Sacred Texts and Buried Treasures: Issues in the Historical Archaeology of Ancient Japan

by William Wayne Farris

Sacred Texts and Buried Treasures offers substantial new insights into early Japanese history (A.D. 100-800) through an integrated discussion of historical texts and archaeological artifacts. It contends that the rich archaeological discoveries of the past few decades permit scholars to develop far more satisfactory interpretations of ancient Japan than was possible when they were heavily dependent on written sources. This is evidenced in the four specific areas of inquiry on which the author focuses his the age-old question of Yamatai, the "lost" realms of the third-century Queen Himiko; the controversy over Japan-Korea relations between 350 and 700; the creation of capital cities during the age of apprenticeship to Chinese civilization between 645 and 800; and the appropriation of Chinese-style governing arrangements during the same era.
Sacred Texts and Buried Treasures effectively illustrates how archaeology and history have mutually informed, guided, and revised each other's postwar research on ancient Japanese society. It synthesizes the enormous amount of data accumulated by postwar archaeologists, only a small portion of which has ever reached a Western audience.

Genres: Japan, History

333 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1998

Reviews

[Frank Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very detailed discussion about the historical (the 'Sacred Texts' part) and archaeological (the 'Buried Treasures') evidence concerning four issues in the study of ancient Japan:

(1) Yamatai; the land of Wa under queen Himiko, as described by the Chinese chronicler Chen Shou (in 280 CE) - was it in Kyushu or the Kinai region? & should Chen's 'Account of the Wa' be considered a description of late Yayoi or early Kofun period Japan?

(2) The Korean connection in the years ca. 300-700 CE; what was the relationship between the kingdoms of the peninsula and that/those of the archipelago? Did Japan dominate the peninsula, as the Nihon Shoki ('The Chronicles of Japan') of 720 claims it did, or were the communities of Japan Korean satellites? How much culture did Japan borrow from Korea, and how and why did this borrowing take place?

(3) The Chinese-style capital cities of Japan. What Chinese city or cities were they modeled on, & why? (I skimmed this and the last part)

(4) The wooden tablets (containing Chinese-style law codes & bureaucratic procedures &c.) found throughout Japan.

TBH I found myself a little out of depth here, as I read this book for the purpose of a general introduction to ancient Japan. As such it is a little too detailed & 'micro'. Despite that, it kept me engaged enough to read the first two parts anyway. Farris writes in such a way that any reader, even without prior knowledge of the subject, can follow him without difficulty. For instance he doesn't just start off talking about Chen Shou's 'Account of the Wa', but first introduces Chen properly & talks about the historical China in which he lived wrote and what may have motivated him. As such Farris is faithful to E.H. Carr's dictum to always 'study the historian before you study the history' (or something that boils down to that anyway).

Another plus of this book is that Farris doesn't just present the historical & archaeological evidence and gives his own interpretation of them, but also (comprehensively) recaps Japanese & Korean discussion, interpretations, controversies, and taboos surrounding them as well. Subjects that non-Japanse usually don't have (easy) access to. In that sense the book was as revealing (to me) on modern Japan as it was on ancient Japan.

Would not recommend as an introduction to ancient Japan though (it isn't intended as that), although even as such you could probably do worse.