In history, the ancient period was an era in which the establishment of a unified nation was the foundation for the blooming of distinctive civilizations across the European continent and the subcontinent.
In the pottery world, in addition to red unglazed earthenware produced by oxidizing fire, which had a long tradition since the primitive age, gray hardware produced by reducing fire was born, and high-fired glazed pottery with ash glaze appeared. On the other hand, a variety of ceramics appeared one after the other, such as low-fired colored glazed ceramics produced by adding various coloring agents to lead glaze. Thus, the foundations of today’s pottery, such as oxidized and reduced firing, and unglazed and glazed ceramics, were all formed in ancient times. Therefore, it can be said that the ancient period was a time of development from a single type of pottery to a diversified type of pottery.
In Japan, antiquity usually refers to the period from the beginning of the Kofun period, which was based on the establishment of the Yamato Imperial Court, to the end of the Heian period, when the aristocratic government of the Fujiwara clan died out and the feudal state was established by the warrior class of the Genpei clan, or about 850 years from the end of the 3rd century to the end of the 11th century. During these long years, our ancient pottery appeared in a variety of forms, including earthenware, black earthenware, Sue ware: Sansai and green-glazed pottery, and ash-glazed pottery. These ceramics did not appear all at once in antiquity, but were generated in line with the development of ancient nations, and owe their prototypes to the advanced nations of ancient Asia, such as China and Korea.
So when and how did our ancient earthenware and pottery appear and what were they called then? Let me first explain the characteristics of each type of pottery in accordance with the order of their appearance and why they disappeared.
The red unglazed earthenware we now call “earthenware” is the successor to Yayoi earthenware, and refers to pottery produced after the Kofun period.
The earliest examples of the use of the name “dojiware” are “kenshō dojiware” in “Shūshū shūmei” and “kawaraki dojiware” in “Teishō shūmei”, and “kawaraki tsukawari dojiware” in “Teishō shūmei”, etc. The name “dojiware” is derived from the phrase “土黄而細密日日埴 常識反(和名波爾)” in “Wana riyu-shō”, and the earliest examples of the use of the name “dojiware” are “kenshō dojiware” in “Shūshū shūmei” and “kawaraki tsukawari dojiware” in “Teishō shūmei”. The earliest examples of the use of the name “earthenware” are “kenshi-ki do-shi-ki” in the “Shuyu-sho Shu-yo” and “Teisho-ji Shu-yo” in the “Yayoi Shiki Shiki”. If earthenware is the same as Yayoi earthenware in that it is unglazed and fired by oxidation, when and how was the transition from Yayoi earthenware to earthenware made? According to recent archaeological findings, the existence of the oldest types of earthenware in western Japan, such as the “Sakatsu-style” in the Seto Inland Sea and the “Kuju-style” in the San-in region, which mainly consisted of jars, pots, and bowls with compound rims and high cups, was noted before the small round-bottom earthenware that was once considered an indicator to distinguish the two types of pottery. The dominant view is that the influence of these earthenware on the Kinai region led to the production of earthenware of the early Kofun period. On the other hand, the oldest type of earthenware is considered to be “Shonai-shiki,” which is distinguished from Yayoi earthenware by the occurrence of the Kofun tumulus. In any case, small round-bottomed earthenware was standardized in the Kinai region from early earthenware with a strong regional flavor, and its spread to the rest of the country led to the completion of a unified earthenware style. Next, there are a variety of ideas as to when the end of earthenware should be determined, depending on how the content of the artifacts is viewed. The current general idea is to view earthenware in terms of daily tableware, and to seek its end in the 10th to 11th century, when ash-glazed ceramics produced in the Tokai region became popular. However, while this phenomenon is widespread in eastern Japan, in western Japan the number of earthenware vessels has been gradually declining as they shifted from earthenware to black earthenware and then to tile ware, and they will not disappear completely until much later. The 11th century may be considered a turning point if we look for the spread of ash-glazed pottery in eastern Japan or the establishment of tile ware in western Japan. However, even at the stage when various types of pottery appeared, the characteristic of earthenware that cannot be substituted for other types of pottery is rather its boiling form. Therefore, the disappearance of the role of earthenware should be considered when the pots and kettles of earthenware were replaced by those of iron as boiling vessels. The spread of iron boiling utensils is a phenomenon that began in the Kamakura period (1185-1333).
Along with earthenware, there is a type of soft earthenware called “black earthenware” in ancient times. This type of earthenware was made jet-black by polishing the inner or inner and outer surfaces of the earthenware to absorb carbon grains on the surface. However, in the eastern part of Japan east of the central mountains, this technique has been used since the 6th century for cups and other objects copied from Sue ware: and is called uchikuro-doshi-ware.
Next, let us discuss Sue ware: which was the most important type of pottery along with earthenware in ancient times. While earthenware is an unglazed red ware produced by oxidizing fire, Sue ware is a hard gray ware produced by wheel throwing and reduction firing. The word “pottery” is used in the Engishiki (Engi Shiki), and in the Wamyasho (Japanese classics) it is written, “Towarashi i 云陶器陶器陶訓須恵毛能,” indicating that it was called “suemono” at that time. The term “Sue ware” is an academic term that came into use in the Showa period (1926-1989) to distinguish it from modern glazed pottery. It was once called Shukubu-style earthenware or ceramic earthenware.
The origin of Sue ware can be traced back to the pottery of Gaya and Baekje in Nansun, Silla ware, and ash ceramics that were already in use during the Shang dynasty in China, and were produced as a branch of ash ceramics that spread widely throughout East Asia. In other words, it is thought to have originated in southern China and gradually spread through Nansun, based on its remarkable similarity to ceramics from the Three Kingdoms period in Nansun and the fact that it belongs to the lineage of kiln methods that developed in southern China. When then can we determine the beginning of Sue ware production? As often quoted, the “New Han Pottery Department Takagi” mentioned in the 7th year of Yuusoku (463) of the “Chronicles of Japan” is thought to have been Imakinotehito, a tribute from Baekje, and the dominant view has been that Sue ware was first produced around this time. However, there is another theory, based on Koichi Mori’s theory, that Sue ware was introduced into Nansen in the latter half of the 4th century, following the Yamato court’s advance into Nansen. Considering that the influence of Han-style earthenware was already evident in the adoption of the adversary hitting method in Yayoi earthenware in Kitakyushu and the change to round-bottomed earthenware, there is no reason to think that the origin of this pottery is not old. However, the production technology of Sue ware is not yet fully understood. However, the production technology of Sue ware requires a more extensive production system that transcends the limitations of small-scale communal production such as Yayoi and Doji wares, by securing excellent wheel throwing techniques, high-quality potter’s clay, and a large amount of fuel for reduction firing. Therefore, the dominant view is that the first half of the 5th century, when such a system could be established, should be considered as the beginning of the system.
How long was Sue ware used? The Touyuu kilns in Osaka Prefecture, the center of Sue ware production in Japan during the Kofun period, are known to have had more than 500 kilns built between the 5th and 10th centuries. Looking at the transition of kiln construction quantitatively, it is known that there were more than 300 kilns in the 5th to 6th centuries, 80 kilns in the 7th century, and only 100 kilns in the 200-odd years after the 8th century.
And it is believed that production almost came to an end during the 10th century. This decline in production at Tōyū kilns was caused by the destruction of the mountains and forests resulting from overproduction since the Kofun period, as indicated by the fuel conflicts between Kawachi and Izumi (Tōzan war) described in the first year of Jōgan era in the “Sandai Jitsuroku. Of course, one of the main reasons for this is not only the resource problem, but also the transformation of the production system based on the decline of the Ritsuryo system. This trend was a common phenomenon in Sue ware production in western Japan. In eastern Japan, however, production began to rise from the end of the Kofun period and reached its peak in the Heian period (794-1185), and continued until the end of the 11th century, when it was converted to medieval kilns.
Doji ware
As is well known, earthenware is the successor to Yayoi earthenware and is unglazed reddish-brown or yellowish-brown earthenware fired by oxidizing iron since the primitive age. As mentioned earlier, the shift from Yayoi earthenware to earthenware was not based on foreign factors, but was intrinsic to the political factor of the beginning of the Kofun period. Therefore, the transition was gradual, and with the exception of the distinctive ritual earthenware, there are no basic differences in the initial vessel forms or production techniques.
The basic types of earthenware include jars for storage, jars for boiling, cups and high cups for tableware, bowls for cooking, and pots and bowls for ritual ware. In the mid-5th century, with the introduction of Sue ware production techniques, a new type of boiling earthenware, the hanko, was added, as well as a few other vessels, such as a square table, and in areas of eastern Japan where Sue ware could not be produced, cups and cups imitating Sue ware forms were produced. In the eastern regions of Japan, where Sue ware could not be produced, cups and cups imitating Sue ware shapes were produced.
Some of these cups were made with carbon adsorbed on the inner surface.
The shape of earthenware vessels underwent a major change after the latter half of the 7th century, when bowls, plates, and other tableware became abundant, replacing cups, and this corresponds to the change in the shape of Sue ware: indicating that there was a major change in daily life. In this way, the variety of earthenware vessel forms is extremely rich, and although it is generally thought that they declined with the appearance of Sue ware: they developed in competition with each other, and the boiling form in particular was used as a basic tool for daily life until the Kamakura period, when iron pots and kettles became widely used.
Next, regarding the production techniques of earthenware, it can be pointed out that the clay used was of a higher quality than that used for Yayoi earthenware. While Yayoi earthenware varied greatly in quality from region to region, the clay used for Doji ware was relatively similar. There are three methods of molding: handmade, rolled, and wheel-formed. Smaller items such as cups, plates, and bowls were made by hand, while jars and pots were made by the latter two methods. The potter’s wheel was used from the end of the 8th century onward. Jars were shaped by hammering with a tool that had a linearly engraved line. After shaping the thickness of the vessel by scraping, the details were adjusted by brushing with a cloth, brush, or comb. The firing of earthenware is considered to be an extension of Yayoi earthenware, and it is thought that earthenware was fired at a temperature of about 700-800 degrees Celsius in a square-shaped soil, as at the Kishi site in Osaka Prefecture, but the kilns of the Kofun period are not well known. In the Nara Period, a number of triangular kilns were discovered at the Mizuchi site in Mie Prefecture, and in the Heian Period, a horseshoe-shaped kiln carved into the slope of a hill at the Totsu Kogama site in Komatsu City, Ishikawa Prefecture is known. In both cases, the superstructure of the kilns is not clear. While Yayoi earthenware was richly decorated with decorated pottery, the Doji wares are generally unlettered. Some very early earthenware with engravings in the style of straight arc patterns are known, and only a few special ritual vessels with engraved bamboo pipe patterns are known. However, so-called “tan-nuri” earthenware, in which the surface of the vessel is decorated with tansai, was produced until much later in the eastern part of Japan.
The period in which earthenware was used as a major daily utensil lasted about 700 years, from the 4th to the 11th century. If unglazed earthenware is considered a descendant of earthenware, it can be seen as a surviving form of pottery like yukihira and horoku, but it should be considered to have basically ended its life when it was replaced by iron boiling utensils. As mentioned above, earthenware has a long history of 700 years, but it has undergone three stages of transition: before the appearance of Sue ware: from the introduction of Sue ware to the latter half of the 7th century, and from the latter half of the 7th century to the 11th century. The first stage (4th to late 5th century) was about 200 years before the appearance of Sue ware: and included both the Goryo and Wa-zumi periods in the Kanto region and the Shonai and Nunome periods in the Kinai region. This period marked the beginning of the Kofun period, a political revolution that triggered a shift from Yayoi earthenware to earthenware in each region, and eventually, as symbolized by the combination of small round-bottomed vessels and vessel bases, a Kinai-like uniformity developed throughout the country. This unification from large ritual earthenware (large jars and special vessels) to small ritual earthenware (small round-bottomed earthenware and vessels), which varied greatly from region to region, corresponds to the process of nationwide unification by the Yamato Imperial Court. The shapes and combinations of earthenware vessels used as daily vessels in this first stage follow those of Yayoi earthenware, and it can be pointed out that the decorative characteristics and regional differences decreased with time.
In the second phase (6th century to mid-7th century, the “Onitaka” period in the Kanto region), earthenware underwent major changes under the influence of Sue ware: which began to be produced in the mid-5th century. One of the most significant changes was the introduction of portable electric devices from Korea around the same time as the introduction of Sue ware production techniques. With the adoption of electric earthenware, large jars with long bodies and large jars with handles were used throughout western Japan as boiling earthenware. In the aftermath in eastern Japan, a fixed kamado was built inside the dwelling, and the steamer and jar changed to large-shaped ones. During this phase, large storage vessels were replaced by Sue ware and jars by smaller ones. Another change is the downsizing of ritual earthenware. In eastern Japan, where Sue ware production was delayed until later periods, Sue ware was imitated in some vessel forms, such as cups, and some cups were made of so-called “inner black earthenware” with carbon adsorbed on the inner surface. This served as a kind of glaze to prevent water leakage and was a substitute for hard Sue ware.
In the third phase (late 7th-11th century, the “Maima” and “Kokubu” periods in the Kanto region), tableware such as cups and high cups, which had temporarily declined with the rise of Sue ware: began to flourish again, and new types of bowls, plates, and bowls, as well as lidded jars, began to appear. This phenomenon is indicative of the change in eating habits in western Japan, with significant changes in tableware, such as the imitation of metal vessels and wooden cups. Chopsticks are also thought to have been introduced to the table during this period. In the Nara period (710-794), when Sue ware production began to decline in the Kinai region and western Japan, the demand for earthenware increased, and the production techniques became simplified with mass production. This led to a decrease in the number of types of vessels and a reduction in the quantity of vessels, eventually resulting in the production of black earthenware by the end of the Nara period. In contrast, eastern Japan, especially north of the Kanto region, where Sue ware production was poor, continued to use the same combinations of vessel forms as in the Nara period. In the Heian period (794-1185), however, as Sue ware production finally became more active, it was limited to long jars for boiling and cups and plates for tableware, and the potter’s wheel was used to shape cups and plates.
Finally, some remarks should be made about black earthenware as a variant of earthenware.
In western Japan, earthenware with a jet-black color is called black earthenware when the inner surface or both the inner and outer surfaces are polished by me and carbon particles are adsorbed. There are two types of black earthenware: those with only the inner surface blackened by carbon adsorption and those with both the inner and outer surfaces blackened by carbon adsorption. In the Kinai region, as seen in the excavated artifacts from the Heijo Palace site, the ratio of black earthenware to earthenware gradually increased, and from the 9th to 10th centuries, the ratio of black earthenware to earthenware was three to one. As mentioned earlier, such earthenware with carbon adsorbed on the surface has already been found in eastern Japan east of the central mountains in the 6th century in the Onitaka style of earthenware. The shapes of these vessels were limited to cups and bowls, and they were substitutes for Sue ware. In the Northeast, blackened pottery appeared in the 7th century, and by the end of the 8th century or early 9th century, the technique of blackening both sides was adopted, earlier than in Western Japan. The emergence of black earthenware in the Kinai region in the late 8th century was due to the decline in Sue ware production, and the mass production of earthenware was a way to compensate for the lack of black earthenware. The first black earthenware was produced in the Kinai region in the late 8th century. The Kinai earthenware does not have the tradition of the Uchikuro technique, and it is needless to say that it was copied from the Uchikuro earthenware of eastern Japan. This black earthenware is mostly limited to bowls and plates, with a few small jars. In the eastern part of Japan, small jars and ear dishes are also found. Black earthenware with only the inner surface is thought to have been made by first making earthenware and then holding it over a fuel that produced a large amount of soot.
Sue ware
Sue ware is a gray, hard ware whose production techniques were newly introduced from the Korean peninsula around the beginning of the 5th century, and was the most common everyday vessel used together with earthenware for about 700 years until the Heian period. The emergence of Sue ware led to a remarkable increase in the variety of daily vessels, including continental vessels. The variety of vessels produced during the entire period shows six stages of development, and even later stages were produced in the eastern part of the country. The variety of vessels includes jars, pots, and bottles for storage; cups, cups, bowls, plates, and vessels for tableware; various types of bowls such as suribachi for cooking; inkstones and water droppers for stationery; decorative Sue ware and pagodas for ceremonial purposes; and many other types of vessels used in all aspects of daily life. In ancient documents such as “Kojiki”, “Nihonshoki”, and “Engishiki”, about 50 types of Sue ware are described, including cups, chan, 、、、、、 flat vessel, cans, crucibles, and jars, but not many of them can be compared with the real ones. If we further classify the various types of Sue ware by vessel type, there are about 120 types. However, each type of Sue ware was not used uniformly throughout the ages, and the life of each type varied over time. The fact that Sue ware is divided into six stages throughout the ages is based on the changes in the combinations.
As noted above, the most important characteristics that distinguish Sue ware from pre-Doshi pottery are the high firing rate of reduction firing and the mass-production molding technique using a vertical rotary wheel. However, in order to use such advanced techniques, a better quality clay than the pre-Doji ware had to be selected. While clay from the Alluvium near the settlement is thought to have been used mainly for earthenware, Sue ware was made of clay from the Pleistocene and Neogene strata, which is more refractory, given the location of the kilns. In terms of molding, the small-sized vessels were wheel-thrown and water-ground one by one, and then the bottom was scraped by me to make the walls of the vessel uniform. For large vessels, the winding method was used, in which a clay cord was wound up and pressed against the vessel walls from the inside and outside. Therefore, many Kofun period Sue vessels have round bottoms and many have pedestal feet. However, from the mid-8th century onward, the water-grinding technique was adopted to produce a large number of vessels from a single lump of clay, and large flat-bottomed, vertical vessels began to be produced. Sue ware was decorated with parallel lines, wavy patterns, puncture patterns, and rarely with bamboo tube patterns, but the earlier types were decorated with these patterns on various parts of the vessel surface. The watermarks on the foot can be circular, triangular, square, rectangular, etc., but the earlier the piece is, the larger the watermark is, and various types of watermarks are used in combination.
Kilns built on hillsides were used for firing Sue ware. The kiln was 8 to 10 m long, 1.2 to 1.5 m wide, and about 1 m high, with a long, narrow, semicircular cross section. It belonged to the cave kiln type, in which a trench was dug into the hillside and the ceiling and walls were made of clay with grit. In the early period, most of these kilns had a gentle slope of about 15 degrees, but the slope gradually became steeper, with some exceeding 35 degrees by the end of the Nara period (710-794). This indicates that in the early period, these vessels were initially fired with oxidizing fire, and after reaching a certain temperature, a large amount of firewood was injected to block the opening of the kiln and create a reducing state inside the kiln, which led to smoked reduction firing. Therefore, the surface of early Sue ware is darkened by carbon grains that penetrated the vessel walls, but from the 6th century onward, the color gradually changed from gray to a grayish-white tone.
It has been thought that the production of Sue ware began in the middle of the 5th century at the Touyuu ancient kiln site group in southern Osaka Prefecture, and that the technique diffused centrally through local political forces. It has become clear that Sue ware originated as early as the early 5th century, and it is thought to have been introduced to many parts of Japan by a large number of people from the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. As mentioned earlier, Sue ware was burned in six phases until the Heian period (794-1185).
The transition can be roughly divided into two periods, the Kofun Period and the Nara and Heian Periods, with the third period marking an alternation between the two. This is best illustrated by the daily tableware such as cups and cups with shallow round-bottomed bodies and lids.
The round-bottomed cup with a shallow body and lid disappeared around the end of the 7th century, and was replaced by a new flat-bottomed cup with a high base that appeared around the middle of the 7th century and became the main type of tableware thereafter. In the Kofun period, the basic type of cup was a shallow, grudge-shaped body with a pedestal, but in the Nara and Heian periods, flat-topped, disk-shaped cups were used. The change from spherical or oblong to oblong bodies for jars, bottles, and pots, and from round to flat bottoms for all vessel types, are the most significant characteristics of this change. The continuous introduction of new technology and new types of equipment from the continent is also an important factor that cannot be overlooked.
The first stage (from the early 5th to the early 6th century) was a process of gradual change from the strong Nansen flavor of the Sue ware craftsmen’s homeland to a more Japanized style. However, around the end of the 5th century, when the Yamato Imperial Court began to unify the production of Sue ware under its centralized rule, the supply of Sue ware from within Japan increased, and production declined in some areas. The characteristics of this phase are seen in lid cups with a high rising lid holder, high cups with a large openwork on a thick base, and thick ro necks, etc. In the excavated objects from kofun tombs, there are also notable objects with a strong ritual coloration, such as high cup and cylinder type vessel bases and various types of decorative Sue ware.
In the second phase (mid-6th century to early 7th century), Sue ware production sites expanded, with production taking place in various regions from the Kanto region to Kyushu. This was the time when cluster mounds were formed in various regions, and Sue ware began to penetrate into the daily lives of ordinary farmers, as well as Sue ware for burial in kofun tumuli. Although the products became noticeably coarser due to mass production, wheel throwing techniques advanced, resulting in longer legs on high cups and longer mouth necks on jars and vases. During this phase, ritual vessels declined significantly, and new vessels such as flat vases, long-necked vases with bases, and vases with bases appeared, indicating a slight change in vessels between the first and second phases. It is also noteworthy that regional colors began to emerge, such as narrow-necked jars in eastern Japan, jars with bases with bird-shape lids in the Tokai region, and bird-shape jars and ring-shaped jars in the Chugoku region. These vessels were newly introduced from Nansen during this stage.
The third stage (from the early 7th century to the late 7th century) was a time of great change toward the Historical Period, as mentioned above. The core of this period was the introduction of new production techniques with the arrival of Buddhist culture, and the production of new types of vessels to meet the changing lifestyles of people. The types of vessels that disappeared in this phase included round-bottomed lidded cups, chochin, straight-mouth jars, and decorated Sue ware: all of which had degenerated into low bases.
By the fourth stage (8th – early 9th century), most of the vessel forms that had existed since the Kofun period had been replaced, and those that survived had undergone major changes in appearance. In the fourth stage (8th century to early 9th century), most of the vessels that had been used since the Kofun period were replaced, and the remaining vessels underwent a drastic change in appearance. New bowls and bowl bowls appeared, forming a new type of cup and tableware set. In particular, the production of ash-glazed ceramics, which began at the Sanage kiln in Aichi Prefecture in the latter half of this period, centered on Buddhist ritual vessels (water jars, purification vessels, etc.) and influenced Sue ware from other regions. The ritual vessels used for burial in burial mounds were replaced by Buddhist vessels. From this stage, the center of Sue ware production began to shift from the Touup kilns in southern Osaka to the Sanage kilns in Aichi Prefecture. The two sides of this shift are seen in the two stages of the Kofun period: one is the decline in production due to overproduction from the enormous demand at the Toei kiln, and the other is the rise in production at the Sanage kiln based on ash-glazed ceramics.
The fifth phase (early 9th century to early 10th century) was the period of the decline of Sue ware in western Japan, centering on the Kinai region, when the Sanage kilns stopped producing Sue ware and began supplying ash-glazed ceramics to the rest of the country as the only production center of this type. However, in the backward areas of eastern Japan, such as Hokuriku, Kanto, and Tohoku, production began to rise from this stage, which is in sharp contrast to western Japan.
