Bronze bell

Japanese: 銅鐸 - どうたく

A bronze bell used in festivals during the Yayoi period. The original way to ring it was to hang it from a semicircular knob on a string and swing it around a hollow body (bell body) with a stick (zetsu) hung inside. Bronze bells have been found in the Kinki region, from Shimane, Hiroshima, Kagawa, and Kochi prefectures in the west to Fukui, Gifu, Nagano, and Shizuoka prefectures in the east, buried in holes dug on hillsides, i.e., in a situation where one or more bells were intentionally buried, and there are more than 400 of them in total.

[Makoto Sahara]

Forming and Casting

The body of a bronze bell is cylindrical, with a ginkgo or circular shape on its flat surface, closed at the top and open at the bottom. Flat decorative fins protrude from both sides of the body. Near the bottom end of the inside of the body, one or two protruding bands (inner protruding bands) run around and come into contact with the tongue to produce sound. Most bronze bells have a total of ten small holes, two on each side of the upper half of the body, two on each side of the bottom end, and two on the top surface. In relation to the holes in the katamochi, let's look at the method of casting bronze bells. Two types of molds are required to make a bronze bell: an outer mold and an inner mold. That is, first prepare two outer molds, one for each half of the shape of the bronze bell, then insert a separately made inner mold into them, and pour molten bronze into the gap between the outer and inner molds. In this case, the support used to keep the space between the outer and inner molds in the correct position is called the mochi, and since this is made of a material that does not melt, such as stone or clay, a hole remains where it was placed.

[Makoto Sahara]

Patterns and paintings

Bronze bells are decorated with various patterns over almost the entire surface. The most common patterns on the body are horizontal bands, robes, and flowing water. These patterns were necessary for bronze bells, and those that became unclear during the casting process were later inscribed with a chisel. Some bronze bells have paintings on them. These include animals such as deer, wild boars, waterfowl, turtles, lizards, dragonflies, spiders, and praying mantises, people hunting, fishing, threshing, boatmen, and fighters, as well as raised-floor buildings thought to be rice storehouses. The most reasonable interpretation that can be derived from these is that they tell stories praising agriculture. The patterns and paintings on bronze bells are basically the same as those on Yayoi pottery, and it is clear that everyone in Yayoi society could understand them. This, together with the fact that bronze bells were not buried with grave goods, indicates that they did not belong to a specific individual, but were ritual vessels shared by the people of society.

[Makoto Sahara]

Transition and Distribution

The order of change in bronze bells can be roughly divided into four stages based on the shape of the knobs, from practical knobs suited to the function of hanging to excessively decorated knobs. Bronze bells are descended from Chinese bells, and are probably derived from the Korean-style small bronze bells unique to the Korean peninsula. The inner protruding bands of the oldest and most ancient bronze bells have been worn down and lowered as a result of contact with the tongue.

While bronze bells are found mainly in the Kinki region, three types of bronze weapons made in the Korean peninsula, bronze spears, bronze swords, and bronze halberds, were buried with the deceased mainly in northern Kyushu (grave goods), and many Japanese products based on them were found buried as ritual vessels, mainly in Kyushu, as well as in the Chugoku and Shikoku regions and the Kinki region. Watsuji Tetsuro's interpretation of this distribution as the "bronze bell culture area" and the "bronze spear and bronze sword culture area," which he sees as a conflict between political spheres, has been widely accepted until now. However, molds for bronze bells have been found in two places in northern Kyushu, and molds for bronze swords and bronze halberds have been found in three places in the Kinki region, making it difficult to argue for a clear conflict between "cultural spheres." There are various interpretations as to why bronze bells were buried. One explanation is that they were always stored underground, taken out and used only during festivals, and left buried when the festivals came to an end. As for why they were ultimately left buried, it can also be explained that the communal festivals came to an end, and an influential individual who should be buried on a grand artificial hill appeared, which led to the arrival of a festival to legitimize the authority of that individual.

[Makoto Sahara]

"Shin Sahara, 'Casting of Bronze Bells' (included in World Archaeology Series 2, Japan 2, 1960, Heibonsha)"

[Reference] | Bronze spear | Bronze sword

Bronze bell
Yayoi period (1st to 2nd century) Bronze Height: 110.5cm Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bronze bell

Names of the various parts of the bronze bell
©Katsuya Nishikawa ">

Names of the various parts of the bronze bell

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

弥生(やよい)時代に祭礼に用いた青銅製のベル。半環状の吊(つ)り手（鈕(ちゅう)）を紐(ひも)にかけて下げ、中空の身(み)（鐸身(たくしん)）の内側に棒（舌(ぜつ)）を吊るして揺り鳴らすのが本来の鳴らし方である。銅鐸は近畿地方を中心として、西は島根・広島・香川・高知県、東は福井・岐阜・長野・静岡県に至る範囲内で、丘陵の斜面などに穴を掘って埋納、すなわち意識的に1個あるいは複数個を埋め納めた状況下でみいだされており、その総数は400個を超えている。

［佐原　真］

形・鋳造

銅鐸の身は筒状を呈し、平面は銀杏(ぎんなん)形ないしは円形、上端は閉じて終わり下端は開いたまま終わっている。身の両側には扁平(へんぺい)な装飾部分である鰭(ひれ)が突出している。身の内面の下端近くには突出した帯（内面突帯）が一、二条巡って舌と接触して発音する。多くの銅鐸には、身の各面ごとに上半の左右、下端の左右にそれぞれ2個ずつ、上面に2個、計10個の小孔が開いている。この型持(かたもたせ)（かたもち）の孔(あな)に関連して、銅鐸の鋳造の方法をみておこう。銅鐸をつくるための鋳型には、外型、内型との2種を必要とする。すなわち銅鐸の形の半面ずつ、計二枚の外型をまず用意し、これをあわせた中に別作りの内型を差し入れ、外型・内型のすきまに融(と)かした青銅を流し込む。この場合、外型・内型の間を正しく保つために用いる支えが型持であって、これが石か粘土か融けない材料でできているため、それを置いた場所が孔として残ることになる。

［佐原　真］

文様と絵画

銅鐸は、ほぼ全面を各種の文様で飾っている。身の文様を代表するのは横帯文、袈裟襷(けさだすき)文、流水文である。これらの文様は銅鐸にとって必要なものだったらしく、鋳造段階で不鮮明になったものは、あとから鏨(たがね)で補刻してある。銅鐸には絵画をもつものもある。シカ、イノシシ、水鳥、カメ、トカゲ、トンボ、クモ、カマキリなどの動物、狩りする人、魚をとる人、脱穀する人、舟に乗る人、争う人などの人物、そして米倉とみられる高床建物などの絵がそれである。これらから導かれるもっとも合理的な解釈は、農耕をたたえる物語と読み取る説である。銅鐸の文様・絵画は基本的に弥生土器のそれに共通しており、弥生社会のだれもがそれを理解できたことは明らかである。これは、銅鐸を墓に副葬しない事実とともにそれが特定の個人に所属したものではなく、社会の人々共有の祭器であったことを物語っている。

［佐原　真］

変遷・分布

銅鐸変遷の順は、鈕の形状を基準として四段階に大別でき、吊り下げるための機能を果たすにふさわしい実質的な鈕から、装飾過剰の鈕までを追うことができる。銅鐸は、中国の鈴(れい)の系統を引き、おそらく朝鮮半島独特の朝鮮式小銅鐸を祖形とするベルであって、最古・古段階の銅鐸の内面突帯は、舌と触れ合った結果、磨滅して低くなっている。

　銅鐸が近畿地方を中心として分布するのに対して、朝鮮半島製の3種類の青銅武器、銅矛(どうほこ)、銅剣(どうけん)、銅戈(どうか)は、もっぱら北部九州で死者に添えて埋めてあり（副葬品）、また、それを祖形とする日本製品の多くは、祭器として銅鐸と同様、埋納した状況で、九州地方を中心として、中国、四国から近畿地方に至る範囲でみいだされている。この分布を「銅鐸文化圏」「銅矛銅剣文化圏」ととらえて政治圏の対立とみる和辻(わつじ)哲郎の解釈が、これまで広く認められてきた。しかし、現在では、北部九州の二か所で銅鐸の鋳型が、近畿地方の三か所で銅剣や銅戈の鋳型がみつかっており、明確な「文化圏」の対立を説くことはむずかしい。銅鐸がなぜ埋納されたかをめぐってはいろいろの解釈がある。常時土中に保管し、祭りの際のみに取り出して使ったものが、祭りの終焉(しゅうえん)によって埋まったままになったとみるのも一解である。なお、最終的にどうして土中に埋めっぱなしになったかについては、人々共同の祭りが終わりを告げ、壮大な人工の丘に葬られるべき有力な個人が出現したことによってその個人の権威を正統づける祭りが到来したため、とも説明できよう。

［佐原　真］

『佐原真「銅鐸の鋳造」（『世界考古学大系2　日本2』所収・1960・平凡社）』

[参照項目] | 銅戈 | 銅剣

銅鐸
弥生時代（1～2世紀）　青銅　高さ110.5cmメトロポリタン美術館所蔵">

銅鐸

銅鐸の各部名称

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