In Japan, silk fabrics called Ezo-nishiki (蝦夷錦) are found throughout Hokkaido island and northern Honshu island. In Japanese, Ezo-nishiki are synonymous with Ainu-nishiki. The word “nishiki” (錦) can be translated into English as brocade. These rich fabrics feature elegant motifs of dragons, large snakes, peonies, and other animals or plants, laced with gold, silver, and colored threads. The silk fabrics which eventually became Ezo-nishiki were originally made only in China as cloth for the uniforms of government officials. However, they were also given to the chieftains of tribes and villages in the lower Amur basin and imported to Sakhalin island over the Mamiya strait. This trade was performed by the indigenous peoples of the lower Amur basin and Sakhalin island, such as the Ul’chi, Nanai and Nivkh, collectively referred to as the Santan (山丹). Silk fabrics were then spread southward into Hokkaido by Ainu people living on the respective islands of Sakhalin and Hokkaido. They finally reached Honshu island through trade between the Ainu and the Matsumae (松前) clan, who ruled southwest Hokkaido island. This route from China to Japan via the lower Amur basin and Sakhalin island is called the “Silk Road of Northeast Asia,” and the trade is called the Santan trade. Most famous record of the Santan trade is "Todatsu Chiho Kiko (東韃地方紀行)" by MAMIYA Rinzo (間宮林蔵), who went to 'Manshu Kafu (満洲仮府)' at Deren in the lower Amur basin in 1809. Santan trade peaked in the latter half of the 18th century to the early 19th century. However, historical records suggest that it may have started as early as the late 13th century, following a Yuan Dynasty (1271‒1368) invasion of the lower Amur basin and Sakhalin island, or perhaps in the early 15th century when the Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty (1368‒1644) expanded their territory. Ezo-nishiki was the main merchandise of the tributary trade. However, no remaining Ezo-nishiki was confirmed to have been made before the 18th century. We thus applied radiocarbon dating to Ezo-nishiki samples to determine their age and to clarify the origin of the Silk Road of Northeast Asia. We analyzed 34 samples of Ezo-nishiki from Hokkaido, Akita prefecture (Honshu), and Sakhalin island by accelerator mass spectrometry. Calibrated radiocarbon ages of 33 samples indicated fabrication since the middle 17th century, confirming that the Silk Road of Northeast Asia peaked under the Qing Dynasty (1644‒ 1912). One sample from a Nivkh bridal hat collected in Lupolovo of northwest Sakhalin island indicated fabrication between the first half of the 14th and the early 15th century. The samples of Ezo-nishiki thus provide evidence showing that the Silk Road of Northeast Asia originated at least as early as that time.
동북아시아문화학회 [The Association of North-east Asian Cultures]
설립연도
2000
분야
복합학>학제간연구
소개
동북아시아 문화의 다양성과 정체성을 연구 토론하고, 지역내 문화 교류의 다양한 모습을 연구하고 문화변동의 큰 틀을 집적함으로써 우리 민족 문화 및 상대 민족의 문화적 터전을 이해하여 문화공동체적 특성을 계발하고 상호 관련성의 강화를 유도하는 학술활동을 통해 동북아시아의 문화발전에 이바지함.