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Haniwa

Haniwa warrior in keikō type armor, Ōta, Gunma Prefecture, c. 6th century AD. Height: 131.5 centimetres (51.8 in). National Treasure of Japan[1]
Haniwa figure of a woman, 5th–6th century. Earthenware. Excavation point unknown. This figure is considered to represent a high-ranking woman, possibly a shaman or priestess. The figure is fragmentary: the arms are missing and, like many extant haniwa, it has been reassembled from shards.

The Haniwa (埴輪) are terracotta clay[2][3] figures that were made for ritual use and buried with the dead as funerary objects during the Kofun period (3rd to 6th centuries AD) of the history of Japan. Haniwa were created according to the wazumi technique, in which mounds of coiled clay were built up to shape the figure, layer by layer.[4] Haniwa can also refer to offering cylinders, not the clay sculptures on top of them[5] as well as the "wooden haniwa" found in Kofun tumuli.[6]

Terracotta Haniwa were made with water-based clay and dried into a coarse and absorbent material that stood the test of time. Their name means "circle of clay", referring to how they were arranged in a circle above the tomb. The protruding parts of the figures were made separately and then attached, while a few things were carved into them. They were smoothed out by a wooden paddle. Terraces were arranged to place them with a cylindrical base into the ground, where the earth would hold them in place.

During the Kofun period, a highly aristocratic society with militaristic rulers developed. The cavalry wore iron armor, carried swords and other weapons, and used advanced military methods like those of northeast Asia. Many of them are represented in haniwa figurines for funerary purposes.

The most important of the haniwa were found in southern Honshū—especially the Kinai region around Nara—and northern Kyūshū. Haniwa grave offerings were made in many forms, such as horses, chickens, birds, fans, fish, houses, weapons, shields, sunshades, pillows, and humans. Besides decorative and spiritual reasons of protecting the deceased in the afterlife, these figures served as a sort of retaining wall for the burial mound.

Because these haniwa display the contemporary clothing, hairstyle, farming tools, and architecture, these sculptures are important as a historical archive of the Kofun Period.

Everyday pottery items from that period are called Haji pottery.

  1. ^ 埴輪　挂甲の武人 Archived 2012-10-11 at the Wayback Machine(in Japanese)
  2. ^ Evans, Toshie M. (1997). A Dictionary of Japanese Loanwords. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 50. ISBN 0-313-28741-4. Archived from the original on 2016-04-25. Retrieved 2015-10-18. Extract of page 50 Archived 2019-03-30 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Kleiner, Fred (2009). Gardner's Art through the Ages: Non-Western Perspectives (13th ed.). Cengage Learning. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-495-57367-8. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016. Extract of page 92 Archived 2016-06-29 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric (2002). Le Japon: Dictionnaire et Civilisation [Japan Encyclopedia]. Translated by Käthe Roth. United States of America: Harvard University Press Reference Library. pp. 286, 833. ISBN 9780674017535.
  5. ^ "Kofun Period (ca. 300–710)". The Met Museum. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Archaeologists unearth largest wooden 'haniwa' statue ever found in Japan". 9 December 2022.

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