ARCHAEOLOGIA JAPONICA

China
KUBOTA Shin’ji1
Fiscal 2017 saw publication of doctoral theses covering from the Neolithic to Shang/Zhou
periods as far as the author knows and many systematic studies were published.
As for conferences and symposiums, conferences were actively held related toKAKENHI/Grant-in-Aid for Scientiﬁc Research on Innovative Areas “Rice Farming
and Chinese Civilization: Renovation of Integrated Studies of Rice-based Civilizations(Principal Cordinator: NAKAMURA Shinichi).” The path is being drawn for the newcivilization that had rice farming on its center in the lower Yangtze river basin due to aseries of international and interdisciplinary studies by this project.
Other than the above, there were especially many conferences related to bronze tools
as there are many Japanese researchers in the ﬁeld. A total of 22 single and joint researchpresentations were made by Japanese researchers at the 11th conference of the Society for
the History of Asian Casting Technology held at the Institute of History and Philology,
Academia Sinica in Taipei. Many presentations were also done by Chinese and Korean
researchers, and it was an extremely valuable opportunity for international exchangesof research results. Also, the ﬁscal 2017 convention of the Japan Society for ChineseArchaeology held at Tokyo University still has a signiﬁcant position as the center of Chinesearchaeology study in Japan.
As for books/theses, there were a sizable number of Neolithic study theses on Hemudu
culture and Liangzhu culture in the lower Yangtze river basin due to the “Rice Farming
Civilization” project above. The origin of rice and other cereals and their diffusion to Japanis an important research theme. The majority of studies on Erlitou culture and Western Zhou
were on bronze tools. It seems interests were especially high on manufacture and usage ofbronze tools in the Shang period. Also, there were studies related to animals such as horses
and elephants. Studies on Eastern Zhou were mainly bronze tools related to typology,distribution, and manufacturing technology. Other than the above, there were studies on
the eastern advancement of Yan culture, which is indispensable in talking about the Yayoi
period in Japan. There were not many archaeological studies on the Qin and Han periods thisﬁscal year. All the studies the author could conﬁrm were on bronze mirrors, which seems
1 Kanazawa University Center for Cultural Resource Studies, Kakuma-machi,kanazawa-shi 920–1192,

Japan(jiu-bao-tian@staff.kanazawa-u.ac.jp)

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rather unbalanced. As for studies from the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern dynasties toSui and Tang dynasties, theses are relatively scarce with exception of some related to Gaoling of Caocao, Yungang Grottoes, and the Silk Road. However, Japanese researchers seemto be interested in capital city planning and so on, as it is related to Japan. After the Songdynasty, there is no concentrated ﬁeld of study, and study subjects seems to be scattered. Ifanything, there are multiple studies on the Liao dynasty. Referring to study on the northern
plains in the end, sizable studies were conducted, and especially active study was study on
bronze objects and horses which are dispersed in extensive areas.
As for the number of theses, many were on older periods, with 20 from the Neolithic toEastern Zhou, and 11 on the Qin and Han and later. Most published books were on theseperiods. It may be natural since historical construction using archaeology is effective inolder periods as written documents are abundant in China. Also, study using scientiﬁcmethods which have increased in recent years is more effective in older periods, and it is afactor for increasing the number of studies.

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