evidenced in the overall structure, the method of stone emplacement and the relatively small difference in height between the burial chamber and entrance corridor. This tomb seems likely to have been built for a prominent personage of the Abe clan.

Takamatsu Zuka Kofun

A primary center of power in Japan in the 6th and 7th centuries, Asuka Village lies about 12 miles south of Nara in the Kinki District. The modern traveller to the area is quickly struck by the mix of urban sprawl and ancient temples and tombs. It was in one of these tombs that a major archaeological discovery was made in the early 1970's. From an Edo Era painting showing the mound with a tall pine tree atop, the tomb was called Takamatsu Zuka Kofun (Tall Pine Ancient Burial Mound).

Four of these figures stand on the plot of ground designated as the grave of Kibi-hime O. They are called saru-ishi ("mon-key stones") because of their queer shapes. Three of the figures have faces on the back side as well as the front. I t seems possible that the account In the 12th century Konjaku monogatari about "stones of demonic form" on the embankment of an emperor's mausoleum to the south of the Karudera may refer to these stones.

ONI NO KAWAYA & MANAITA

Four of these figures stand on the plot of ground designated as the grave of Kibi-hime O. They are called saru-ishi ("mon-key stones") because of their queer shapes. Three of the figures have faces on the back side as well as the front. I t seems possible that the account In the 12th century Konjaku monogatari about "stones of demonic form" on the embankment of an emperor's mausoleum to the south of the Karudera may refer to these stones.

KAME-ISHI ("Tortoise Stone")

According to one theory, this stone was used to delineate jori field boundaries, but its real purpose is unknown. Its exterior bears lattice-shaped indentations like those on the Masuda no iwafune.

This stone is today found within the precincts of the Tachibanadera, but It was brought here from a nearby area after the beginning of the Edo Period. According to certain present-day interpretations, its two faces are taken to represent good and evil. Its back side is flattened, a fact suggesting that it may originally have been used in conjunction with another stone.

ISHIBUTAI KOFUN

This tomb has an imposing laterally entered crypt built up from massive boulders. In comparison to other examples of ancient tombs which give similar impressions of great size due to the length of their crypts or the height of their ceilings, the Ishibutai crypt is, in overall size, the largest in Japan. The largest of its boulders, the one forming the southern part of the ceiling, is estimated to weigh 75 tons.

The Asukadera, built by Soga-no-Umako.is representative of the large temples of the first half of the 7th century and provides a good indication of the Buddhist culture of the time. Excavation studies reveal that it was originally a great temple covering an area some 200 meters on a side and having in Its central portion three "golden halls" (kondo, sometimes translated "main hall" or "image hall") clustered around a pagoda (to). It is known that workmen from Paekche (Kudara) were engaged In its construction, and the Influence of contemporary Korean Buddhist culture is evidenced in the layout of the buildings and connecting passageways, and even in the designs on the roof tiles.

Researchers have excavated an ancient stone sluiceway among the Sakafuneishi ruins in Asuka, Nara Prefecture, which they believe channeled water from a spring to the turtle-shaped basin found earlier this year, the Asuka Village Board of education announced Wednesday. Various sculpted stone objects believed to be evidence of the existence of a water source near the ruins of the seventh-century Asukakyo palace had already been unearthed at the site.

The upper surface has circular and oval indentations connected by narrow channels. In the Edo Period. it was called "the sake trough of an old-time chieftain." It is indeed thought by some to have been a sort of trough for squeezing the moisture out of sake lees, while it is thought by others to have been used in the preparation of oil or medicine. However, there is also a theory that the stone was related to some sort of garden fixture. In any case it appears that water was carried to the stone by stone conduits and clay pipes, remains of which have been discovered at a somewhat higher elevation 40 meters to the east.

MALE-FEMALE STONE

This stone carving was used as a fountain in an Asuka Period garden. It was designed so that water could rise through a hole at the bottom and dis-charge from both the mouth of the female and from a stemmed drinking cup held up to the mouth of the male. Today the lower part of the cup is missing and one sees the branched cavity through which water once flowed. The facial characteristics attract notice for their exotic cast.

FUJIWARA-NO-MIYA

The Fujiwara-no-miya was a full-fledged Chinese-style palace constructed by Empress Jito as the capital of Japan's ritsuryo-administered nation-state. Centered on the present-day Takadono district of Kashihara-shi and surrounded on three sides by the "three Yamato mountains," the palace covered an area of approximately one kilometer per side. In the center was the dairi (sovereign's residential quarters) and the chodoin,an area with ministerial offices arrayed on either side of a central courtyard used for ceremonial activities.