earticle

영어

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 The silk fabrics which eventually became Ezo-nishiki were originally made only in China as cloth for the uniforms of government officials.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.