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.