The term " National Treasure" has been used in Japan to denote cultural properties since 1897. Currently this label is the highest distinction of tangible cultural properties and is assigned by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, a special body of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, for objects of "especially high historical or artistic value". " Ancient documents" is one of thirteen categories of national treasures recognized by the agency and includes 60 documents or sets of documents from classical to early modern Japan, from the Asuka period to the Meiji period.
The designated items are of various type such as letters, diaries, records or catalogues, certificates, imperial decrees, testaments and maps. They record early Japanese government and Buddhism including early Japanese contact with China, the organization of the state and life at the Japanese imperial court. They are housed in 14 Japanese cities in temples (35), museums (13), libraries or archives (5), shrines (3), universities (2) and in private collections (2). Most treasures (28) are located in Kyoto. These documents were made predominantly with a writing brush on paper and, in many cases, present important examples of calligraphy. ( more...)
[1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7]
Writing was physically introduced to Japan from China in the form of inscribed artefacts around the year 0. Examples for these artefacts—some of which have been designated as archaeological national treasures—include: coins of the reign of Wang Mang (AD 8–25), a 1st century gold seal from Shikanoshima, a late 2nd century iron sword from the Tōdaijiyama burial mound, the Seven-Branched Sword with inscription from 369 and a large number of bronze mirrors, the oldest dating to the 3rd century. [1] [2] [3] All of these artefacts originated on the continent, most likely in China. Though written inscriptions were present at this period, they were likely not recognized as such by the Japanese who might have mistaken them for decorations. [1] This ignorance likely continued, when Japanese later manufactured mirrors locally as copies of Chinese originals. [4] [5]
The concept of writing came to Japan from the Korean kingdom of Baekje in the form of classical Chinese books likely written on paper and in the form of manuscript rolls (kansubon). [1] [6] This event occured probably at the beginning of the 5th century (around 400), certainly at least during the 6th century. [7] [6] According to legend, the scholar Wani is credited for introducing the Chinese writing system together with Confucianism to Japan. [6] The abrupt transition from not knowing what writing was to reading and writing of complicated works in a foreign language, meant that the first texts in Japan were composed and read by people from the continent such as Wani. [6] Soon afterwards, scribes were appointed to the provinces to "record events and report conditions". [8] [9] The oldest texts of Japanese origin which show a clear understanding of the concept of writing date to the 5th century and are—like most texts from before 700—inscriptions on stone or metal. [10] Examples include three archaeological National Treasures: Suda Hachiman Shrine Mirror from about the 5th century which is a poor copy of a Chinese original, the Inariyama Sword from 471 or 531 and the Eta Funayama burial mound sword from about the 5th century. [11] [12] Inscriptions on both swords show Koreanisms suggesting that Korean scholars and their decendants were involved in writing activity in Japan. The Inariyama Sword is also the oldest example of man'yōgana use, a writing system that employs Chinese characters to represent the Japanese language. [13] While the use of writing in Japan was very limited during the 5th and 6th centuries, the number of documents written locally increased in the 7th century; though most of them were lost. [14] [7] Due to the increasing cultural dependence on China, by the end of the 7th century, reading and writing had become an integral part of Japanese life particularly in government and religion. [14] There were two major factors for this development: firstly, starting with the Taika Reforms (645–649) and continued with the Asuka Kiyomihara Code (689) and censuses from 670 and 690, a Chinese style centralised state was formed. This required a large number of literate officials who were educated in among others Confucian texts at the Daigakuryo ("University") founded under Emperor Tenchi. [14] The second factor was the increasing popularity of Buddhism, which had been introduced to Japan in the mid 6th century and strongly promoted by Prince Shōtoku (574–622). [14] The Sangyō Gisho ("Annotated Commentaries on the Three Sutras") traditionally attributed to Prince Shōtoku is the oldest extant text of any length. [15] The study of Buddhism required studying sutras written in Chinese and the state founded a Sutra Copying Bureau (shakyojo) before 727. [nb 1] [14] The oldest Japanese books are two chronicles, Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, from the early 8th century. While the phonogram orthography enjoyed increasing popularity during the 8th century, it was not yet used for longer prose. The modern kana, notably hiragana and katakana were developed in the Heian period. [16]
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The term " National Treasure" has been used in Japan to denote cultural properties since 1897. Currently this label is the highest distinction of tangible cultural properties and is assigned by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, a special body of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, for objects of "especially high historical or artistic value". " Ancient documents" is one of thirteen categories of national treasures recognized by the agency and includes 60 documents or sets of documents from classical to early modern Japan, from the Asuka period to the Meiji period.
The designated items are of various type such as letters, diaries, records or catalogues, certificates, imperial decrees, testaments and maps. They record early Japanese government and Buddhism including early Japanese contact with China, the organization of the state and life at the Japanese imperial court. They are housed in 14 Japanese cities in temples (35), museums (13), libraries or archives (5), shrines (3), universities (2) and in private collections (2). Most treasures (28) are located in Kyoto. These documents were made predominantly with a writing brush on paper and, in many cases, present important examples of calligraphy. ( more...)
[1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7]
Writing was physically introduced to Japan from China in the form of inscribed artefacts around the year 0. Examples for these artefacts—some of which have been designated as archaeological national treasures—include: coins of the reign of Wang Mang (AD 8–25), a 1st century gold seal from Shikanoshima, a late 2nd century iron sword from the Tōdaijiyama burial mound, the Seven-Branched Sword with inscription from 369 and a large number of bronze mirrors, the oldest dating to the 3rd century. [1] [2] [3] All of these artefacts originated on the continent, most likely in China. Though written inscriptions were present at this period, they were likely not recognized as such by the Japanese who might have mistaken them for decorations. [1] This ignorance likely continued, when Japanese later manufactured mirrors locally as copies of Chinese originals. [4] [5]
The concept of writing came to Japan from the Korean kingdom of Baekje in the form of classical Chinese books likely written on paper and in the form of manuscript rolls (kansubon). [1] [6] This event occured probably at the beginning of the 5th century (around 400), certainly at least during the 6th century. [7] [6] According to legend, the scholar Wani is credited for introducing the Chinese writing system together with Confucianism to Japan. [6] The abrupt transition from not knowing what writing was to reading and writing of complicated works in a foreign language, meant that the first texts in Japan were composed and read by people from the continent such as Wani. [6] Soon afterwards, scribes were appointed to the provinces to "record events and report conditions". [8] [9] The oldest texts of Japanese origin which show a clear understanding of the concept of writing date to the 5th century and are—like most texts from before 700—inscriptions on stone or metal. [10] Examples include three archaeological National Treasures: Suda Hachiman Shrine Mirror from about the 5th century which is a poor copy of a Chinese original, the Inariyama Sword from 471 or 531 and the Eta Funayama burial mound sword from about the 5th century. [11] [12] Inscriptions on both swords show Koreanisms suggesting that Korean scholars and their decendants were involved in writing activity in Japan. The Inariyama Sword is also the oldest example of man'yōgana use, a writing system that employs Chinese characters to represent the Japanese language. [13] While the use of writing in Japan was very limited during the 5th and 6th centuries, the number of documents written locally increased in the 7th century; though most of them were lost. [14] [7] Due to the increasing cultural dependence on China, by the end of the 7th century, reading and writing had become an integral part of Japanese life particularly in government and religion. [14] There were two major factors for this development: firstly, starting with the Taika Reforms (645–649) and continued with the Asuka Kiyomihara Code (689) and censuses from 670 and 690, a Chinese style centralised state was formed. This required a large number of literate officials who were educated in among others Confucian texts at the Daigakuryo ("University") founded under Emperor Tenchi. [14] The second factor was the increasing popularity of Buddhism, which had been introduced to Japan in the mid 6th century and strongly promoted by Prince Shōtoku (574–622). [14] The Sangyō Gisho ("Annotated Commentaries on the Three Sutras") traditionally attributed to Prince Shōtoku is the oldest extant text of any length. [15] The study of Buddhism required studying sutras written in Chinese and the state founded a Sutra Copying Bureau (shakyojo) before 727. [nb 1] [14] The oldest Japanese books are two chronicles, Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, from the early 8th century. While the phonogram orthography enjoyed increasing popularity during the 8th century, it was not yet used for longer prose. The modern kana, notably hiragana and katakana were developed in the Heian period. [16]
Cite error: There are <ref group=nb>
tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=nb}}
template (see the
help page).