China News Agency, Beijing, April 7th: Bai Yunxiang: How does archaeological research witness the cultural exchange between China and Japan?

　　China News Agency reporter Sun Zifa

　　From rice farming to bronze and iron wares spread eastward to the Japanese archipelago, from Xu Fu leading 3,000 boys and girls across the sea to Jianzhen eastward, from sending envoys to the Tang Dynasty to study in the Tang Dynasty to fighting the epidemic, "the mountains and rivers are different, the wind and the moon are in the same sky"... The exchanges and exchanges between Japan and the two countries have always attracted much attention.

　　2022 will usher in the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan.

From the perspective of archaeology, what are the important stages of the ancient exchanges between China and Japan?

What far-reaching impact did it have?

In the past 50 years, what cooperation research and achievements have the two sides had in the field of archaeology?

　　Bai Yunxiang, former deputy director of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, chair professor of Shandong University, and renowned archaeologist in China and Japan, has long been committed to promoting Sino-Japanese archaeological exchanges and cooperation, and has led a number of Sino-Japanese archaeological cooperation research project.

He recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency's "East and West Questions" in Beijing, explaining in detail how archaeological research has witnessed the long history of cultural exchanges between China and Japan.

The following is a summary of the interview transcript:

China News Agency reporter: From the current archaeological research, when did the cultural exchanges between China and Japan go back?

What important stages did the ancient exchanges between the two countries go through?

Bai Yunxiang:

The cultural exchange between China and Japan can be traced back to ancient times, but the real exchange started about 2,500 years ago, that is, from the 5th century BC to the 3rd century AD, when China entered the Warring States Period, Qin and Han Dynasties and Japan entered During the Yayoi period, exchanges between the two countries gradually developed.

　　In the past 800 years, according to archaeological discoveries, especially the cultural relics imported from China discovered in the Japanese archipelago, under the background of great social and historical changes, great turmoil, and great development in East Asia, the exchanges between China and the Japanese archipelago have gone through five stages of development. , the way, content and nature of communication at each stage are also different.

　　The first stage is roughly from the 5th century BC to the end of the 4th century BC, mainly the spread of rice farming technology from China to the Japanese archipelago.

　　The second stage is roughly from the end of the 4th century BC and the beginning of the 3rd century to 221 BC. While the rice farming culture continued to spread eastward, Chinese bronze and iron products began to be introduced to the Japanese archipelago.

　　The third stage is roughly from 221 BC to around 108 BC, when Chinese residents migrated eastward to the Japanese archipelago, and more Chinese products such as bronze swords, copper coins, bronze mirrors and iron products spread to Japan.

　　The fourth stage is roughly from around 108 B.C. to around A.D., when various items from China were introduced into the Japanese archipelago, some ancient countries in the Japanese archipelago began to send envoys to the Han Dynasty, and they initially established official relations with each other. exchanges and contacts.

　　The fifth stage is roughly from the beginning of the 1st century to the first half of the 3rd century AD. The relationship between the Han Dynasty and the Japanese archipelago became closer. Some ancient countries in the Japanese archipelago may really enter the canonization system of the Han Dynasty. The influence of the Han culture has reached far to Japan. Central region of the archipelago.

China News Service reporter: In what way did China and Japan communicate with each other in ancient times?

What important influence did the introduction of Chinese culture have on Japan?

Bai Yunxiang:

Although there are many routes for exchanges and cultural exchanges between China and the Japanese archipelago, the "Road to the Yellow Sea" maritime exchange route is the most important.

Specifically, it starts from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China, passes through the coastal areas of the Yellow Sea in eastern China, Shandong Peninsula, Liaodong Peninsula and the Korean Peninsula, and then crosses the sea to reach the "land/water route around the Yellow Sea" in northern Kyushu, Japan. The gradual eastward transmission of farming culture.

It is precisely because of this that the Yayoi culture of the Japanese archipelago, especially the Kyushu region, is most closely related to the culture of the Qin and Han dynasties in the Warring States period of China along the coast of the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea.

　　The spread of Chinese culture to the Japanese archipelago was not limited to cultural exchanges, but played an important role in the cultural and social development of Japan's Yayoi period: in the field of social production and technology, the introduction and gradual development of rice farming techniques, The local area of ​​Japan gradually entered the farming society; with the introduction of Chinese bronze ware, iron ware and casting technology, from the middle of the Yayoi period in the 2nd century BC, the Japanese archipelago gradually entered the metal age.

　　At the same time, in the field of social life, under the direct or indirect cultural influence from China, cultural phenomena such as ring moat settlements, dolmens, urn coffin tombs, earthen and wooden coffin tombs, square ring moat tombs, and mound tombs are also present in Japan. Islands appeared one after another.

China News Service: China and Japan had close exchanges in ancient times, and ancient China had extensive and far-reaching influence on Japanese culture. Could you please give specific examples from archaeological research?

Bai Yunxiang:

China and Japan are neighbors separated by a strip of water. Japan's history and culture are inextricably linked with China.

The rice farming, bronze culture, ironware culture, writing, urban culture, and funeral culture in ancient Japan were all directly or indirectly influenced by China.

　　In the remains of the Yayoi culture in Japan, cultural relics of the Han Dynasty have been widely discovered.

According to incomplete statistics, there are more than 80 Yayoi cultural relics and tombs of the Han Dynasty unearthed in the Japanese archipelago, which are distributed in the western regions of Kyushu, Shikoku and Honshu, especially in the northern part of Kyushu.

Restoration of the residential site in Toro, Japan.

Photo by Sun Dongmin issued by China News Agency

　　For example, the original Tsuji site in Iki City, Nagasaki Prefecture, located on the sea passage between the Korean Peninsula and Kyushu Island in Japan, is a platform site surrounded by triple trenches. The unearthed cultural relics of the Han Dynasty include bronze mirrors, chariots and horses, swords It is generally believed that the site is the capital site of the "one country" contained in "Records of the Three Kingdoms, Wei Shu".

　　The cultural relics of the Han Dynasty unearthed in Japan mainly include gold seals, coins, bronze mirrors, ironware and other cultural relics. One of them is a square gold seal with a snake and button found in Shiga Island, Fukuoka City. .

The coins mainly include half liang coins, five baht coins, cash springs, large spring fifty, and cloths.

Bronze mirrors are the cultural relics of the Han Dynasty that have been found in the most places and have the largest number of unearthed ones. So far, about 250 complete pieces and about 270 pieces of bronze mirrors have been found, including Western Han mirrors, Xinmang mirrors and Eastern Han mirrors. The main mirrors of the Han Dynasty are almost All have been found, and a large number of "imitation Han mirrors" that imitated Han mirrors were also found in the Kyushu area.

Iron tools mainly include axes, chisels, spades, knives, swords, and spears.

Other cultural relics from the Han Dynasty include bronze three-wing arrowheads, bronze swords, bronze bow caps, bronze four-leaf ornaments and glass walls.

Archaeologists unearth a bronze mirror of the Han Dynasty in a large cemetery of the Western Han Dynasty in Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province in 2021.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhang Yuan

　　Mirrors (bronze mirrors), swords (iron swords), and jade (jade ware), known as the "three treasures" of ancient Japan, all originated in China.

Among them, five super-large "eight-leaf button-shaped mirrors with arc patterns" were unearthed from Tomb No. 1 in Pingyuan Village, Fukuoka, Japan. They not only have the general characteristics of the Eastern Han Dynasty's cloud and thunder mirrors, but also have their own distinct characteristics. Chinese and Japanese archaeologists The research speculates that it was designed and produced locally by Dongdu Japan, a bronze mirror craftsman of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

　　Another example is the close relationship between China and Japan in the Tang Dynasty, and the culture of the Tang Dynasty had an important influence on Japanese culture.

For example, the capital of Heichengjing in the Nara era, its design and construction were directly influenced by Chang’an City and Luoyang City in the Sui and Tang Dynasties; the Tang Zhaoti Temple built for the monk Jianzhen is also preserved to this day, and some other temples are also directly influenced by the shape and structure of the temples in the Tang Dynasty; Nara The ancient tomb of Takamatsuka was discovered at the end of the 7th century and the beginning of the 8th century. The murals in the tomb are similar to the murals of the Tang tomb, which shows its influence. The sea beast grape mirror of the Tang Dynasty was also unearthed in the tomb. Shoso-in houses the relics of Emperor Shengmu and other important cultural relics of the Nara period, many of which are Tang Dynasty cultural relics and are very precious.

In 2019, a number of artists from China, South Korea, and Japan staged the World Cultural Heritage - Shoso-in Musical Instruments Concert in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Wang Gang

China News Service: 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan. What exchange and cooperation projects have China and Japan focused on in the field of archaeological excavation research in the past 50 years?

How is the overall progress?

How do you comment on China-Japan archaeological exchanges and cooperation?

Bai Yunxiang:

Over the past 50 years since the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, there have been three types of exchanges and cooperation between the archaeological circles of the two countries, or three aspects:

　　The first is exchanges and mutual visits between Chinese and Japanese scholars in various forms and at all levels, such as graduate students studying for a degree, as well as Chinese and Japanese scholars visiting each other's countries for academic visits and inspections.

Many scientific research institutions and universities in China and Japan have signed cooperation and exchange agreements, such as the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the National Institute of Nara Cultural Properties of Japan, the National Museum of History and Folklore of Japan, etc.; relevant provinces and cities in China and Japan are friendly and sister cities The exchanges and cooperation between them also mostly include archaeology, such as Shandong Province and Yamaguchi County, Shaanxi Province and Nara County, Xi'an City and Nara City, etc.

These exchanges between personnel and institutions have laid an important foundation for the academic exchanges and cooperation between China and Japan, including archaeology.

Professor Bai Yunxiang (left) communicated with the excavators at the archaeological excavation site of the Horouchi Ruins in Atsuma-cho, Chitose City, Hokkaido, Japan.

Photo courtesy of the interviewee

　　Second, Sino-Japanese cooperation in archaeological investigation, excavation and research. Although the number is small, it is of great significance and has a great impact.

For example, from 1997 to 2001, Sino-Japanese cooperation in the excavation and research of the site of the Gui Palace in Chang'an City in the Han Dynasty; from 2001 to 2006, the Sino-Japanese cooperation in the excavation and research of the Taiye Pool site of Daming Palace in Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty; 2008-2011, the Sino-Japanese Luoyang Cooperation in the investigation, excavation and research of the Han and Wei ancient city sites; Sino-Japanese cooperation in the investigation, excavation and research of the Minfeng Niya site in Xinjiang; Sino-Japanese cooperation in the excavation and research of the Beizhou Tomb in Guyuan, Ningxia, etc.

The "Niya·Archaeology·Story - China-Japan Niya Archaeology 30th Anniversary Achievements Exhibition" held by Xinjiang Museum in 2018 attracted people to visit.

China News Agency reporter Liu Xinshe

　　The third is Sino-Japanese cooperation in thematic archaeological research, with a large number and a wide range of research fields.

For example, from 2003 to 2005, Sino-Japanese cooperation on Neolithic domestic pig research in Inner Mongolia; from 2004 to 2005, Sino-Japanese cooperative carbon 14 dating research project; Archaeological Research on Jingfan in the Chenghan Dynasty"; "Comprehensive Research on Rice Farming in Shandong Peninsula Region and Its Eastward Transmission" jointly carried out by Shandong University and Kyushu University.

Professor Bai Yunxiang (first from the left) communicated with Japanese scholars Sugatani Fumori, Goto Nao and others during their inspection of the Qi Ancient City Ruins in Linzi, Shandong.

Photo courtesy of the interviewee

　　Most of these Sino-Japanese archaeological cooperation projects are progressing smoothly and have achieved fruitful results.

As an important part of Sino-foreign archaeological cooperation and exchanges, Sino-Japanese archaeological cooperation and exchanges started early, have a wide range, many levels and many achievements, occupy an important position in Sino-Japanese scientific and cultural exchanges, and play an important role in Sino-Japanese friendly exchanges. It is also an important way for Chinese academics and Chinese culture to go global.

　　During the implementation of the cooperative research archaeology project, the participants and institutions of China and Japan are equal and friendly, abide by the agreement, and negotiate amicably in case of trouble.

The conscientious, meticulous, hard-working professionalism of Japanese scholars, the research spirit of striving for deep understanding, and the scientific spirit of seeking truth are admired by Chinese collaborators, and they are also worthy of learning from all academic circles.

　　China News Service reporter: In 2022, China's modern archaeology, which has gone through a century of vicissitudes, will enter a new century, and the normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations will also celebrate its 50th anniversary.

Standing at this historical node, what are your expectations for the future exchanges and cooperation between China and Japan in the field of archaeology?

　　Bai Yunxiang: In fact, the exchange of archaeological circles between China and Japan started as early as the 1950s. In 1957, a Japanese archaeological delegation visited China. After the normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations, it developed rapidly on the original basis.

Over the past 50 years, the exchanges and cooperation between the archaeological circles of China and Japan have made great progress.

　　Standing on the historical nodes of the new century of Chinese archaeology and the 50th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations, I look forward to the exchange and cooperation between the archaeological circles of China and Japan to persist, develop, deepen, and explore new opportunities under the new historical conditions. field and make new progress.

This will not only contribute to the development of archaeology in China and Japan, but will also play an active role in the friendly exchanges between China and Japan.

(over)

Interviewee Profile:

Prof. Bai Yunxiang presented and introduced the Japanese version of "Mirror Fan", the research achievement of Sino-Japanese archaeological cooperation, in the Beijing office.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Sun Zifa

Bai Yunxiang, former deputy director and researcher of the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, professor and doctoral supervisor of the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, chair professor of Shandong University, an expert enjoying special government allowances from the State Council, a corresponding academician of the German Institute of Archaeology, and concurrently serving as a Chinese archaeologist He is the executive director of the society, the director of the Qin and Han Archaeology Professional Committee, the vice president of the Chinese Qin and Han History Research Association, and the vice president of the Asian Foundry Technology History Society.

　　Professor Bai Yunxiang has long been engaged in field archaeology, editing and publishing academic journals, archaeological research, teaching and organization. His main research fields include Qin and Han archaeology, handicraft archaeology, and Sino-foreign exchange archaeology. He has published more than 130 academic papers at home and abroad.

The main works and award-winning achievements include: "Archaeological Research on Iron Ware in Pre-Qin and Han Dynasties" (2005), "Research on Iron Ware in Ancient China" (Japanese version, 2009), won the "Seventh Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Outstanding Scientific Research Achievement Award" in 2010 "First Prize"; "Archaeological Research on Jingfan in the Han Dynasty in the Ancient City of Qi State in Linzi, Shandong Province" (co-authored, 2007), won the "First Prize of Outstanding Achievement Award in Culture, Art and Science of Shandong Province" in 2009; "Chinese Archaeology ·Qin and Han Volumes (co-authored, 2010), won the second prize of the 4th Guo Moruo Chinese History Award in 2012; "From the bronze sword of Shanglinli in South Korea and the bronze mirror of Pingyuan Village in Japan, on the two eastward experiences of ancient Chinese bronze craftsmen Crossing" (Thesis, 2015), won the "Third Prize of the 10th Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Outstanding Scientific Research Achievement Award" in 2019; "Qin-Han Archaeology and Qin-Han Civilization Research" (2019), won the "2019 National Cultural Heritage Award" Top Ten Books".

　　Among them, the research results of Sino-Japanese cooperation as the Chinese host: "Archaeological Research on Mirror Fans of the Han Dynasty in the Ancient City of Qi State in Linzi, Shandong Province" (2007); 2009); "Research on Bronze Culture in Early China" (Japanese edition, 2009).