【简译】弥生时代（Yayoi Period）

2022-12-12 12:50 作者:神尾智代 0人读过 | 我要投稿

上一时代

The Yayoi Period is one of the oldest historical periods of Japan spanning from c. 300 BCE to c. 250 CE, preceded by the Jomon Period and followed by the Kofun Period. The name Yayoi comes from the district in Tokyo where the first artifacts associated with the period were found in 1884 CE. During this time period rice farming and metalworking advance following their introduction at the end of the Jomon Period.

弥生时代是日本最古老的历史时期之一，从公元前300年到公元前250年，之前是绳纹（文）时代，之后是古坟时代。“Yayoi”这个名字来自于东京的一个地区，1884年，人们在那里发现了与这个时期有关的第一批文物。在这一时期，水稻种植和金属加工在绳文时代末期引入后得到了发展。

农业与技术革命

Even though metalworking was introduced at the end of the Jomon Period, the Yayoi people continued to use stone tools and objects at first. However, with the ability to work with metal, stone tools were eventually phased out and replaced with weapons, armor, and trinkets made of bronze and iron. With the introduction of rice farming, the proper tools also had to be developed; hoes and spades that had stone blades and heads were replaced with metal. Irrigation techniques were developed during this time for the rice paddies and other crop fields.

虽然金属加工是在绳纹时代后期引入的，但弥生人起初仍然继续使用石制工具和物品。然而，随着金属加工能力的提高，石制工具逐渐被淘汰，取而代之的是青铜和铁制的武器、盔甲和小饰品。随着水稻种植技术的引入，适当的农业工具也被开发出来；带有石刃和石头的锄头和铲子被金属所取代。稻田和其他农田的灌溉技术也在这一时期得到发展。

With the introduction of farming, the diet and lifestyle of the Yayoi people drastically changed since they were now permanently settled and most of their food - rice, millet, beans, and gourds - was grown locally, with any hunting and gathering that occurred acting more as a supplement. Communal granaries and wells to store food and acquire water were constructed near rice paddies. Due to the agricultural revolution, the population grew steadily during this period, reaching its peak at around 2,000,000. Towns and villages, at first, would consist of pit houses, similar to the previous Jomon housing, with thatched roofs and earthen floors, but gradually developing into wooden structures raised above the ground using wooden supports.

随着农业技术的引入，弥生人的饮食和生活方式发生了巨大变化，因为他们已经长期定居，大部分食物，如大米、小米、豆子和瓜果，都是在当地种植的，狩猎和采集更像是一种补充。在稻田附近建造了公共粮仓和水井来储存食物和取水。由于农业革命，这一时期的人口稳步增长，最高达到 200 万左右。城镇和村庄起初由坑道式房屋组成，类似于以前的绳纹式住房，有茅草屋顶和土质地板，但逐渐发展为使用木质支撑物高于地面的木结构。

Like the pottery made during the Jomon Period, Yayoi pottery was also made by coiling clay, smoothing out the inside and outside, and then firing it, but the similarities end there since Yayoi pottery was more functional and made less porous. However, Yayoi pottery was also less decorated than Jomon pottery. The main pottery shapes for this time were long-necked jars, wide-mouthed pots, deep basins, and pedestal bowls.

与绳纹时期制作的陶器一样，弥生陶器也是通过卷绕粘土，抹平内部和外部，然后烧制而成，但两者的相似之处仅此而已，因为弥生陶器的功能性更强，而且更密闭。然而，弥生陶器的装饰也比绳纹陶器少。这个时期的主要陶器形状是长颈罐、宽口壶、深盆和座碗。

Although there was some contact between groups during the Jomon Period, trade was not a major concern or priority. In the Yayoi Period, however, trade flourished with cities holding precious resources and trading centers becoming the largest settlements. The largest Yayoi settlement found was a trading center named Asahi, in modern-day Aichi Prefecture, which covered 200 acres (c. 0.8 km²).

尽管在绳纹时代，各群体之间有一些接触，但贸易并不是主要问题或优先事项。然而，在弥生时期，贸易蓬勃发展，拥有珍贵资源的城市和贸易中心成为当时最大的定居点。在现代爱知县发现的最大的弥生定居点是一个名为Asahi的贸易中心，它占地200英亩（约0.8平方公里）。

社会

It was in the Yayoi that a class system-based society appeared with around 100 clans forming by 100 CE. These would fight each other for dominance throughout the rest of the period. Though the clans were fighting one another, there would occasionally be alliances which would form small kingdoms for the purpose of military power or mutual economic success. This shows a growing political system that the earlier Jomon did not have. Under the rule of the various clans, taxes were collected and a system of punishment was implemented.

正是在弥生时期，一个以阶级制度为基础的社会出现了，到公元100年形成了大约100个部族。在这一时期的其余时间里，这些部族会为争夺统治权而相互斗争。虽然各氏族之间相互争斗，但偶尔也会有联盟，为了军事力量或共同的经济成就而形成小王国。这表明，早期绳纹人没有的政治体系在不断壮大。在各氏族的统治下，部落开始征收赋税，颁布实施惩罚制度。

Unfortunately, metal ore supply was quite limited in Japan at the time, and so having metal items was indicative of higher status. Other materials that signified higher status were silk and glass which was produced in Kyushu, the southernmost island in Japan. Men of high status usually had more wives than those of lower rank. During this period, it became customary for lower-ranking men to step off the side of the road and give way to their social superiors, a custom that would survive until the 19th century CE.

不幸的是，当时日本的金属矿石供应非常有限，因此拥有金属物品是地位更高的标志。其他代表更高地位的材料是丝绸和玻璃，它们产自日本最南端的岛屿九州。地位高的男人往往比地位低的男人拥有更多的妻子。在此期间，地位较低的人让路给地位较高的人成为一种习俗，这种习俗一直延续到 19 世纪。

信仰

The beliefs of the Yayoi were quite different from those of the Jomon since, based on the evidence that has been found, they worshipped various gods and held festivals in their honor. Bronze items such as bells, mirrors, and weapons seem to have been used exclusively for ceremonial purposes. Graves were generally split between the general public and the elite, with regular people buried closer together with few, if any, items buried with them while members of the elite were buried in a separate area with their graves more lavishly filled with ceremonial goods. Sometimes, after a person was buried and decayed down to the bones, people would exhume the bones, wash them, and then paint them with red ocher before putting them in jars and burying them again in large pits which sometimes had a moat.

弥生人的信仰与绳纹人截然不同。根据已发现的证据，弥生人崇拜各种神灵，并为他们举行祭祀。铃铛、镜子和武器等青铜物品，似乎专门用于仪式。坟墓一般分为普通民众和精英阶层，普通民众被埋在一起，几乎没有任何物品与他们一起埋葬，而精英阶层的成员则被埋在一个单独的区域，他们的坟墓中充满了更多奢华的礼仪用品。有时，在一个人被埋葬并腐烂到骨头后，人们会把骨头挖出来，洗干净，然后用红赭石涂抹，再把它们装进罐子里，并埋回大坑里，精英阶层的坟墓有时还会修建一条壕沟（护城河）。

弥生时期的祭祀用青铜矛刃（dohoko）。据说这把刀是在日本现代福冈县春日市冈本町出土的。

与中国的接触

Much of the information about later Yayoi culture actually comes from China during the Han and later dynasties. The first mention of Japan in Chinese records was in the Han Shu, a history of the Han Dynasty, which was completed in 82 CE. Japan is there referred to as Wa, which meant "The Land of Dwarves", which had one hundred kingdoms and regularly brought tribute to China through a base in Korea. A more detailed record was made in the Wei Zhi, a history of the Wei Kingdom of China, which was written in 297 CE. One entry in the record was from 240 CE, which recounts a visit to Japan by some Wei Chinese and the description of what they said was the most powerful kingdom or clan, the Yamato, and its queen, Himiko, who was described as a Shaman, practiced magic in her spare time, and came to power through many years of war and conquest. In 238 CE, it is said that Queen Himiko sent a delegation carrying tributes to the Emperor of China and had her regal status recognized like the other rulers of Japan, but unlike them, her status was Queen of all of Japan. According to the Wei Zhi, Queen Himiko died in 248 CE at the age of 65, which caused a period of turmoil since an unpopular king took power and events only calmed down when one of the former queen's relatives, a girl named Iyo, took control.

有关后来的弥生文化的大部分信息实际上来自中国的汉朝及以后的时期。中国记录中第一次提到日本是在《汉书》中，这是一部汉朝的历史，完成于公元82年。日本在那里被称为“倭”，意思是“矮人之国”，它有数百个王国，经常通过朝鲜的一个基地向中国进贡。在《魏志》中做了更详细的记录，这是一部中国魏国的历史，写于公元297年。记录中的一个条目可以追溯到公元 240 年，它叙述了一些魏国人对日本的访问，并描述了他们所说的当地最强大的王国或部族——大和国，以及它的女王卑弥呼，她被描述为一个萨满，在业余时间练习魔法，并通过多年的战争和征服获得了权力。据说在公元238年，卑弥呼女王派出了一个代表团，带着贡品去见中国皇帝，中国统治者承认了她的王权地位，但她的地位是全日本的女王。根据《魏志》，卑弥呼女王于公元248年去世，享年65岁，这引起了一段动荡时期，因为一个不受欢迎的国王掌权了。直到前女王的一个亲戚，一个叫伊予（太佑）的女孩控制了局面，事件才平息。

传承

The Yayoi would mark the transition of Japanese society from bands of hunter-gatherers with little contact with others to an agrarian, metalworking, political, and militarized society. The Yayoi set the foundations for what would now be known as medieval Japan with the introduction of rice-growing and metalworking, which allowed for a population expansion and increase in weapons and armor production for military purposes. The development of clans and kingdoms as well as the class system would eventually lead to the system of daimyo, samurai, and the Chrysanthemum Throne with a line of emperors that would remain unbroken to this day.

弥生时代标志着日本社会从很少与他人接触的狩猎采集者群体，过渡到一个农业、冶金、政治和军事化社会。弥生为现在所谓的中世纪日本奠定了基础，当时引入了水稻种植和金属加工技术，这使得人口规模扩大，并为军事目的扩大了武器和盔甲的生产。氏族和王国的发展以及阶级制度最终产生了大名、武士和菊花宝座的制度，其天皇血统至今仍未断绝。