【简译】奈良时代（Nara Period）

2022-12-19 19:38 作者:神尾智代 0人读过 | 我要投稿

上一时代

The Nara Period (Nara Jidai) of ancient Japan (710-794 CE), so called because for most of that time the capital was located at Nara, then known as Heijokyo, was a short period of transition prior to the significant Heian Period. Despite the period's brevity it still managed to produce arguably the most famous works of Japanese literature ever written and some of the most important temples still in use today including at Todaiji, the largest wooden building in the world at that time, which still houses the largest bronze statue of Buddha ever made.

公元710-794年的古代日本，之所以被称为奈良时代，是因为其大部分时间里，首都位于奈良，而奈良在当时被人们称作“平城”。这一时期是平安时代之前一个短暂的过渡。尽管奈良时期很短暂，但它仍然出现了可以说是有史以来最著名的日本文学作品和一些至今仍在使用的重要的寺庙，如东大寺，这座寺庙在当时是世界上最大的木制建筑群之一，那里有世界上最大的毗卢遮那（大日如来）佛铜像。

历史概述

Nara, or more correctly Heijokyo, as it was known then, was made the capital of Japan from 710 to 784 CE, after which time it was relocated to Nagaokakyo. The previous capital was Fujiwara-kyo, but Nara had the advantage of being more centrally placed, located 30 kilometres south of Kyoto. Later historians gave the capital's name to the period 710 to 794 CE even if for the last decade it was no longer the most important Japanese city. The Nara Period followed on from the Kofun Period (c. 250-538 CE) and Asuka Period (538-710 CE), together sometimes referred to as the Yamato Period. Japan had increased its diplomatic relations with its powerful neighbours China and Korea, accepted the Buddhist religion, and absorbed some useful cultural advancements. This process continued in the Nara Period.

奈良，或者更正确地说是平城京，在公元710年至784年期间被定为日本的首都，此后迁至长冈京。之前的首都是藤原京，但奈良的优势在于它位于京都以南30公里处，位置更为集中。后来的历史学家将首都的名字命名为“奈良”——即使在最后十年里它不再是日本最重要的城市。奈良时代紧随古坟时代（约公元250-538年）和飞鸟时代（公元538-710年）之后，有时也被称为大和时代。这一时期，日本加强了与强大邻国中国和朝鲜的外交关系，接受了佛教，并吸收了一些有益的文化进步成果。这个过程在奈良时期继续进行。

Nara was built on the Chinese model of Chang-an, the Tang capital and so had a regular and well-defined grid layout, two symmetrical halves, and buildings familiar to Chinese architecture. A university dedicated to the Confucian tradition was established, a sprawling royal palace was built and the state bureaucracy was expanded to some 7,000 civil servants. The total population of Nara may have been as high as 200,000 by the end of the period.

奈良是按照中国的唐朝首都长安的模式建造的，因此有一个规则和明确的网格布局，两个对称的布局，以及中国式建筑。还建立了一所致力于儒家传统的大学，以及建造了一座庞大的王宫，国家官僚机构扩大到约7000名公务员。到这一时期结束时，奈良的总人口可能已高达20万。

Control of the central government over the provinces was increased by a heightened military presence throughout the islands of Japan. This did not prevent a major rebellion in 740 CE led by the Fujiwara exile Hirotsugu and supported by the Hayato minority based in southern Kyushu who resented the Yamato clan's dominance of the government and its attempts to 'civilise' under-developed regions. Emperor Shomu (r. 724-749 CE) raised an army of 17,000 men, quashed the rebel army inside of two months and executed Hirotsugu.

中央政府通过提升在日本各岛的军事存在，加强对各省的控制。这并没有阻止公元740年由流亡者藤原弘次领导的重大叛乱，该叛乱得到了驻扎在九州南部的Hayato少数民族（在日语中是“隼人”的意思，是奈良时代生活在九州南部萨摩和大隅地区的古代日本人）的支持，他们对大和氏族在政府中的主导地位及其对欠发达地区的“文明”尝试感到不满。圣武天皇（公元724-749年）组建了一支17000人的军队，在两个月内平定了叛军，并处决了藤原弘次。

For the ordinary populace, especially those in rural areas (90%), poverty, or just living above it, continued to be the norm. Agriculture still depended on primitive tools, not enough land was prepared for crops, and irrigation techniques were insufficient to prevent frequent crop failures and outbreaks of famine. In 743 CE a law attempted to encourage land clearance for agriculture by guaranteeing farmers the right to pass on their cleared land to their descendants, but most preferred the greater security of working for landed aristocrats.

对于普通民众，特别是农村地区的民众（90%）来说，贫困，或者生活水平勉强在贫困之上，仍然是常态。农业仍然依赖原始的工具，人们没有足够的土地用于种植，灌溉技术也不足以防止频繁的作物歉收和饥荒的爆发。公元743年，国家颁布了一项法律，试图通过保证农民有权将他们开垦的土地传给他们的后代来鼓励农业用地的扩张，但大多数人更喜欢为土地贵族工作，因为这在当时具有一定的保障性。

To make matters worse for Japan's already strained rural communities, there were smallpox epidemics in 735 and 737 CE which historians calculate reduced the county's population by 25-35%. The lot of the Japanese peasant was not helped by excessive taxation, largely designed to fund Emperor Shomu's temple building projects (see below) in the first half of the 8th century CE in which he was aided by the Buddhist priest Gyogi. The emperor was a keen convert to Buddhism, especially following the various disasters during his reign, and he had the bright idea to build a temple in every province in the hope this might improve the country's fortunes. In contrast to the peasantry, an ever-increasing number of religious sites and aristocrats were given tax immunity, and the government, happily spending away on temples, struggled to balance its books throughout the period. The court was also beset by internal conflicts for favours and positions amongst the aristocracy which resulted in Emperor Kammu (r. 781-806 CE) moving the capital to Heiankyo in 794 CE. This was the beginning of the Heian Period which would last into the 12th century CE.

对日本已经很紧张的农村社区来说，更糟糕的是，在公元735年和737年发生了天花流行病，据历史学家计算，国家人口减少了25-35%。日本农民的命运并没有因为过度的税收而得到帮助，这些税收主要是为了资助圣武天皇在公元8世纪上半叶的寺庙建设项目（见下文），在这些项目中，他得到了佛教僧侣行基（ぎょうき／ぎょうぎ）的帮助。皇帝热衷于皈依佛教，特别是在他统治期间发生各种灾难之后，他有一个聪明的想法，在每个省都建一座寺庙，希望这能改善国家的命运。与农民相比，越来越多的宗教场所和贵族获得了免税权，政府很乐意在寺庙上花钱，却在整个时期努力平衡其账目。宫廷也被贵族之间的内部冲突所困扰，这导致了桓武天皇（公元781-806年）在公元794年将首都迁往平安京。这是平安时代的开端，并持续到公元12世纪。

The period is notable for having three reigning empresses: Gemmei (r. 707-715 CE), Gensho (r. 715-724 CE), and Koken in two spells: 749-758 CE and, then with the title Shotoku, 764-770 CE. Shotoku had a notorious affair with a Buddhist priest called Dokyo, and she even named him as her successor, but the court rejected this choice and Dokyo was exiled. It would be another 800 years before a woman sat on the Japanese imperial throne again. Their reigns are perhaps indicative of a slightly better lot for women in wider society, certainly in comparison to contemporary China. In Nara Japan, for example, women could own land.

奈良时代以三位皇后而闻名。Gemmei（元明天皇，是奈良时代的第一位天皇。原名阿閇皇女，公元707-715年在位）、Gensho（元正天皇，日本第44代天皇，也是日本历史上第五位女天皇，讳冰高皇女，公元715-724年在位）和Koken（孝谦天皇，日本第46代和第48代天皇，也是一位女天皇，讳阿倍内亲王），Koken分两次在位：公元749-758年和公元764-770年，后来又改称Shotoku。有谣言称，孝谦天皇与一个叫Dokyo（道镜）的佛教徒有一段臭名昭著的恋情，她甚至指定道镜为她的继承人，但朝廷拒绝了这一选择，道镜也被流放了。又过了800年，才有一位女性再次坐在日本皇室的宝座上。她们的统治也许表明，与当代中国相比，妇女在更广泛的社会中的命运稍微好一些。例如，在奈良时代，妇女可以拥有土地。

奈良文学

The Nara Period would see a flourishing particularly in the field of literature. The Kojiki ('Record of Ancient Things') was compiled in 712 CE by the court scholar Ono Yasumaro, who drew on earlier sources, mostly genealogies of powerful clans. Then the Nihon Shoki ('Chronicle of Japan' and also known as the Nihongi), written by a committee of court scholars, came in 720 CE which sought to redress the bias many clans thought the earlier work had given to the Yamato clan. These works, then, describe the 'Age of the Gods' when the world was created and they ruled before withdrawing to leave humanity to rule itself. They also gave the imperial line a direct descent from the gods - the original purpose of their composition.

奈良时期，尤其是在文学领域，出现了蓬勃发展的局面。《古事记》（Kojiki）是由宫廷学者太安万侣于公元712年编纂的，他借鉴了早期的资料，主要是强大家族的家谱。由宫廷学者委员会撰写的《日本书纪》（Nihon Shoki）于公元720年问世，它试图纠正许多宗族认为早期作品对大和宗族的偏见。这些作品描述了“神的时代”，当时世界被神创造出来，他们在退出让人类自己统治之前进行了统治。神还赋予了皇室血统以直接来自神灵的血统——这是他们创世的最初目的。

Other important works included the Kaifuso poem anthology of 751 CE and the Manyoshu or 'Collection of 10,000 Leaves'. Written c. 760 CE, it is another anthology of 4,500 poems covering all manner of topics. Finally, a series of local chronicles, or Fudoki, were commissioned in 713 CE to record local kami (spirits) and associated legends in the various provinces.

其他重要作品包括公元751年编纂完成的《怀风藻》，还有《万叶集》。《万叶集》大约写于公元760年（于八世纪后半编辑完成），是一本由4500首诗组成的文集，涉及各种主题。一系列地方编年史，或称《古风土记》，在公元713年完集，此书集主要记录各省的地方神灵和相关传说。

奈良寺庙

东大寺

Another productive area during the period was religious architecture. The Buddhist temple of Todaiji was founded near Nara in 752 CE, east of the imperial palace, hence its name 'Great Eastern Temple'. The site boasted the largest wooden building in the world at that time. The Great Buddha Hall or Daibutsuden had to be big because it contained a 15-metre (49 ft) high bronze statue of the seated Buddha, the largest such statue in the world and weighing in at around 500 tons. The Todaiji was partially destroyed in a fire during the Genpei War (1180-1185 CE) but was restored to its former glory, albeit on a slightly smaller scale but still housing the huge and partially restored Buddha statue and still an impressive 48 metres (157 ft) high and 57 metres (187 ft) long.

奈良时期富有成效的领域之一是宗教建筑。东大寺佛教寺院群于公元752年在奈良附近建成，位于皇宫的东面，因此被称为“东大寺”。该地拥有当时世界上最大的木制建筑群之一。大佛殿很大，因为里面有一尊15米（49英尺）高的铜质坐佛像，是世界上最大的此类雕像，重约500吨。东大寺在源平合战（史称「治承·寿永之乱」，公元1180-1185年）期间部分毁于一场大火，但后来又恢复了昔日的辉煌，尽管规模稍小，但仍有巨大的、部分修复的大佛殿，大佛殿高49米（161英尺，这里尺寸参考了维基的数据，https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C5%8Ddai-ji#cite_ref-15），长57米（187英尺），令人印象深刻。

Other buildings at Todaiji include the Nandaimon (Great South Gate), Shoro (Belfry), Nigatsudo (Second Month Hall), Hokke-do (Third Month Hall), Shoso-in (Treasury) and two 100-metre (328 ft) tall pagodas, the latter pair were unfortunately destroyed by an earthquake and never rebuilt. A large bronze octagonal lantern still standing between the Daibutsuden and Chumon Gate dates to the founding of the temple. The Todaiji is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

东大寺的其他建筑包括南大门（Nandaimon）、钟楼（Shoro）、二月堂（Nigatsudo）、法华堂（Hoke-do）、正仓院（Shoso-in）和两座100米（328英尺）高的佛塔，后一对佛塔不幸被地震摧毁，从未重建。在大佛殿和中门之间，有一个大型的青铜八角灯笼，可以追溯到该寺的创立时期。东大寺被联合国教科文组织列为世界文化遗产。

春日大社

Another important Nara Period temple is the Kasuga Taisha, a Shinto shrine set in a forest near Nara, which was officially founded in 768 CE, although historians prefer a date of 710 CE. It was established by the powerful Fujiwara clan after, as the legend goes, a deity appeared at the site riding a deer, which also explains why deer are left to roam freely at the temple even today. The site includes a shrine dedicated to the founding ancestor of the Fujiwara. The pathway to the shrine is lined with stone lanterns donated by worshippers over the centuries. Many of these 2,000 lanterns are decorated with an image of a deer. Another 1,000 bronze lanterns hang around the shrines and gates at the site. All the lanterns at Kasuga are lit in a spectacular ceremony held each February and August. The Kasuga is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

另一个奈良时期重要的寺庙是春日大社，这是一座位于奈良附近森林中的神道圣地，正式建立于公元768年，尽管历史学家更倾向于公元710年这一日期。它是由强大的藤原氏建立的，因为传说中，一位神灵骑着一只鹿出现在该地，这也解释了为什么即使在今天，鹿仍然可以在寺庙里自由漫步。该遗址包括一个供奉藤原家族创始祖先的神龛。通往神社的道路两旁摆放着几个世纪以来崇拜者捐赠的石灯笼。这2,000个灯笼中的许多都装饰有鹿的形象。另有1,000个铜灯笼挂在神社和门的周围。在每年2月和8月举行的壮观仪式上，春日的所有灯笼都被点亮。春日大社也被联合国教科文组织列为世界文化遗产。