A comparative Historical Study of the Space Structure and Village Boundary Rituals of the Medieval Japan

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

We conducted a compreensive and restorative study of a Medieval village space of Shim-Asahi town, Takashima countly, Shiga prefecture. Using many ancient and existing local knowledge of landscape, traditional folk rituals, we investigated what village space and boundary signifies to villagers. Shin-Asahi town was once a manor called Kozunosho, one of the most important ones owned and directly ran by Sanmon. It was the traffic base between Omi and Wakasa with the Kozu Harbor important for waterborne traffic on Lake Biwa.Previous research into the manors of Sanmon has been limited by a lack of source materials. Kozunosho provides a rich source of informative documents such as Kenchucho (owned by Mr. Aeba Masatake) dated 1422 (Oei 29). Thus this area is a valuable case study into the essence of Sanmon manors. The villages in this area have various characteristics of Medieval villages, including terraced rice fields, position on ancient main roads (Ancient Hokuriku-do, Nishi-Omi-do) and on … More e in the flood plain of the lake.From 1999 to 2001, we investigated twelve locations in the former manor area. We investigated features of canal systems, commonly used place names and traditional rituals, focusing on festivals, funerals and tomb system that where of significance within the village. Our research revealed conditions of a highly developed village during the Medieval Period. We also established a database of the research materials (Kozunosho Kenchucho and Kozunosho Hikidencho).It is said that in a Japanese village the significance of bloodline is less than in China or Korea but the territorial bond is stronger. The development of territorial bond is most obvious in the Kinki region, especially in Omi.To identify the features of the Japanese villages within a wider East Asian perspective, we also researched in Okinawa, Korea, China and Taiwan. We collected documents about symbols such as village gates and boundary talismans to compare similarities and differences between those places and Japan. Less