Monograph No. 40

NARA PALACE SITE EXCAVATION REPORT XI
Investigation of the location of the First Imperial Audience Hall (Daigokuden) carried out between 1965 and 1979

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I Introduction                                1

1. Progress of recent excavations                            1

2. Preservation and maintenance                            3

3. Publication of the report                                      4

CHAPTER II Outline of excavation                5

1. Excavation areas                                   5

2. Order of excavations                             7

A. Excavation No. 27                             7

B. Excavation Mo. 41                             8

C. Excavation No. 69                             8

D. Excavation No. 72                             9

E. Excavation No. 75                10

F. Excavation No. 77                11

G. Excavation No. 81                             12

H. Excavation No. 87                             12

I. Excavation No.117                             13

J. Imperial Residence Compound (Dairi) Investigatory Committee Meeting               14

3. Excavation diary                                    15

A. Excavation No. 27                             15

B. Excavation No. 41                              17

C. Excavation No. 69                             18

D. Excavation No. 72, north                  20

E. Excavation No. 72, south                   21

F. Excavation No. 75                21

G. Excavation No. 77                             22

H. Excavation No. 81, east                    24

I. Excavation No. 81, west                     24

J. Excavation No. 81, central                 25

K. Excavation No. 87, north                   25

L. Excavation No. 87, south                   26

M. Excavation No.117                            27

CHAPTER III The site                      29

1. Constitution of the site                          29

A. Topography prior to excavation                       30

B. Ancient topography                           31

2. Features                                  33

A. Gate and corridor location                 34

B. Palace buildings location                    56

C. Plaza location                      76

D. Eastern palace precincts location                    84

E. Imperial Food Servery location                        92

CHAPTER IV Artifacts                      97

1. Wooden tablets                       98

A. from ditch SD3715                             98

B. from ditch SD5564                             105

C. from pit SK5535                                 105

D. from ditch SD5490                             106

E. from ditch SD3765                             106

F. from pit SK3730                                 107

G. from building SB7802                         107

H. summary                              112

2. Roof tiles                                  115

A. from ditch SD3765                             117

B. from buildings SB7801 and SB7802                 117

C. from corridor SC5500                         120

D. from corridor SC3810 and building SB7750                   123

E. from the palace buildings location                   124

F. from ditch SD3715                             125

G. from other features                            126

3. Building material                                    130

A. Pillar bases and foundation board                    130

B. Framework of well SE9210                140

C. Materials of a scale-model building                  144

D. Stone, etc                                          149

4. Pottery                       153

A. from building SB7802                         156

B. from compound wall SA3777                           160

C. from compound wall SA109                             162

D. from feature SX6600                         165

E. from building SB7150                         166

F. from Phase II buildings such as SB6633                         166

G. from Phase II ditches such as SD8211                           167

H. from pit SK8212                                 168

I. from well SE9210                                169

J. from building SB8224                         170

K. from ditches SD6631, SD6633, SD7175                        171

L. from ditch SD3765                             172

M. from ditch SD5505                            172

N. from ditch SD3715                             172

O. from pit SK3784                                 176

P. from pits SK8316, SK8317, SK8233                 178

Q. from pit SK3730                                 180

R. unusual kinds of pottery                     181

S. haniwa from square mounded tomb SX7800, etc                       186

5. Wooden objects                      188

A. from building SB7802                         188

B. from ditch SD3715                             195

C. other wooden objects                        201

D. identification of tree species              205

6. Metal and stone objects                        207

7. Coins                          209

CHAPTER V Articles                         213

1. Changing configurations at the location of the First Imperial Audience Hall (Daigokuden)                     213

A. Features dating to the periods prior to and period of palace construction                            213

B. Phase I features                   214

C. Phase II features                 220

D. Phase III features                223

2. The nature of the location of the First Imperial Audience Hall                      225

A. Examination of various hypotheses                  225

B. The dating of phase I features                         226

C. Palace buildings discerned from Phase II features                       230

D. The residence of Retired Emperor Heizei                                    231

E. Reexamination of the Saigu (‘western palace’)                           233

F. The Hanyuan-tien and Linte-tien of the Darning Palace                            234

3. Reconstruction of the architectural composition by phase                            236

A. Phase I buildings                                236

B. Phase II buildings                               238

C. Phase III buildings                             240

4. Roof tiles                                  242

A. Revision of the eaves-tile chronology                            242

B. The relationships between eaves-tile combinations                    243

C. Relationships between same-mold eaves-tiles                                          247

5. Pottery                       251

A. Reconsideration of Nara palace IV and VII pottery types                         251

B. The construction of dining-tray shaped pottery                                         258

6. Conclusions                              262

Supplementary Tables                     265

English summary                281

 

ENGLISH SUMMARY

1. The investigation area dealt with in this report is the locus of the First Imperial Audience Hall (Daigokuden), located 500 meters north of the main entrance to the Nara palace at the Suzaku gate. The existence of the palace compound, measuring 180 meters east to west and 300 meters north to south, was previously known from the paddy field and path layouts in that area. Omiya (‘great palace’) and Higashi Omiya (‘eastern great palace’) occurred also as paddy placenames. According to these place names and land divisions, Sekino Tadashi deter mined that that area was the Imperial Residence Compound (Dairi), and he speculated that south of there was the Southern Garden (Nan’ en). Based on Sekino’s treatise, the area designated in the Taisho era (1912-26) as a historical site included the region of the eastern gate on the southern side of the Government Office Compound (Chodoin), the Imperial Audience Hall and the Imperial Residence Compound.

 After this Institute began serious excavation of this site in 1955, the ground plans of the architectural structures were gradually clarified. By 1962, a palace compound equivalent to that in size behind the Mibu gate was postulated to have existed also behind the Suzaku gate. Based on these expectations, the structures behind the Suzaku gate were thought to be the first manifestions of the Imperial Audience Hall, the Imperial Residence Compound and the Government Office Compound - dating to the Nara palace of 710 - while the structures beyond the Mibu gate were the second constructions of those building complexes; the latter constructions represented the shifting of the palace during Emperor Shomu’s reign in 745.

 However, as the excavation of the area of of the First Imperial Audience Hall progressed, it became apparent that there was something strangs about the positioning of the buildings in the Second Imperial Audience Hall and Imperial Residence Compound to the east. The opinion was formed that in the period of the construction of the initial Nara palace, the Imperial Residence Compound was not located in this area. In this report, the Imperial Audience Hall of the period of palace construction is postulated to have been in this area and therefore the name ‘First Imperial Audience Hall’ is employed.

 Topographically, the northern one-third of this area lies on the tip of a terrace (73 m. msl) extending from the Nara-yama Hills; and the remaining two-thirds lie on the alluvial apron of the Nara Basin lowlands (68.5 m. msl at the southern edge of the First Imperial Audience Hall location). Excavations of this location were carried out in 1958 at two places on the south side of First Street (Ichijo dori) in the Nara capital grid plan of streets. Nothing more was done than these small excavations until 1965 when serious excavation was undertaken. From then until 1979, twelve separate investigatigations were carried out, earth being removed over 383.3 ares and almost all of the features in the eastern half of the area were exposed. Places yet uninvestigated are the northernmost part of the First Street thoroughfare and one portion of the southern exremity. The former is a very important locus, but there are no immediate plans for its excavation. For the 1,600 square meters area of the latter, its situation can be analogized from the features nearby.

2. The features in the area of the First Imperial Audience Hall can be assigned to three phases between 710 and 835, that is from the beginning of the Nara period to the early Heian period. They represent the construction and layout of palace compounds with special characteristics for each phase. Phase I, an area 600 shaku (176. 6 meters) east to west and 1,080 shaku (317.7 meters) north to south was enclosed by a corridor opening in the center of the southern side for the main gate. The northern third of the compound was raised about two meters to form a platform which supported the Imperial Audience Hall and the rear palace (koden). The southern two thirds formed a gravel-paved courtyard with no architectural structures whatsoever. This was the situation when the capital was removed from the Fujiwara palace in the southern part of the Nara Basin (Phase I-1) to the Nara palace in the northern basin. Subsequently, the Government Office Compound was built in the southern portion of the palace, and in the 720's, towers were added on both sides of the southern gate (Phase I-2). The construction of the towers, together with the Government Office Compound, was designed to enhance the grandeur of the vista in this area. At the time of moving the capital to Kuni, the Imperial Audience Hall and the corridor along the eastern side of the compound were moved to the Kuni palace, which was within present-day Kyoto Prefecture. Between the years 739 and 745, the site of the corridor on the eastern side came to be sheltered by a wooden fence (Phase I-3). The same kind of activity was probably carried out in the as-yet unexcavated western portion as well. After the capital was moved back to Nara in 745, the eastern corridor was rebuilt, but there is no trace that the Imperial Audience Hall was reconstructed. Nevertheless, according to a wooden tablet inscribed in 753 when all Phase I structures were supposed to have been completely extinct, a building called the Great Hall (Odono) existed there, and the rear palace (koden) is thought to have lasted into this latter phase (Phase I-4). Again, according to wooden tablets, the South gate at this time was below the garrison of the Headquarters of the Palace Gate Guards (Emonfu), and it was treated as one of a lesser line of gates than the gates leading into the Imperial Audience Hall and Imperial Residence Compound.

 Features of Phases I-1 and 2 encompassed the Imperial Audience Hall of the early Nara period, and the compound layout of this First Hall area was drastically different from that of the preceding Fujiwara palace, from the Second Hall construction at Nara palace and to the later Naniwa palace. This is something that cannot be comprehended from previous conceptualizations of the palace grounds but is known only through excavation. It is now thought that the First Imperial Audience Hall was built on the model of the Hanyuan-tien at the Chang-an capital of the T’ang Dynasty in China.

 Features of Phase II began to be constructed just after 753 and continued through the latter half of of the Nara period. During this time, the corridor was reduced to a size of 600 shaku (176.6 m.) east to west and 620 shaku (186.08 m.) north to south. Lining up the northern boundary and the southern boundary with the Imperial Residence Compound on the east, it is obvious that the Imperial Audience Hall was consciously established in contrast to the Residence Compound. The earthen platform was leveled in the north and earth mounded in the south to form a base for constructing the buildings. In all, 27 structures were regularly laid out on a grid of 3 meter basic units; these buildings included the main audience hall placed in the center, auxiliary halls on either side, and various associated outbuildings surrounding these main structures in a manner not seen elsewhere. A special characteristic of the main audience hall was that it consisted of three separate buildings on north to south axes lined up in a row. These features can be equated with the Saigu (‘western palace’) where important ceremonies were conducted in the latter half of the Nara period; its function can be envisioned to have been similar to that of the Imperial Residence Compound. The phase which these buildings belong to was also the period in which one famous political figure of the Nara period, Fujiwara Nakamaro, was influencial. The palace appears to have been assigned a very different function (under his direction) than the Imperial Audience Hall and Residence Compound had up until then it was in the Western Palace that Dokyo, a priest who had reached the highest rank, received the greetings of officials of lesser rank than O’omi. It was also here that the Empress Shotoku died.

 Features of Phase III followed the same layout as those of Phase II; they comprised the Heizei palace built by the Retired Emperor Heizei as separate from the main palace at the Heian capital in Kyoto. 14 buildings stood on the foundation platform, and their placement had many things in common with the Imperial Residence Compounds of both the previous Nara palace and the Heian palace in Kyoto. The ground plans of these buildings indicate they were built with some early 9th century architectural characteristics such as broad eaves and modified corners. However, there are not a few aspects in which this palace differed from the Nara and Heian Imperial Residence Compounds. It probably employed the same spatial boundaries as those, but this Heizei palace built by the Retired Emperor Heizei was not a central palace of the capital but merely a detached palace. Although the Imperial Residence Compound was constructed en toto, the Imperial Audience Hall remained unfinished; that is, the main audience hall was completed, but no traces exist of any corridors or gates built to surround it.

 In consequence of clarifying the nature of the First Imperial Audience Hall, it was necessary to re-analyze the Imperial Food Servery location in the north which has been previously publishad. The immediate reason for the review was that previously, the corridor of the First Imperial Audience Hall was not recognized to have extended into the northern area. At this point, a revised draft is tentatively presented.

 Based on the features in the area of the First Imperial Audience Hall, the superstructures of some of the buildings have been reconstructed. It is understood that there were probably many differences in architectural features between the various phases. These are tentative drafts, however, and general corrections will be sought.

3. Among the artifacts, the group of materials excavated from the foundation board remains of building SB7802 plays a very important role in reconstuoting the use of this area. According to the wooden tablets, the building was station for the Imperial Gate Guards (Kadobe) and Imperial Palace Guards (Eji) under the Emonfu which protected this area, and their working conditions can be inferred from the material remains. On one hand, clues to the form of their daily meals can be had through analysis of the ceramic and wooden objects. On the other hand, the excavation of parts of a model building indicates that this model 1/10th lifesize was installed at the site. As for the pottery, analysis of the body past was carried out, demonstrating differences in location of manufacture.

 Roof tiles were discovered throughout the area in great numbers; from these, the relations between features and the roof tiles’ chronology was managed; and while in part modifying this chronology, the combinations of eaves-tiles could be postulated for each building. In this site report, artifacts associated with architectural features are relatively numerous. Furthermore, through the analysis of the raw materials used to construct the wooden conduits, the nature of pillared fences – what heretofore had been called palisades or wood fences - was grasped. From a servants entryway in a log storehouse, reused as a well lining, the original shape of the storehouse was also reconstructed. At the same time, the varieties of stone and wood materials were determined, and the source of the stone as well as the age of the wood could be postulated.

4. As indicated in this site report, there has been a dramatic increase in our understanding of the area of the First Imperial Audience Hall which unfolded behind the main Suzaku gate entryway to the Nara palace. However, there are not a few unsolved problems, and parts of the interpretation rest on supposition. With the results of future excavations, we should be able to produce an even more detailed picture while having essential facts corrected. Here we have adopted the policy of not making comparisons between the First Imperial Audience Hall and other areas of the palace—such as the First Government Office Compound in the south or the Imperial Residence Compound, the Second Government Office Compound and Second Imperial Audience Hall in the east - any more than necessary. Nevertheless, it hardly needs saying that these areas are important, and the present situation where definitive comparisons with these areas have not been made merely invites misunderstanding.

 

昭和57年1月30日 発行

奈良国立文化財研究所30周年記念学報(学報第40冊)

平城宮発掘調査報告 XI

第1次大極殿地域の調査

 

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